PRESS
RELEASE
For the five Chinese wood buyers
recently arrived in Gabon it must have seemed like an exotic treat when workers
of the EBS (Emirates Bois Sarl) logging company operating east of Makokou in NE
Gabon invited them to sit down for a meal of freshly butchered roasted elephant
trunk. But acting on a tip off from a Gabonese citizen who was shocked to see
this behavior, a team from Gabon’s National Parks Service arrived before they
could savour their meal. The five visitors and a
further nine resident Chinese workers are in custody and a criminal
investigation is underway.
Senior Conservator, Dr. Joseph
Okouyi, described how his team found fresh and smoked meat from several
elephants in the kitchen, as well as ivory trinkets and chop sticks carved by
the forestry workers in their spare time from ivory purchased from local
poachers. They also had a stash of giant pangolin scales, used in traditional Chinese
medicine, a pair of horns from the rare Bongo antelope, and a Winchester rifle.
National parks staff subsequently
arrested one of the hunters who had provided elephant meat and ivory to the Chinese
buyers, confiscating an illegal elephant gun and a large tusk. A fresh carcass
was subsequently discovered in the forest. The investigation is ongoing and Dr.
Okouyi expects to prosecute on Monday morning.
Professor Lee White CBE, head of
Gabon’s National Parks Agency was in New York to attend a special event at the
Clinton Global Initiative hosted by Former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton
and her daughter Chelsea when he received news of the arrest. “This incident is
not an isolated one” he stated. “Unfortunately these guests in our country have
abused our hospitality and rather than contributing to the sustainable
development of Gabon through their forestry operations they are driving the
destruction of our natural heritage”. Professor White went on to stress the
fact that elephant and rhino poaching are out of control across most of Africa
and that 75% of all forest elephants have been slaughtered in the last decade
by poachers who are more and more aggressive and who have developed links to
organized crime”.
Speaking at
the United Nations President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon stressed that: “The
magnitude of illicit gains from rhino horn, ivory and other wildlife products,
has made organized criminal networks more and more aggressive. Today, many of
our wildlife rangers are involved in combat situations similar to that seen by
Special Forces in armed conflicts. Illicit wildlife trade is destabilizing
entire countries, and is negatively impacting the growth of national
economies”. He stressed the need for “concerted action from the international
community as a whole to tackle this issue”, saying that “source, transit and
market countries all need to work together”, calling for the UN Secretary
General “to appoint a Special Envoy for Wildlife Crime, who should be charged
with spearheading a global response to this pressing issue”.
The Gabonese
Ambassador to the United States, Michael Moussa-Adamo, who was present at the
Clinton Global Initiative ceremony, stated that “for many years, our country
has taken seriously the responsibility to preserve and protect the natural
environment. Gabon's people recognize the
threats that put our flora and fauna in danger – whether it is the threat of
poaching or the threat of climate change, which alters the precarious balance
among plants, animals, and people. We
welcome this opportunity to cooperate with the Clinton Global Initiative on
this significant new effort to conserve the lives and habitat of the African
forest elephant.”
Contacts
Prof. Lee White CBE, Executive
Secretary, Gabonese National Parks Agency, Tel. +24107840063; Email: lwhite@parcsgabon.ga
Ref. photo library on
website
11 Chinese forestry workers arrested for ivory poaching in
Makokou, NE Gabon, 25 September 2013
Chinese forestry workers had been working ivory provided by
local poachers. Also in picture two horns from the rare Bongo antelope and an
elephant gun seized by national parks staff
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