杂志汇中国与非洲

Now when Chinese tourists go abroad they will be able to see anti-wildlife trade promotional posters at airports and ports. And they will also receive text messages reminding them not to buy and carry ivory products.

Zhang Qi, Chief, General Affairs Division of Endangered Species Import and Export Management Office under the State Forestry Administration

To Zhou Fei, a former diplomat who has traveled the world, Africa is the most beautiful place he has ever visited. Zhou was especially captivated by the thrill of seeing wildlife living the way nature intended. “They belong not only to Africa but also to the world,” he said at a wildlife protection workshop held in Johannesburg, South Africa in April.

Zhou is now head of the China program of TRAFFIC, an international organization aiming to promote the conservation of nature. In April, Zhou traveled to Africa as a member of a wildlife protection taskforce, made up of Chinese wildlife protection experts from the State Forestry Administration (SFA), General Administration of Customs, and representatives from TRAFFIC and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Two workshops in Johannesburg, South Africa and Maputo, Mozambique aimed at introducing China’s wildlife protection laws and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) regulations to Chinese living and working in these African countries, helping raise their wildlife protection awareness and discouraging them from buying and carrying wildlife products back to China.

With about 130 local Chinese participants, the two workshops represented part of the cross-border joint efforts China and Africa have taken in recent years to protect wildlife and curb its illegal trade in Africa.

Anti-poaching efforts

Wildlife is suffering an unprecedented crisis worldwide. Take the African elephant as an example. The animal’s population has decreased by 60 percent in the past decade, due to reasons such as the loss of their natural habitat and poaching for their tusks, meat and skin, said Zhang Qi, chief of the General Affairs Division of Endangered Species Import and Export Management Office under SFA, China’s CITES Management Authority, addressing the workshop. Surveys on wildlife show that 450,000 to 650,000 elephants now live in Africa, Zhang said. In recent years, around 20,000 have been poached annually.

Africa’s rhinos face a similar predicament. South Africa, home to around 80 percent of Africa’s estimated 25,000 rhinos, has seen poaching numbers rocket to a record 1,215 in 2014 from 13 in 2007. In 2015, a total of 1,175 rhinos were slaughtered in South Africa. Continent-wide, a record 1,338 rhinos lost their lives to poachers.

On April 30, Kenya set ablaze 105 tons of elephant tusks and 1.3 tons of rhino horns. The bonfire was meant to send the message to the world that ivory has no value and its trade should be banned. (see A Burning Issue on page 34)

Like Kenya, many African countries have realized the problem and have begun taking action. Mozambique, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Botswana, Uganda and Angola, among others, have increased punishment for wildlife trafficking. In Mozambique, endangering rare species and poaching could result in fines of up to $90,000 and a potential 12 years in prison.

Tougher laws

China has expanded its ban on ivory imports to protect African elephants. On March 22, China extended to December 31, 2019 the ban on the import of African elephant ivory carvings acquired after the CITES regulations took effect in 1975 and African elephant ivories acquired as hunting trophies. A new ban in March forbids the import of ivories and their products acquired before the CITES regulations became effective.

China became a CITES party in 1981, and set up a CITES law enforcement coordination taskforce in December 2011. The taskforce integrates forces from the forestry, customs, agriculture, industry and commerce, and public security sectors to coordinate domestic actions and cross-border collaborations. Now it has offices in the 31 provincial administrative regions on the Chinese mainland.

Figures from China’s Supreme People’s Court show that nearly 700 individuals were prosecuted during the past 10 years, with penalties for their involvement in wildlife crimes ranging from three years to life imprisonment.

China destroyed more than 660 kg of confiscated elephant ivories in Beijing on May 29, 2015. It was the third public destruction since January 2014, following similar initiatives in Dongguan (6.2 tons) and Hong Kong (28 tons). Observers say China’s efforts in cracking down on illegal ivory trade has sent an unequivocal message that the Chinese Government does not and will not tolerate this illegal trade.

China’s e-commerce operators and logistics companies have also joined the campaign to combat wildlife crimes on social media platforms. In 2014, nine of the largest e-commerce, social media and antique collectible companies, including Alibaba and Tencent, reaffirmed their zero tolerance for illegal wildlife trade. The Tencent Group owns the mobile text and voice messaging communication app WeChat. The traditional Chinese medicine sector and 10 Chinese travel agencies followed suit.

“Now when Chinese tourists go abroad they will be able to see anti-wildlife trade promotional posters at airports and ports,” Zhang said. “And they will also receive text messages reminding them not to buy and carry ivory products.”

China-Africa cooperation

China’s support for anti-poaching efforts in Africa has grown in recent years.

In January 2013, the China-led Operation Cobra, which worked across 22 countries in Asia and Africa, initiated a new model to jointly fight illegal trafficking of endangered wildlife. Later that year, China and 28 countries in Africa, Asia and North America conducted Operation Cobra 2,  a ground-breaking global operation to fight poaching and wildlife trafficking.

In December 2015, when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Zimbabwe, he reiterated China’s commitment to wildlife protection. He also pointed out that wildlife protection is one of the key areas in ChinaZimbabwe cooperation, and China will continue to help Zimbabwe improve its capability of protecting wild animals through donating equipment and exchange of experience.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, during his state visit to Kenya in May 2014, said China would enhance cooperation with Kenya to protect wildlife. Li said the Chinese Government would provide Africa with $10 million for wildlife preservation and protection of biological diversity.

Chinese volunteers from the non-governmental China-Zimbabwe Wildlife Fund have also joined the Zimbabwe Park and Wildlife Management Authority in its anti-poaching actions.