Wildlife conservation

Last year, I wrote an article for the magazine Conservation about the resurgence of poaching of ivory in Africa and how new technology in forensics was being applied to helping to track down those responsible.

During the research for this article, it became clear that even an improbable increase in the rate at which poachers were caught and prosecuted would be unlikely to make any real dent on the problem of ivory poaching. There are always too many people with guns who are willing to participate. Its a similar problem with drugs.

It made me ask the question, why did the ivory ban work in 1989 and not now? It was hailed as such a conservation success. It turns out that the reason the ivory ban worked in 1989, was that it was accompanied by a massive campaign that educated most people around the world not to buy ivory. This reduced the demand, and thus the incentive to poach.

Today, increased wealth in Asia (where markets never really closed down) is driving up demand again. The ban has allowed an illegal trade to become established, one that is difficult and expensive to fight, and one that perhaps cannot be won--if lessons from other parts of organised crime hold true for wildlife. In addition, one economist I spoke with also pointed out that from an incentive point of view, not being able to trade in elephant parts was also reducing the incentive for people to keep elephants on land.

While the elephant is growing at a rate of 4% in Southern and Western Africa (mostly Tanzania) where populations are well protected, seizure rates of poached ivory suggests that something more sinister is happening elsewhere. Massive, and record, hauls of ivory are being made which may translate to an offtake rate of 7% a year or higher. Some scientist suggesting that the rates of poaching could be as high as they were prior to the 1989 ban. As I completed the piece, however, the ivory ban was extended for a further nine years by governments at an international meeting of the trade ban body (known as CITES).

Earlier this year, I started talking to more people about CITES bans, as well as economists. I wasn't surprised that the economists were doubtful about the usefulness of trade bans. What surprised me was that many conservationists also felt that trade bans had a limited usefulness and they worked well only under certain circumstances. In high-profile cases, such as elephants, it might be possible to pay for a huge campaign to try and reduce demand in Asia, or to shame national governments (including America) into closing down the illegal ivory markets inside their own borders. But the problem remains: trade bans are simply a piece of paper that do not require governments to spend a single penny on enforcement. Furthermore, in cases where organised crime is involved, enforcement may be beyond the strength of individual governments.

It all raises the question of what is really being solved when governments get together and ban the trade in a species. Are they protecting it forever? Or are they providing it a bit of breathing space, after which more problems are created by a ban than are solved?

Call of the wild Is the prohibition of trade saving wildlife, or endangering it? Mar 6th 2008

The answer to the question is that CITES trade bans are a double-edged sword, and need to be used with caution. One of the reasons they fail is that governments simply spend too little money in making sure they are enforced, and in using them to control demand.

As an aside, one of the reasons that CITES bans fail is that there are land use conflicts with humans. People want to use land for something else other than "worthless" wildlife. In the sea, one economist told me, things are different. The reason that stuff is removed from the sea is only to trade them. This means that, strangely, trade bans (or in the case of whales, exploitation bans), are far more effective in the ocean than they are in the sea.

Round up

Winds of change A new kind of breathalyser. Feb 28th 2008
Sour times The sea is becoming more acidic. That is not good news if you live in it. Feb 21st 2008
The unkindest cut Cameroon wants to sell a forest, but conservationists don't want to buy it. Feb 14th 2008
Rent-a-tree Protecting the environment by leasing it. Mar 3rd 2008 (Online only)
Eat it up and be a good boy Prisoners benefit from dietary supplements; prisons might benefit, too. Jan 31st 2008
On the mark Ecological labelling takes off. Jan 28th 2008 (Online only)

The final frontier

This week brings a report from New York about Virgin Galactic's proposed new spaceship for suborbital tourist flights. Along with this special report is a small piece about what kinds of people will be suited for space travel, and a leader (op-ed) about the birth of private spaceflight. A really exciting story, watch out for test flights this year of the new vehicles and, if all goes well, commercial flights could begin by next year.

BRIEFING: Commercial space flight
Starship enterprise: the next generation: A fleet of privately financed spaceships is emerging. It heralds a new business in space travel

Spaceflight medicals Suited for space

LEADER: Private spaceflight Virgin birth

A backlog of green.views...

Point and shoot:Killing African animals may help conserve them. Jan 14th 2008

Branding land: Conservation marketers choose land over beast. Jan 7th 2008

Mind the gap: The world needs more farmed fish. Dec 27th 2007

Blue in green: It's time to put greens in their place. Dec 10th 2007

Moving on up: Conservationists have begun to broach a taboo. Nov 26th 2007

The grape genome

Vine times: The pinot noir genome is sequenced. GM wine, anyone? Dec 19th 2007

THE battle between those who think character comes from nature and those who think nurture is the key is not confined to students of humanity. It lies at the heart of winemaking, too. For European growers, the variety of grape is important, of course. No one would mistake cabernet sauvignon for sangiovese or riesling for chardonnay. But grape varieties are normally propagated as cuttings; in other words, clones. What creates a wine's character, they argue, is the terroir—that mysterious combination of soil and microclimate that gives appellations contrôlées their cachet. In other words, the essence of a wine lies in its nurture. (More...)

And associated leader:

Unleash the war on terroir: An oenological wish-list for the drinking season

FOR the beleaguered winemakers of France, threats come in many guises. One French grower complained that each bottle of New World wine that lands in Europe is a “bomb targeted at the heart of our rich European culture”. But few things agitate French winemakers more than other winemakers' unspeakable irreverence towards the terroir, the mix of soil and climate found in the place where a vine is grown. The strength of feeling is so great that the country even has its own breed of, er, terroiristes. A group of masked, militant French winemakers has attacked foreign tankers of wine, bricked up a public building and caused small explosions at supermarkets. (More...)

Consumer genetics & children's medicines

Consumer genomics: Taking your genes in hand

Personal genetic testing is advancing rapidly. But beware of overselling. Dec 6th 2007

Genetic sequencing: DNA, direct. The race for the $1,000 genome is on. Dec 6th 2007

Children's medicine: When a spoonful of sugar won't do. Wanted: medicine for a group whose voice is still too small to be heard. Dec 6th 2007

Green view

A couple of recent columns from The Economist's newish Green.view online-only section:

Now see this: An unlikely band of DIY environmentalists. Nov 19th 2007 Web only

Fishing for compliments: Why catching fewer fish means catching more fish. Nov 12th 2007 Web only