Zimbabwe Government to Benefit from Ivory Sales, China to purchase Ivory

Catherine Brahic, online environment reporter for the NewScientist Blog, reports today that Zimbabwe, along with other Southern African nations, will be permitted to sell a portion of its Ivory stockpile to China.



Brahic asks if the overseeing body, the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), has even considered whether or not Zimbabwe's government should be able to directly profit from the sales. CITES defense at the moment is that "All profits generated by the sale need to be put towards elephant conservation or community development projects." How does CITES realistically think this is possible in the current political climate in Zimbabwe?