GOVT. VOWS TO LOBBY FOR IVORY OFFLOADING
Tourism and Arts Minister Ronald Chitotela says Government will keep lobbying through cooperating partners to convince the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species -CITES- for Zambia to offload the ivory stockpile in Chilanga.
Mr. Chitotela says keeping the more than 40 tonnes of ivory has become expensive as some of it dates back to more than 40 years ago.
He says the communities that are supposed to benefit from the resource are not profiting but instead, the stockpile has created a cost centre as Government has to employ the highest level of security which has become an expensive venture.
Mr. Chitotela was speaking during a meeting with new German Ambassador to Zambia, Dr. Anne Wagner Mitchell.
He said there is need to offload the ivory and invest back in conservation for the benefit of the various communities around the country.
And Ambassador Mitchell said she needs to learn more about the various intricacies of the tourism sector in Zambia.
The German envoy however stressed the need for communities to be brought close to all conservation initiatives by making them beneficiaries.