South African minister backs legalisation of rhino horn trade
South African minister backs legalisation of rhino horn trade
Edna Molewa says proposal could be solution to poaching, which has recently led to record numbers being killed
David Smith in Johannesburg
guardian.co.uk, Monday 25 March 2013 11.23 EDT
South Africa's environmental affairs minister has backed a radical proposal to legalise the international trade in rhino horn as a means of neutralising the black market and saving the threatened species.
Edna Molewa said she believes legalisation could be a solution to the scourge of rhino poaching, which saw a record 668 of the animals killed in South Africa last year, fuelled by demand for horn in south-east Asia. But her stand is likely to be met with fierce opposition from conservationists.
"We believe it is the right direction as one of the measures," Molewa told South Africa's Mail & Guardian newspaper during a recent Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) meeting in Bangkok.
"The model that we have is based on pure law of supply and demand. Economics 101.
"Our rhinos are killed every day and the numbers are going up. The reality is that we have done all in our power and doing the same thing every day isn't working. We do think that we need to address this issue of trade in a controlled manner so that we can at least begin to push down this pressure."
More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/25/south-africa-rhino-horn-trade
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