Thailands premierminister vil stoppe handel med elfenben

Forfatter billede

Under CITES konferencen i Bangkok har Thailands premierminister lovet at sætte en stopper for den omfattende ulovlige handel med elfenben i landet, som står for den største ulovlige handel med elfenben efter Kina. Det er første gang den thailandske regering har sagt dette offentligt.

BANGKOK, 3 March 2013: Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatras promise came after the call of nearly 1,5 million WWF and Avaaz supporters.

Shinawatra said at the opening of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Bangkok that Thailand would take steps to end ivory trade – the first time the Thai government has said this publicly.

Ændringer i den nationale lovgivning på vej

“As a next step we will forward amending the national legislation with the goal of putting an end on ivory trade and to be in line with international norms,” Prime Minster Shinawatra said.

“This will help protect all forms of elephants including Thailand’s wild and domestic elephants and those from Africa.”

Stor betydning for international ulovlig handel med elfenben

Ending ivory trade in Thailand – currently the world’s largest unregulated ivory market – will go a long way in stemming a global poaching crisis that is leading to the slaughter of tens of thousands of elephants each year and fuelling a global criminal trade in animal parts.

Thailand is currently the largest illegal ivory market behind China.

Officials have certified (tilladt) 67 authorized ivory vendors (forhandlere). However, market surveys have found ivory in more than 250 shops. Much of this ivory is purchased by foreign tourists.

Læs pressemeddelelsen her: http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/how_we_work/policy/conventions/cites/publications/?207736/Thai-prime-minister-announces-end-to-ivory-trade

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