Brussels, 04/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - The EU is to invest €12.3 million in a new programme to increase the protection of species under threat of extinction in the ACP (Africa/Caribbean/Pacific) partner countries which are home to some of the rarest animal species on the planet, such as rhinoceroses, great apes and marine turtles. The European Commission announced this move on Tuesday 3 December at the African Elephant Summit (2- 4 December, Gaborone, Botswana) on the the urgent measures to be taken to fight the re-emergence of the poaching of African elephants and the illegal trade in ivory.
Like its predecessor, in place since 2001 in the framework of the ACP/EU partnership, the new programme, known as MIKES (Minimising the Illegal Killing of Elephants and other Endangered Species), will be paid for under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) over five years (2014-2018).
It aims to improve the system of monitoring biodiversity and threats to it and will no longer cover just elephants, but will also be extended to great apes and African rhinoceroses, as well as other species, such as marine turtles in the Caribbean and the Pacific. In order to fight illegal killing, it will pay for training on the application of the law, technical support for organising patrol systems as well as operational support when required. An emergency reaction mechanism will be set up to face any sudden increases in illegal killings of elephants and other species and the related international trade.
MIKES will be implemented in the framework of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in cooperation with 31 African elephant range states as well as in selected protected area sites in the Caribbean and Pacific regions.
“Illegal killing of endangered species is currently one of the major threats to wildlife in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. It involves heavily armed and organised criminal networks, which contribute to insecurity and therefore hamper development. This calls for a coherent approach with a view to tackling the threat both to biodiversity and security in these three regions”, stresses European Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.
Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for the Environment, welcomes the fact that the programme lays emphasis on a better application of the CITES rules and aims to minimise the devastating effects of the illegal trafficking in wild species on biodiversity. “However, given the recent dramatic increase in demand for illicit wildlife products and the fact that wildlife crime has also become a serious threat to security, political stability, natural resources and the rule of law, the EU needs to consider whether its current approach is sufficient in tackling the many different facets of this issue”, the commissioner noted.
Since 2001, the first version of MIKES, which aimed solely to protect elephants, has made it possible to gather enough data to prove that there has been an alarming increase in elephant poaching and an intensification in the international trafficking of ivory from their tusks. In 2012, some 22,000 elephants were illegally killed across the African continent, more than the annual birth rate, suggesting that elephant populations are falling. Ivory trafficking is also on the increase, as shown by the record seizure of 35 tonnes in 2011. (AN/transl.fl)