The burning as the mode of disposal

The burning as the mode of disposal and the site of Kenya Wildlife Service Field Training School was made by the Lusaka Agreement Governing Council.

Kenya is hosting the event as a party to the regional agreement on wildlife conservation.

The setting ablaze of contraband ivory is the first regional exercise of this kind and the third in Africa after Kenya's in 1989 and Zambia in 1992.

The burning of ivory is the climax of the first-ever African Elephant Law Enforcement Day celebrations on the theme "Fostering cooperation to combat elephant poaching and ivory trafficking in Africa."

Bonaventure Ebayi, the director of the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, said the burning of the ivory follows an agreement reached by the three countries in May in Nairobi. "Investigations revealed that the ivory could have originated from savanna elephant populations in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia," he said.

Having concluded the investigations, the Lusaka Agreement governing council resolved that the disposal of the ivory be undertaken in accordance with the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) regulations.

CITES regulations don't allow commercial trade in illegally acquired ivory or any other seized wildlife contraband specimens but provide for its use for scientific, educational and law enforcement purposes. It also allows the destruction of such ivory since it has no commercial value.