Published on : Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Ministers of Tourism of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe met during the 2014 ITB tourism trade fair in Berlin to discuss what is today regarded as an alarming growth in wildlife crime in Africa as a whole. The meeting was the initiative of the UNWTO with the support of UNODC and it was the first time that the world of tourism had gathered at an international forum to bring their points of view forward.
On March 10, the UNWTO issued their communique (PR No. 14021) on this important meeting that was chaired by Mr. Taleb Rifai, the Secretary General of the UNWTO. The communique stated that the UNWTO, UNODC, and African Tourism Ministers were to join forces to fight wildlife crime.
During the deliberations at the meeting, Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, appealed for the anti-poaching drive to go further than just rhino horns and elephant tusks. Minister St.Ange said that the opportunity is today for the UNWTO to look at including the flora and fauna from their part of the world. The Minister from the Seychelles cited Hawkbill Turtle shell and the Coco-de-Mer, the endemic double nut of the Seychelles as articles that warranted inclusion on the list.
The Seychelles Minister then went on to read a paragraph from a document, the SWP comments just released in Germany by the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik). The document is entitled Wildlife Crime in Africa – A Global Challenge
Source:-Tourism Africa
Tags: Ministers of Tourism of Africa met in Berlin with UNWTO Secretary General on anti-poaching declaration, Tourism News
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