Zimbabwe makes ivory stockpile sale plea

Zimbabwe’s government wants to sell some of its ivory and rhino horn stockpile – estimated to be around $600m (£480m) by the state-run Herald newspaper – to help fund its conservation efforts.

Environment Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu made the appeal ahead of a world conservation conference that is to be held in Panama in November.

He told the BBC that close to 65% of the world’s elephant population was in the country which had a huge impact on human habits.

The Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) only permits the trade in elephants in exceptional circumstances.

“Conservation is very expensive,” the minister told the BBC’s Newsday programme.

He said that he did not want the issue to be politicised and that on two previous occasions that Cites had allowed ivory stockpile sales, the money had been ploughed back into protecting wildlife.

The Covid pandemic had also meant that tourism revenues – used for conservation – had plummeted over the last two years, he said.

BBC/Emmanuel Ukoh