Illegal ivory trade results from CITES approval of ekipas exports from Namibia

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A report exposing illegal ivory trade in Namibia that was fuelled by a controversial CITES decision in 2004 is now released by DSWF.

In August 2006 and April 2007, DSWF visited Namibia to investigate the ivory trade. This followed the decision in 2004 by CITES - the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species - to allow Namibia to export specialized ivory jewellery called ekipas on condition that the trade would be strictly controlled. Only ekipas set in finished jewellery and accompanied by special certificates could be exported on a "not for re-sale" basis. Namibia reassured CITES that ekipas would only be made of ivory from Namibian elephants that had died naturally and that the industry would benefit local communities.

DSWF found that the promised control scheme had not been implemented. In fact no evidence was found on either visit of any controls over ivory trade in Namibia, in breach of the CITES treaty. In their absence, an uncontrolled trade directed at tourists in all types of ivory ekipa from unknown and probably illegal sources has arisen. Owners of up-market jewellery shops and middlemen are reaping most of the profits of the ekipas market, not local communities.

During its two surveys, DSWF counted over 2,000 ekipa openly for sale in shops and markets in three tourist centres in Namibia. Most were loose and not mounted into finished jewellery. Larger numbers were found for sale in 2007 than in 2006, particularly in street markets where prices were found to have dropped, indicating that the market is expanding.

DSWF's investigators were advised to smuggle the ekipas out or to mis-declare them, or that exports are legal and don't need CITES permits. Some shops displayed news articles headlined "CITES okays trade in ekipas" as evidence that the trade had been legalised.

This new market appears to have emerged shortly before 2004, when Namibia gained export approval from CITES, and has expanded considerably since then. DSWF estimates that, in the last three years, thousands of new ekipas have been manufactured and sold to tourists. What's more, ekipas are being manufactured in other countries and smuggled into Namibia, either as finished products or blank discs, which are easier to smuggle than ivory tusks.

According to retailers and traders, ekipas from Angola, Congo, Kenya and Zambia are entering the Namibian market. DSWF photographed ekipas said to be from three of these countries - all had designs quite distinct from each other and from ekipas claimed to be from Namibia. New designs not seen in 2006 were found in 2007, indicating that the market is diversifying.

"Carvers and ivory traffickers from other countries are cashing in on Namibia's market. Illegal trade has been fuelled by the CITES decision and elephants in other countries are dying to supply ekipas", said XX of DSWF. "What has happened in Namibia represents a microcosm of what will happen on a much larger scale if ivory trade is opened up", warned XX.

Two respected Namibian jewellers who refuse to sell new ekipas because of uncertainty over the origin of the ivory, believe that most of it is from poached elephants. Most shop owners buy ekipas direct from traders who come in with bags full and don't know their source.

Middlemen involved in trafficking, interviewed in April 2007, described how raw ivory is being smuggled regularly into Namibia from Zambia and Angola hidden in sacks of food or concealed under car seats and delivered to carvers in Rundu on the border with Angola or Okahandja, a small town north of the capital Windhoek.

An open unregulated market for other ivory carvings also exists in Namibia. Hundreds of items, ranging from statues to hanko blocks (used to carve name seals in China and Japan), bead necklaces, hair slides and letter openers were documented for sale, mostly in the Okahandja tourist markets and craft shops. Most are coming from - or more likely being smuggled through - the Caprivi in north-east Namibia, while some were said to have come from Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Namibia, along with Botswana, is spearheading a campaign to open up the ivory trade at this CITES conference in The Hague 3-15 June 2007. Both countries are strongly opposed to a proposal by Kenya and Mali for a moratorium on international ivory trade for the next 20 years. Kenya and Mali have also petitioned CITES to revoke Namibia's permission to export ekipas.

Notes and findings of DSWF report

Ekipas are large hand-carved buttons. They were traditionally made by the Kwanyama people in northern Namibia and southern Angola and worn at special ceremonies. Genuine antique ekipas are now rare, most having been sold to collectors in Namibia and abroad.

At its 13th conference in Bangkok in 2004, CITES gave Namibia approval to export ivory ekipas which are "individually marked and certified" and "incorporated in finished jewellery" for non-commercial purposes.

Namibia presented CITES with details of a strict registration and certification system which would be put in place to control the trade, to be developed through a joint scheme involving government, Namibian jewellers and local carvers.

DSWF's two surveys documented a total of 29 separate shops and at least 37 separate market stalls selling ivory. Of these, 27 shops and at least 16 stalls were selling ekipas. All the ekipas documented were stated to be elephant ivory and, to the best of the knowledge of DSWF"s investigators, looked to be the case.

In 2006, DSWF recorded a total of at least 750 ekipas on sale of all shapes and sizes, 86% of which were loose and not incorporated in finished jewellery ('unmounted') and none of which had identifying marks.

In 2007, DSWF counted over 1,290 ekipas on sale, 87% of which were unmounted. The average prices of ekipas on market stalls were 1/3 of that in 2006, indicating that supply has increased in less than a year.

Carvers have become adept at making new ekipa look antique. In both surveys, claims were made by some retailers that their ekipa were antique, but only about 20% may possibly have been old and most of these were probably new.

In 2006, at least 230 carved ivory items (other than ekipas) were recorded for sale in Okahandja tourist markets. In 2007, over 120 carved ivory items were documented in these markets.

Craft and jewellery shops surveyed in 2007 displayed a total of over 300 new carved ivory items for sale. In all, over 460 carved ivory items (other than ekipas) were documented for sale in 2007.

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