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Environmental Conflict Flares Up

by Suvendrini Kakuchi
IN what experts believe to be a preview of a sho srdown at the Earth Summit in Brazil thia June, countries of the North and South locked horns over the environment during the meeting of the 112-nation Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species fCTESl held here this month.
Two crucial decisions taken during the two week confer ence highlighted the rift between the developed and de veloplng world on the environment — the ban on the trade of blue fin tuna and elephant products
Japan successfully blocked a proposal to ban the trade tn the Atlantic blue fin tuna after Sweden, tts proponent, backed down under Intense pressure from Industrialised countries.
The verdict on the blue fin luna issue was the classic example of the North-South problem.* said Michael Sutton of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) The rich North cannot take what it expects the poor Southern countries to take *
Japan, the United States and Canada strongly resisted the imposition of controls on the North Atlanta blue-fin tuna trade which has been Immensely profitable for them
Despite evidence produced by environmentalists to prove that the breeding population of the species has declined by 70 per cent since l®70. hardcore lobbying led by Japan, which accounts for two thirds of the trade, successfully blocked the bai
But. said Sutton, these same countries did not think twice about supporting a total ban on the Ivory trade despite a paa slonate plea by Southern African states for much the same reasons.
Downlisting the African elephant from the CITES prohibitions list would have allowed Zimbabwe Botswana.
Malawi and Namibia to carry out a controlled trade in their now rising elephant populations for much needed foreign exchange.
The Africans case has do cused attention on a funds mental threat facing the global environmental movement — why the UM5 billion annual wildlife trade hardly benefits the producer countries
The Issue had been dor mant for many years but sur
faced at the Kyoto meeting for the first time when the four South African states asked to resume a limited trade In elephant products.
Argued Gail Amvot of the Wildlife Society of Zimbabwe "Africa Is always pictured with a begging bowl But Zimbabwe s successful wildlife manage menl methods, baaed on the principle that wildlife can support Itself, has proved that foreign exchange can be earned through the carefully monitored export of wildlife Instead of depending on Western aid "
Experts said the United Nations Conference on Envlr onment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro tn June will likely be bogged down by a split Into South and North camps.
The CITES conference Is a prelude of what wgl happen in June and we need to get over this last," said a senior official of the UN environment programme
But the gulf seems unbridgeable "When southern producer countries sit down at the negotiating table they are desperate to sell their valuable natural resources to the North which, cash-laden, decides when and how they will buy," explained Peter Kramer. director of WWF International
They are dealing with a system where a Volkswagen or Toyota goes up in value every year whereas the prices of coffee or bananas have been the same for decades.' Kramer said
To blunt the criticism, some of the Importing countries have promised assistance to producer countries Britain, for instance, has pledged UMI million for wlldhfe con servatton
But environmentalists say it only adds Insult to Injury "A million dollars Is a Joke In the face of the enormous budget needed." said Kramer
While the consumer appetite of the North to the most visible obstacle to reaching a solution, the concern for short-term economic and political benefits among developing countries has also proved discouraging
Japanese media reports accused the Indonesian delega tlon at the conference of being composed more of adldllfe traders than conaervationiots.
WWF critictoed Malaysia for condemning a proposal by the Netherlands to ban the trade of two highly traded species of tropical timber, ramin and
The recently-concluded CITES meeting saw over 1.000 delegates and environmental tots discussed about 2.500 animals and 35.000 plant species — IPS