Africa has lost 90 per cent of its elephant population because of the illegal elephant killing and ivory trade.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism urged African elephant range states to collaborate in the fight against elephant killings and ivory trade.
Speaking at the Elephant Protection Initiative Governance Technical Meeting held here Thursday, State Minister Tadelech Dalecho said the cooperation of all range state is essential to address the challenges that face elephants in Africa.
“Our elephants have the right to live,” she said, and called upon the members of Elephant Protection Initiative to join hands to save the precious lives of elephants.
Development partners, NGOs, the private sector and citizens should support the EPI by financing the Elephant Action Plan, Tadelech pointed out.
CEO of Stop Ivory, Alexander Rhodes said on his part the initiative has brought nine African countries to support the ivory crisis and secure the future for elephants across the continent.
According to him, Africa has lost 90 per cent of its elephant population because of the illegal elephant killing and ivory trade.
The purpose of the technical meeting is to bring member countries to discuss how each country’s efforts could be amplified through working together under an African plan for protecting elephants, Rhodes stated.
Stop Ivory has reportedly extended two million USD to support the implementation of the Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI) when it was launched.
EPI was launched in February 2014 by Ethiopia, Botswana, Chad, Gabon and Tanzania. The African countries, Uganda, Malawi, Kenya and Gambia also joined the initiative later.
The objective of the initiative is to bring range states, Non-range states, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, the private sector and citizens to work in partnership in protecting elephants and stopping ivory trade.