Yolan Friedmann- CEO of EWT: It is quite understandable that with the horrific incidences of rhino poaching showing no sign of abating in 2014, people are growing desperate for magic solutions and quick fixes. Facebook and blogs are riddled with calls for death sentences and shoot-on-sight policies for poachers, and well-meaning but short sighted suggestions of erecting 30 foot electric fences between South Africa and our neighbours. The more astute pro-trade lobby has been feverishly working to convince the world that simply farming rhino (as we do cattle) and removing their horns, will amply supply the Asian market for rhino horn and put an end to the rampant illegal slaughter of these creatures for a product that can easily be provided without harming the animal. It sounds so simple and clean, and without an equally simple, clean and clear alternative solution to the problem, anyone who argues against this is seen to be ‘confused’, ‘bureaucratic’ and ‘anti sustainable use’. The problem is that the complex world of international organised crime, the speculation around the size, scale and drivers of the rhino horn market and the lack of knowledge surrounding some critical factors that influence the trade process, may render this magical solution a potentially devastating blow to the future of all wild rhino instead of their saviour. The assumptions that underpin the arguments for legalised trade in rhino horn are startling. They include the assumption that the price for rhino horn will decline with a legal supply, thereby dis-incentivising poachers. Or they assume that a centralised selling body that fixes prices will abolish the need for black-market horn. They assume that farmed horn will replace a demand for wild horn (an assumption that has failed with other farmed wildlife products like tiger bone and bear bile). They assume that the market will either decline or be satiated with the amount of horn legally supplied to the Asian market. This is a bit like arguing that a legal sale in cars means that there is no motive for car theft…. The problem with all the speculation and assumptions is that if we are wrong, we get no second chance. Once a legal trade in rhino horn is facilitated, even if once off, there is no coming back. The distinction between legally and illegally traded horn will be difficult if not impossible to determine, made worse by the fact that rhino horn is a consumable product, sold in many different unrecognisable guises. With elephant populations being decimated in many parts of Africa for their ivory, the laundering of wildlife products globally has become hi-tech, masterful and Big Money. The trade networks and markets are more complex than we begin to understand and simply farming our remaining 20 000 (or less) rhino to satisfy a potential market of a billion Asians is a grand, and risky solution to the impending crisis of wildlife annihilation that is facing not only rhino. The only way to address this problem, even if farsighted and seemingly impossible, is to address demand. If we DON’T do this, we may as well right off a host of species, including pangolins, an assortment of sharks and snakes, all tigers and elephants, most marine species, a variety of plants and who knows what after that? You cannot advocate on the one hand for demand reduction whilst offering the same product for sale on the other, so you have to choose your ‘solution’. Demand reduction is also complex, but it has worked and must be tried again and again. There is simply not enough left of most species to satisfy the growing demand by an expanding human populace if we simply give in to market demands. No silver bullet solutions will address the massively complex problems presented by global wildlife crime and trafficking, but the issue calls for a much deeper analysis of what underpins the issue as opposed to just feeding it. The stakes are high, not just for rhino but for the thousands of other species being traded to extinction under our very noses. No-one is glossing over the complexity or volume of work necessary to address the seemingly insatiable human demand for wildlife products, but that does not mean it is not the most important work we may ever do. If we accept now that we cannot change human behaviour, for a multitude of reasons that go much further than wildlife conservation, we would all be doomed. It is for these reasons that the EWT remains committed to working with all people to finding real solutions that secure long-term futures for our rhino, and ensuring that we begin to protect our wildlife resources, instead of reducing them to ingredients on bottles and jars. Yolan Friedmann EWT CEO
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 08:30:03 +0000