TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa

Region: Angola, Botswana, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
Offices: Tanzania and South Africa
Founded: 1991
1st Director: Tom Milliken
Current Director: Tom Milliken
Contact Details

Regional overview
Africa has one of the world’s richest wildlife heritages. Most nations support major wildlife-based industries, but have the particularly challenging task of balancing conservation with development needs.

High levels of poverty, struggling economies, civil unrest, disease and natural calamities all present challenges to the successful monitoring of wildlife trade—from the exploitation of timber, fisheries and wildlife resources for subsistence use, to the export of wildlife products for international markets.

TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa creates awareness and influences policy decisions on trade, use and environmental issues, building capacity within government institutions to deal with these issues and working with other NGOs, research institutions and local communities to find solutions to pressing livelihood issues that impact negatively upon particular species or ecosystems.

Office history and key wildlife trade decisions in the region
Although a TRAFFIC office was first opened in 1982 in Nairobi, it soon closed following the death of its director, Ted Norris. Almost a decade later, a TRAFFIC regional office was established in 1991 in Malawi by the still current director, Tom Milliken. In 2000, the office re-located to Zimbabwe.

1992: created the “Bad Ivory Database System” (BIDS) to hold records of worldwide ivory seizures
1993: major study into decline of the Black Rhino in Zimbabwe published, leading to the establishment of the rhino horn and product database, which stores seizure and stock information for more than 60 countries
1996: released a major report (South Africa’s wildlife trade at the crossroads: CITES implementation and the need for a national reassessment), leading to a major project on capacity building and law enforcement assistance
1997: BIDS adopted by CITES and further developed into the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS); documented the shark trade in southern Africa (The trade in sharks and shark products in the Western Indian and Southeast Atlantic Oceans), further marine work into trade in sea cucumbers, lobsters and shells in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique, and Bluefin Tuna in South Africa followed
1998: research into trade in medicinal plants and animals published (Searching for a cure: Conservation of medicinal wildlife resources in East and Southern Africa), leading to development of a community-based conservation initiative in Kenya
1999: helped the Species Protection Department of the Anti-Corruption Commission in Zambia establish a database to improve understanding of smuggling networks
2000: seminal study on wild meat published (Food For Thought: the utilization of wild meat in eastern and southern Africa), leading to widespread awareness of this issue, and a project developed with the Kenya Wildlife Service
2001: assisted enforcement authorities in Djibouti in a raid on the notorious Rue de Brazzaville curio market in Djiboutiville; puiblished a report to support South Africa’s development of national wildlife trade legislation(Towards a sustainable wildlife trade: An analysis of nature conservation legislation in South Africa with particular reference to the wildlife trade)
2002: ETIS reports used at CITES meeting (CoP12), leading to a Standing Committee decision to assess the ivory market controls of 10 priority countries
2003: charcoal study published (Black gold: Providing a sustainable alternative to lump wood charcoal in Kenya), leading to a DFID funded charcoal project at a Kenyan sugar cane factory
2004: undertook a campaign to curtail the consumption of sea turtles in Djiboutiville
2005: Baseline data for a long-term study of the opening of Mkapa bridge on the logging trade in Tanzania published (Bridging the gap: Linking timber trade with infrastructure development in Southern Tanzania)
2006: reviewed sport hunting in southern Africa
2007: seminal report on illegal forestry in Tanzania published (Forestry, governance and national development: Lessons learned from a logging boom in southern Tanzania), leading to widespread media coverage and high-level action on this issue; abalone listed in CITES in South Africa, following extensive TRAFFIC research and advocacy into trade in this marine species

TRAFFIC hosts regular workshops on CITES-related issues in the region and elsewhere, including ETIS Action Workshops, to encourage the use of ETIS