46國簽《倫敦宣言》 誓言終結野生動物非法交易

Wildlife poachers watch out! At the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference, held Thursday in London, world leaders from 46 nations agreed on“decisive and urgent action” in a concerted effort to pull elephants, rhinos, tigers and other endangered species back from the brink of extinction.

The conference, chaired by British Foreign Secretary William Hague and attended by the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry, adopted the London Declaration by acclamation.

It pledges measures to eradicate markets for illegal wildlife products, ensure effective legal deterrents, strengthen law enforcement, and support sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by wildlife crime. Conference participants committed more financial resources to implement these measures, and to assess progress made in delivering on these political commitments.

Key nations, including Botswana, Chad, China, Gabon, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Russia, Tanzania, Vietnam and the United States committed to end the illegal trade in rhino horn, tiger parts and elephant tusks that fuels criminal activity worth over $19 billion each year.

Secretary Hague declared, “It is no exaggeration to say that we are facing an unprecedented crisis. But this is not just an environmental crisis. This is now a global criminal industry, ranked alongside drugs, arms and people trafficking.”

The involvement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species is key to the success of this conservation effort, said Secretary Hague. “We will recognize that CITES is a fantastic weapon in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade. It is the only body that draws the whole of the international community together on this issue. Its strength is that it is universal.”

“We welcome the London Declaration and the level of political commitment that is evident here in London,” said CITES Secretary-General John Scanlon. “The added momentum generated from this meeting, coupled with the spirit of taking a collaborative approach to combating the illegal wildlife trade, gives us hope that we can reverse the current disturbing trends.”

The conference heard from the Presidents of Botswana, Chad, Gabon and Tanzania, and the foreign minister of Ethiopia, who announced theElephant Protection Initiative to secure new funding from private and public sources for implementation of the African Elephant Action Plan.

Under the Elephant Protection Initiative, these African leaders all pledged to refrain from any trade in ivory products for a minimum of 10 years and to close their existing domestic ivory markets.

The British charity Stop Ivory announced it will make an initial $2 million available to launch the Elephant Protection Initiative.

Chad’s President Idriss Déby announced the destruction of his country’s ivory stockpile to protect Central Africa’s savannah elephants. On February 21 President Déby will lead his cabinet to Zakouma National Park for the burning of 1.2 tons of ivory that have been stockpiled in Chad over the past five years. The ivory burn is part of Zakouma National Park’s 50th anniversary event, which will commemorate the 23 guards slain on duty at Zakouma since 1998.

Botswana will host a conference in early 2015 to review progress against the commitments made in the London Declaration.

Heather Sohl, chief species advisor at WWF-UK, said, “Governments signing the London Declaration today sent a strong message: wildlife crime is a serious crime and it must be stopped. This trafficking devastates species populations, but also takes the lives of rangers, impedes countries’ economic development and destabilises society by driving corruption. This is a crisis, not just at a national or regional scale, but one that demands urgent global attention.”