This week saw the world stand for survival of the Giraffe and the African elephant at the ongoing Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Kenya sought to get protection status by listing all nine (9) Giraffe subspecies in Appendix II and all Elephants in Appendix I and preventing any downlisting of elephants or reopening of ivory trade.
We were successful in all but the last of these endeavors thanks to overwhelming support from the 32- member African Elephant Coalition, the EU, US, group of Latin America and Caribbean states and other like-minded countries.
Giraffes are now listed in Appendix II to allow for trade monitoring and population status. No downlisting of elephants was allowed and no changes to allow ivory trade was allowed either.
So, it has been a great week for the Giraffe and the African Elephant. However, the challenges remains, that is improving livelihoods, law enforcement, and closure of domestic ivory markets wherever they occur.
Kenya calls upon all African elephant range states to continue seeking solutions that will ensure the survival of African elephant for posterity
