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Update 15 June: The decision to restrict the trade of red and pink corals has been reversed. The decision was initially passed on 13 June, but Algeria and Morocco pushed for discussions to be reopened during the last plenary session on 15 June. As a result of the plenary vote, trade in red and pink corals will not be restricted.

Original article:

Southern African countries have been permitted to sell off their stocks of ivory in return for a nine-year moratorium on further sales.

The deal was hailed as a boon for the continent’s beleaguered elephants, despite reports that such legal trade agreements make little difference to elephant survival.

The deal was hammered out by African environment ministers in a late-night bargaining session at a meeting of 169 member countries of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) at The Hague, Netherlands.

The meeting also agreed to protect other species, including restricting trade in red and pink corals, which are prized as jewellery.

CITES members voted to delay regulating export of corals for 18 months, partly because of worries by southern European producers that they would need time to adapt to new trade rules. Individuals will be able to carry a personal allowance of up to seven pieces of finished jewellery.

African divide

International trade in elephant ivory was banned in 1990, due to plummeting elephant stocks. But in 1997, CITES allowed South Africa, Botswana and Namibia – where elephant numbers were growing – to sell stocks of ivory taken from poachers or dead elephants. That sale took place in 1999.

Last week, the three countries asked for another sale and, with Zimbabwe, also asked for the resumption of regular, controlled exports.

In an unusual African split, they were opposed by other African countries, including Kenya and Mali, that consider elephants a valuable tourist attraction. They called for a 20-year ban on ivory sales, arguing, with conservationists, that trade encourages poaching and makes it harder to protect elephants.

A compromise was reached early on 14 June. The southern states will sell their stocks – thought to amount to 60 tonnes of ivory – to Japan. Then all sales must stop for nine years while a continent-wide elephant conservation plan is agreed.

“This is a clear win for elephants,” said Peter Pueschel of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, although the organisation fears the legal sale will encourage poaching.

However, the CITES ruling may have limited impact on the illegal ivory trade. A report by the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) found that the corruption index of the country concerned was the only factor linked to elephant killings.