Namibia fails to overturn rhino horn trade ban at CITES meeting in Samarkand

Namibia’s bid to lift a ban on international trade in black and white rhino horns has been rejected at a major conservation meeting.

Earlier this week, the vote for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) was adopted at a meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Thursday.

Namibia also proposed overturning a ban on African savanna ivory, but that was also rejected.

The rhino horn trade proposal has attracted attention mainly because Namibia pioneered the practice of dehorning rhinos in 1989, so the rhinos were no longer valuable to poachers.

Dehorning is followed by other southern African countries such as Zimbabwe, Swaziland and South Africa.

Rhino horn is highly prized in traditional Asian medicine and is a status symbol in China, Vietnam and some other Southeast Asian countries.

Namibia has put forward two separate proposals – one for black rhinos and another for southern white rhinos.

Both failed miserably, with only about 30 votes in favor out of about 120.

Cites regulations require a two-thirds majority for a proposal to pass.

Black rhinos are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). According to the IUCN report, by 2023, there will be only 6,421 individuals left in the world, a decrease of more than 90% since 1960.

Southern white rhinos are less dangerous – they are listed as Near Threatened, with a population of 15,752. But that number has fallen by 11% since 2023, reaching its lowest point since the current rhino poaching crisis began nearly two decades ago.

The Cites banned the trade in horns and other rhino parts in 1977, but poaching continues and more than 8,000 rhinos have been lost in the past 10 years, according to Save the Rhino International.

The number of rhinos poached in Namibia was the highest on record in 2022, with 87 rhinos killed, nearly double the previous year, government data shows.

While this is the first time Namibia has tabled two proposals seeking to lift a ban on rhino horn trade, the country has in the past supported similar proposals in other southern African countries such as South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

Experts say the main reason these countries want to lift the ban is because they have accumulated large stocks of rhino horn over the years.

“Namibia and other countries that support the rhino trade have accumulated large stocks of rhino horns that they wish to trade,” Tyler Tench, senior wildlife policy analyst at the Environmental Investigation Agency, told the BBC.

“Namibia’s stock of white rhino horn is estimated at 6.45 tonnes and black rhino horn stock at 4.6 tonnes. South Africa’s stock is likely to be at least four times that.”

The main reason for the rapid increase in horn stocks in these countries is believed to be dehorning programmes.

The idea is that if a rhino doesn’t have horns, it has no value to poachers and therefore won’t be killed.

The horns are removed above the growth plate, much like a human fingernail would be cut, which means it is painless.

But this also means the horns will grow back and need to be sawed off repeatedly.

As a result, their inventories are building up quickly.

Mr Tench said: “The reason for not destroying the horns is speculative hoarding by governments and individuals.”

“Some countries, such as Kenya, destroy their rhino horn stocks, while others, such as Namibia and South Africa, stockpile rhino horn in the hope of profiting from it when international trade becomes legal.”

CNN has contacted both governments for comment.

Supporters of the rhino horn trade argue it will generate revenue that can be used to support conservation efforts.

Experts say many private rhino owners in Africa support legalization because of the high cost of anti-poaching measures.

But those opposed to open trade argue it will stimulate demand, leading to a huge increase in poaching.

They say the legal trade in rhino horn – especially domestic markets in countries like China and Vietnam – was a major driver of the rhino poaching crisis in the 1970s and 1980s.

Rhino populations around the world remain at risk of poaching, and illegal trade continues.

According to a recent report by Traffic and IUCN, more than 150 rhino horns were seized globally between 2021 and 2023, with an estimated 1.8 tons of rhino horn seized, equivalent to 716 whole horns.

South Africa accounted for 66% of seizures by weight, with large shipments destined for Malaysia and Vietnam, the report said.