Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support the Government (a) has provided and (b) plans to provide to governments in Africa for eradicating the killing of animals for the ivory trade.

Rory Stewart

The UK Government works closely with African and other countries to promote the conservation of the world’s wildlife, including through galvanising action to end the illegal trade in ivory.

We hosted the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in February 2014, and supported the Government of Botswana in its hosting of a follow-up Conference in March 2015.

The UK actively supports the African-led Elephant Protection Initiative, launched in the margins of the London Conference, which now has eleven African countries as members. We have committed over £1 million to this initiative over the last two years.

Defra’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund has made grants to 19 projects in its first round, including eight projects in Africa, worth £2.1 million, tackling the ivory trade. Projects to be funded under a second round will be announced shortly.

The UK is also providing training in counter-poaching activity in Gabon, through the Ministry of Defence, and has provided support for judicial capacity building in skills related to tackling the illegal trade in wildlife products in Kenya and Tanzania.