Zimbabwe plans to sell its ivory stockpile to China, except… it can’t
Zimbabwe’s environment minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri wants to sell her country’s supposed $10bn ivory stockpile to China using a possible international legal loophole. However, experts say that not only is the minister misinformed that such a loophole exists, but her assessment of the size and value of her nation’s stockpile is grossly overestimated. Media reports from within Zimbabwe claim it sits on 96,000 tons of ivory valued at $10bn. "The minister is not only confusing kilos with tons, but also millions with billions," said Alejandro Nadal, a professor at the Centre for Economic Studies, El Colegio de Mexico who specialises in wildlife trade. Muchinguri-Kashiri informed the Zimbabwean parliament recently that as a Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) member, Zimbabwe can legally take out a reservation against the current global ban on ivory as long as it’s within 90 days of the Conference of the Parties (CoP17), which ended in Johannesburg on October 5. A r...
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