Obama to launch major wildlife trafficking initiative in Africa
Source: Washington Post
By Juliet Eilperin,
President Obama will launch a new initiative in Tanzania on Monday aimed at combating illegal wildlife trafficking, according to White House officials.
Using his executive authority, Obama will convene a Cabinet-level task force composed of the State, Interior and Justice departments that will be charged with devising a national strategy to curb the illegal trade of wildlife across the globe. The initiative also will include $10 million specifically earmarked for addressing poaching in Africa, particularly of rhinos and elephants.
Grant Harris, the senior director for Africa for the National Security Council, told reporters aboard Air Force One that Obama also will announce that he will detail a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official to Tanzania to help them tackle the issue.
This illicit activity—in which elephants, rhinos, sharks and other species are hunted in developing nations and sold to consumers in wealthier countries– has reached unprecedented heights in recent years. It is now valued at between $7 billion to $10 billion a year, placing it among the world’s top five illegal activities after drugs, human trafficking, counterfeiting and arms.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/07/01/obama-to-launch-major-wildlife-trafficking-initiative-in-africa/
http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=48841.0&dlv_id=72771
Released: July 1, 2013
Species like the African elephant will benefit from Obama's pledge to improve protection for threatened wildlife populations in key African countries. © Martin Harvey/WWF-Canon
WWF welcomes President Barack Obama’s announcement of major new steps to help combat wildlife trafficking and the global crime syndicates that are driving it, including the development of a Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking and a critical $10 million pledge to improve protection for threatened wildlife populations in key African countries.
During a state visit to Tanzania today, President Obama said, "Poaching and trafficking is threatening Africa’s wildlife. Today I issued a new Executive Order to better organize U.S. government efforts in this fight so that we can cooperate with the Tanzanian government and others. This includes an additional millions of dollars to help countries across the regions to build their capacity to meet this challenge."
"The entire world has a stake in making sure we preserve Africa’s beauty for future generations," he noted.
Find out how this unprecedented pledge will help stop the slaughter of elephants and rhinos.
Learn More:
* Why do we need to stop wildlife crime?
* Get involved: How you can make a difference
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Several clickable links to info above here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/index.php
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President Barack Obama is to launch a $7 billion US-funded program to double access to electricity for people in sub-Saharan Africa, the first new big bucks initiative of his tour of the continent.
The Power Africa plan is expected to be announced during Mr. Obama’s visit to Cape Town later Sunday. It follows announcements of new US funds for food security and leadership mentoring schemes for young Africans.
Taken together, these all signal a shift in US policy that would leave the world’s poorest continent less “a dependent” or “a charity case” and more “a partner,” to use buzzwords that the president has repeated during his visit. In these times of austerity and sequestration, this new approach to foreign aid – “the least popular part of the federal budget,” Obama concedes – is also cheaper and makes use of innovative joint public-private cash vehicles.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2013/0630/Obama-pledges-to-help-double-electricity-in-sub-Saharan-Africa-video
Mahalo Steve!
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