| On 27th May 2016, the Chimpanzee Trust organized a public dialogue under the theme "Illegal wildlife trade and trafficking in Uganda". This dialogue brought together several conservationists in Uganda and a question that had all of them talking. The Acting Commissioner, Wildlife Conservation in the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Dr. Akankwasa Barirega was the presenter, Dr. Andrew Seguya, Mr. Achilles Byaruhanga, Mr. Tadeo Muhindo, Rubirizi district RDC, Mr. Kule Muranga Joseph were the panelists and Mr. Onesimus Muhwezi, Team Leader Energy and Environment, UNDP Moderator of the discussion.
Dr. Akankwasa in his presentation mentioned that price fluctuations in the market for ivory from $300 to $5 and later an increase to $2100 per kilogram in china by 2014 accounted for the death of 229,729 elephants between 2009 and 2014, this alone was a setback in decades of conservation awareness.
In his submission Andrew Sseguya ,the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) Executive Director,pointed out that the illegal wildlife trade is broader than ivory trade, which includes pangolins, birds, among many other wildlife species
The problem of poaching is deeper than the poacher who goes to national park and kills an elephant or rhino for their teeth. The problem of poaching goes further than whether Ivory should be burnt or not burnt. It only comes closer and closer to who the end users are.
The only question remains, whose responsibility is it to educate the end users about ivory based products and the consequences of their desire for these products? Whose responsibility is it to identify all the products on the market that are ivory built or mixed with a bit of ivory powder?
All the chimpanzees at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary are a result of illegal wildlife trade and trafficking. The rescued ones at Ngamba are the few lucky ones. Noting that about 10 wild chimpanzees would have died for any one chimpanzee to be taken out of their natural habitats.
On 5th June we celebrate the UN World Environment Day (WED), this year they encourage us to ‘Go Wild for Life’. World Environment Day is all about encouraging worldwide awareness for the protection of our environment. Since 1974 it has become a global outreach for awareness and is renowned in over 100 countries. Each year WED is themed on a different topical environmental concern and this year they chose to focus on the illegal wildlife trade.
As Chimpanzee Trust, our contributions to the celebrations are by organizing the Public Dialogue on the topic "Illegal Wildlife Trade and Trafficking in Uganda" and we are fully participating at the celebrations taking place in Gulu, Uganda on 6th June, 2016. |
