VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNR #0246/01 0390826
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 080825Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0691
INFO RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI

UNCLAS NAIROBI 000246 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR OES/ENRC LLOYD GAMBLE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV KSCA AORC UNEP KE
SUBJECT: KENYA SEEKS U.S. SUPPORT FOR ELEPHANTS; COP-15 DEMARCHE 
DELIVERED 
 
REF: STATE 6668; STATE 10014 
 
¶1.  Summary:  In a February 1 meeting, the GOK sought U.S. support 
for its proposal to extend the ivory trade ban.  The GOK said it 
has broad African support for the proposal.  In the same meeting, 
econoff delivered reftel talking points on the Convention on 
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 
(CITES).  The GOK supports the U.S. proposals related to shark, 
polar bear and snake trade; they requested additional information 
on the U.S. corals and bobcat proposals to better inform their 
positions.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
¶2.  Econoff met February 1 with the following GOK officials from 
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to deliver ref A talking points and 
solicit feedback on the U.S. CITES submissions: 
 
 
 
-- Patrick Omondi, Senior Assistant Director and Head of Species 
Conservation and Management, species@kws.go.ke 
 
 
 
-- Dr. James Njogu, Head of Conventions and Research Authorization, 
conventions@kws.go.ke 
 
 
 
-- Solomon Kyalo, Senior Scientist Biodiversity 
Conventions/Agreements, cites@kws.go.ke 
 
 
 
These officials will be attending the CITES COP-15 in March 2010, 
along with Julius Kipng'etich, Director of KWS.  It is unclear at 
this time whether Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Noah Wekesa, 
will travel to the COP-15 as head of delegation.  If not, Mr. 
Kipng'etich will act as head of delegation and can be reached at 
kipngetich@kws.go.ke. 
 
 
 
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GOK SEEKING SUPPORT FOR THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3.  The GOK officials urged the U.S. to support proposal six to 
COP-15.  This proposal is co-sponsored by Kenya and seven other 
African Elephant range states, extending the moratorium on ivory 
trade to twenty years and including all African Elephant Range 
states in the moratorium.  The GOK put this proposal forward as a 
response to proposals four and five from Tanzania and Zambia to 
down-list the elephant and to approve additional 'one-off' sales of 
ivory from both countries.  Kenya, along with most members of the 
African Elephant Coalition (AEC), is strongly opposed to any 
proposal to down-list the elephant or to allow any trade in ivory. 
 
 
 
¶4.  Omondi emphasized the intent of the nine-year moratorium on 
ivory trade agreed to at COP-14 was to allow African Elephant Range 
states time to implement the African Elephant Action Plan (AEAP) 
for the comprehensive conservation and protection of elephants 
across the continent.  Omondi, noting the continent-wide increase 
in poaching in the wake of the October 2008 'one-off' sales of 
ivory from Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, stressed 
that the proposals from Tanzania and Zambia go against the spirit 
of the COP-14 agreement.  Kenya strongly feels that the spirit of 
the agreement made at COP-14 be upheld and no further consideration 
of down-listing the elephant be tabled until COP-18 at the 
earliest.  (Note:  Omondi attended a meeting with EU officials last 
week in Brussels to garner support for proposal six and will appear 
before the House Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans, and 
Wildlife on February 11, 2010 to testify about the proposals 
related to the African elephant submitted for consideration at 
COP-15.  End note.) 
 
 
 
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GOK SHOWS ITS SUPPORT 
 
 
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¶5.  The GOK supports both U.S. proposals to list six shark species 
in Appendix II of CITES.  Mr. Kyalo said they were familiar with 
the proposals because Kenya was asked by U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service in September 2009 to be co-sponsor of the proposals.  He 
said Kenya considered co-sponsorship, but lacked time to do so 
before the October 14, 2009 deadline.  Two representatives from the 
GOK will also attend the upcoming Convention on Migratory Species 
(CMS) meeting in Manila with the intent to sign the MoU for global 
migratory shark conservation and management (ref B).  The officials 
were also supportive of our proposal to organize a workshop on 
snake trade regulation. 
 
 
 
¶6.  Regarding the polar bear, the GOK supports our proposal to 
transfer the polar bear from CITES Appendix II to Appendix I.  Mr. 
Omondi said the U.S. may have difficulty reaching the two-thirds 
majority vote for the proposal unless it makes a strong case that 
polar bear population is being negatively affected by trade rather 
than a decrease in habitat area and quality.  He asked if we had 
additional data specifically showing illegal trade activity to 
support the proposal.  He said Kenya would share information with 
the other 22 member states of the AEC to advocate for our proposal. 
 
 
 
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NON-COMMITTAL ON CORALS AND BOBCAT 
 
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¶7.  The GOK is non-committal on our proposal to list red and pink 
corals in Appendix II and to remove the bobcat from Appendix II. 
The CITES coordinators did not appear to be familiar with the 
proposals.  They agreed to present the proposals to the technical 
committee which will meet twice before the CITES COP-15. 
 
 
 
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COMMENT 
 
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¶8.  Poaching is on the rise in Kenya.  In 2009, 232 elephants were 
illegally killed in Kenya, up from 145 in 2008 and 47 in 2007. 
Despite extensive monitoring capabilities, with daily surveillance 
flights and increased training and equipment provided to KWS 
rangers, Kenya views this as a disturbing trend and is concerned 
about its ability to maintain its elephant population.  They 
consider down-listing of the African elephant as a threat to the 
survival of the species and are eager for U.S. support.  End 
comment. 
 
 
 
RANNEBERGER 
RANNEBERGER