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FLORA AND FAUNA
Indonesia plans tougher punishments for poachers
by Staff Writers
Jakarta (AFP) June 8, 2016


France seizes 350 kg of ivory
Ivry-Sur-Seine, France (AFP) June 8, 2016 - French customs said Wednesday that officers had seized over 350 kilogrammes (770 pounds) of elephant tusks in recent weeks, the biggest haul of ivory in the country in ten years.

"We are dealing with organised networks who are slowly destroying African elephants," said Helene Crocquevieille, director general of the customs agency.

The ivory was seized in two separate cases.

Customs agents were alerted to one network when, during a road transport check in September, they discovered four elephant tusks in a car.

Investigations led them to a French-Vietnamese businessman in Paris who had 212 kg of tusks hidden in wooden pallets in his office, which agents discovered on May 25.

Brice Gutermann, head of the customs unit in the western city of Nantes who led the probe, said the suspect had his own company that dealt in beauty products, perfume and selling antiques.

"He used this to organise the trafficking of ivory," said Gutermann.

A dew days later, on June 1, customs agents at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport said they intercepted a man on his way from Angola to Vietnam who was carrying 26 elephant tusks, weighing 142 kg, in his luggage.

The passenger was sentenced to 18 months in prison and handed a 140,000 euro ($160,000) fine.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) banned the ivory trade in 1989.

Africa is home to between 450,000 to 500,000 elephants, but more than 30,000 are killed every year on the continent to satisfy demand for ivory, largely in Asia where raw tusks sell for around $1,000 a kilo.

Indonesia plans to quadruple maximum jail terms for animal poachers and traffickers in a major overhaul of wildlife crime laws, but environmentalists expressed scepticism Wednesday the changes would be effective.

Maximum sentences for poaching and trading protected animals will be increased from five years to 20 under the new legislation proposed by the environment and forestry ministry.

"We want stronger law enforcement, we want people who transgress the law to face higher sentences," Tachrir Fathoni, a senior ministry official who is spearheading efforts get the law passed, told AFP.

Indonesia is one of the most biodiverse nations on Earth, home to vast tracts of rainforest and a kaleidoscope of rare animals, from orangutans to tigers and rhinos.

But many have been pushed to the brink of extinction. While destruction of their habitats due to rampant logging has played a role, endangered animals are also frequently targeted by poachers who sell their body parts for use in Chinese medicine.

The government has faced criticism for inaction, with green groups saying laws relating to protected animals are not strong enough.

The environment and forestry ministry hopes the planned overhaul of the old law, which dates from 1990, can improve the situation.

The ministry will submit its proposal to parliament in the coming months, and hopes the new regulations will come into force next year.

Environmental group WWF welcomed the proposed overhaul but cautioned that it will not solve the problem of weak enforcement in far-flung parts of the archipelago, where laws set in Jakarta are often flouted.

"Having a new set of rules doesn't mean much if the law isn't being enforced," said WWF Indonesia spokesman Nyoman Iswarayoga.

"Better supervision, investigating cases more intensively, and monitoring how animals are being sold are equally important."

Critics also point out that changes to the law won't necessarily translate to longer jail sentences. Convictions for wildlife crime are rare, and courts have been criticised for not taking poaching and trafficking seriously enough and handing down short sentences.

Fathoni insisted efforts were being made to improve enforcement, with a new senior position focusing on enforcing the law created in his ministry, and specialist police officers dispatched to every province to tackle wildlife crime.

However he admitted the Indonesian government faced an uphill battle as demand for endangered species remains high.

"As long as there is demand, the supply will keep coming," he said.


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Previous Report
FLORA AND FAUNA
Myanmar eyes closure of wildlife trade hub on Chinese border
Yangon (AFP) June 7, 2016
Myanmar authorities plan to shut down a notorious border town where exotic animal parts are sold openly, an official said Tuesday, as Southeast Asia struggles to stem a billion-dollar wildlife trade fuelled by Chinese demand. Mong La, a lawless border town located in rebel-held territory in Myanmar's Shan state, is a market for endangered species and products - such as elephant tusks and ti ... read more


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