14 DAY TRIAL // The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) now wishes to congratulate the Central African Republic on its decision to undergo a so-called ivory audit.
More precisely, high officials in this country recently saw fit to deal with issues such as poaching and wildlife crimes by conducting a thorough investigation of its ivory stocks.
Their goal is to know exactly how much ivory has been confiscated by authorities throughout the years.
Later on, they plan on getting all this ivory together in a secure location in Bangui, the country's capital.
Thanks to this ivory audit, both the country's officials and local police officers will have a considerably easier task when it comes to making sure the ivory does not get stolen and put back on the illegal market.
Commenting on this endeavor, Jean-Bernard Yarissem, presently employed as the WWF Country Coordinator in the Central African Republic, made a case of how, “The Central African Republic is under siege by these well-armed transnational criminal gangs of poachers, seriously affecting the security, economy and social prospects of the country.”
Furthermore, “But the independent ivory audit is a signal to the world that the country will not be an idle victim of this crisis and will take appropriate measures to ensure the rule of law is respected throughout its territory.”
Apparently, it will take about three months before this nation-wide ivory audit is done with and the existing ivory stocks are sent to Bangui, where they can be kept safe from those involved in illegal trading activities.
For the time being, the WWF also recommends that, once grouped together, the ivory stocks targeted by this green-oriented audit be destroyed in order to avoid any potential future clashes with poachers and illegal wildlife traders.
The news of this ivory audit comes shortly after as many as 1,209 elephants tusks were confiscated by authorities in Hong Kong and kept from hitting the illegal markets now up and running in various parts of the world.