Nigeria joins Elephant Protection Initiative to end ivory trade

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The Federal Government has formally joined the Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI), a coalition of African countries dedicated to the sustainable conservation of elephants to end ivory trade.
The Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, speaking in London at the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Conference recently, said it is their responsibility to protect species that are endangered.
“Nigeria is committed; we will continue to partner with other African countries and the world at large to ensure that the intentions of the EPI are carried out at the highest level,” he said.
A statement by the Director of Press Saghir el Mohammed said John Stephenson of the EPI Secretariat was delighted to welcome Nigeria as the 19th member state in the EPI noting that, “As an African-led initiative, it is important for us to have a true giant of the continent on board.”
“We held warm and productive talks with the Nigerian delegation in London, and we look forward to working with the Nigerian government on ways of shutting down internal ivory markets and developing a National Elephant Action Plan (NEAP),” he said.
The EPI was founded in 2014 by the leaders of Chad, Gabon, Ethiopia, Botswana and Tanzania. EPI countries are committed to shutting down internal ivory markets, putting national ivory stockpiles beyond economic use, maintaining the international moratorium on trade in ivory, and developing national elephant action plans.
These long-term plans, intended to conserve elephants and benefit the human communities who live alongside them, are designed to be compatible with the African Elephant Action Plan, which was signed by all African elephant range states in 2010.
According to the statement, Africa’s elephant population has fallen dramatically in recent decades.
“An estimated 55 African elephants are killed every day, mostly by ivory poachers. There are thought to be just over 400,000 elephants surviving in sub-Saharan Africa, compared with 1.3 million in 1979.”
Nigeria has only a few hundred surviving elephants. The largest herd is in Yankari National Park, with smaller relict populations in the forests of southern Nigeria and the savannah of northern Nigeria.
Stephenson said: “Working together with the Nigerian government, we would like to ensure the conservation of Nigeria’s elephants, and also prevent the smuggling through Nigeria of ivory largely originating from neighbouring states.”