Rhino conservation is a global challenge, involving the African and Asian countries where rhinos live, the countries where rhino horn is consumed, and the countries through which horn transits along illegal trade routes. Uzbekistan in Central Asia might not be the first place that comes to mind when discussing rhinos, but earlier this month it hosted the Conference of the Parties (CoP20) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Marking 50 years of regulating international wildlife trade, CITES brought together governments, experts and NGOs—including Save the Rhino, participating as an observer at a CoP for the first time.
Debates on Namibia’s rhino proposals
Rhino issues were first discussed at the end of CoP20’s opening week, when Namibia presented two proposals related to managing its white and black rhino populations and their national horn stockpiles. Namibia’s first proposal sought changes that would, among other things, allow legal trade in white rhino horn stockpiles. Many Parties praised Namibia’s strong rhino conservation track record—a view Save the Rhino upholds as a long-term supporter of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism. However, several Parties, including the EU and its Member States, Kenya, and the United States, raised concerns about the pressure that regulating a parallel legal trade would place on enforcement resources to counter illegal killing and illegal trade and so would risk stimulating illegal activity. Save the Rhino shares these concerns.
Other countries, and particularly rhino range states, including Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, as well as China and Japan, voiced support, emphasising the need for sustainable financing for rhino conservation and the potential value of carefully regulated trade. Namibia requested a secret ballot, resulting in 31 votes in favour, 70 against and 18 abstentions, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed. Although the ballot was secret, the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States chose to publicly share that they had voted against the proposal.
Namibia’s second proposal sought to move its black rhino population from Appendix I to Appendix II, which would also enable legal trade in these horn stockpiles. Several countries— including Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Japan—spoke in support. Zimbabwe highlighted the need for a dedicated range-state dialogue on sustainable financing for black rhino conservation, an idea Save the Rhino agrees could be valuable. Again, the EU and its Member States, Kenya, the United States and others opposed the proposal while recognising Namibia’s conservation achievements. After another secret ballot, the proposal was rejected (28 in favour, 80 against, 9 abstentions). The EU and its Member States, the UK, and the US later stated that they had voted against, while China noted that it had voted in favour.
Save the Rhino agrees with the decisions taken. While we fully recognise the financial and logistical pressures faced by rhino range states, and the need for sustainable long-term funding, the proposals did not provide clear or convincing information about the mechanisms that would be essential in managing a legal horn trade. Key unanswered questions included:
• How trade would be controlled within potential importing countries (which have existing domestic rhino horn trade bans)
• How leakage into the illegal market would be prevented
• How changes in supply would affect consumer behaviour and demand
• What systems would govern sales, exports, or verification of trading partners
Namibia proposed relying on the CITES Secretariat to verify importing countries, but no evidence was provided that the Secretariat had the capacity or resources to take on this responsibility. We have a real concern that had the proposals been approved, the lack of necessary controls over a new legal trade, would have increased risks to white and black rhino populations in Namibia, in other range states and for other rhino species.