UK cave-in to China's ivory demands unwarranted

4.51.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 16th Jul 2008

The UK has accepted China's request at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to buy ivory from African governments gathered from culls and confiscated from poachers.

London Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford said:

"The British government's support for this move is ill-judged since it risks boosting the illegal ivory trade which is bringing African and Asian elephants to the brink of extinction. It is also perverse to award a source of revenue to Robert Mugabe, whose repressive governments holds a stock."

"The suspicion must exist that the UK government's decision to back China's plans is not based in science but in a desire to promote British commercial and diplomatic relations with China."

Sarah Ludford also campaigns against the illegal poaching and trade of skins and other body parts of tigers, which threatens their survival.

ENDS