According to the Associate Press, "The South African government will press ahead with plans to sell just over 51 tons of ivory to China and Japan under a special exemption to the international ban on the trade" (full story here, picture by Edgar Thissen). The story points out that environmentalists generally do not support this type of thing because they fear that it may re-ignite the illegal ivory trade and increase poaching incidents. Yet, the story also says, "After the sale, South Africa and its neighbors will not be allowed to export ivory again for nine years and must use the sale proceeds for programs to protect their elephant populations", which seems satisfactory to me.

The article also fails to identify where the ivory is coming from. Is this ivory seized from illegal poachers? Or, is this ivory yet to be taken from elephants? The answer to this question would greatly influence me on this issue.

I did a little digging, and it turns out that story from 2007 says that, "Botswana and Namibia have submitted petitions to establish annual export quotas for ivory. Tanzania wants permission to sell 100 tons of elephant tusks. Kenya and Mali, on the other hand, are demanding a 20-year moratorium on the ivory trade be continued so that they can increase efforts to bring poaching and smuggling under control" (full story here). I'm not sure that Kenya and Mali have it right. If the idea is to sell the ivory that the government has seized from illegal poaching, and use the money to protect the elephants (as the AP story seems to imply), then it seems like a good idea.

Another news article seems to imply that the main areas in which poaching takes place are the semi-lawless areas in Africa, like Congo, Sudan, and Chad. It says, "In Africa, much of the elephant decimation has taken place in conflict areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Southern Sudan, Central African Republic and Chad. According to the Independent UK, Experts have warned that militias such as the Sudanese Janjaweed and rebel groups in Congo have begun to use ivory as a source of income. The slaughter of elephants is now funding the killing of humans" (full story here).

Perhaps those countries who have proven that they are in control of poaching, such as South Africa, could begin to pursue a controlled export of ivory. I'm not suggesting that they decimate the elephant population. But if they are truly faced with a need for population control for elephants as the AP story indicates (it says, "Even though the elephant is classed as "vulnerable" at international level, South Africa's elephant population of 20,000 is set to double by 2020, placing a heavy toll on the balance of nature in the Kruger National Park and other wildlife centers"), then perhaps the elephants killed as a means of controlling the population could have their ivory harvested. My initial instinct is that this activity would need to be monitored by some sort of independent agency which does not have ties to the government who is doing the selling, or the buying, so as to insure a control.