Malawi to burn $7.5 million worth of ivory this week

March 30, 2015 Nyasa Times Reporter 91 Comments

The world’s poorest country is to make the world’s most expensive bonfire. On Thursday, Malawi will set fire to ivory worth more than  $7.5 million, in an extravagant gesture designed to demonstrate its commitment to wildlife conservation and the fight against the colossal worldwide business of wildlife crime.

Impounded ivory in Malawi
Impounded ivory in Malawi

Almost four tons of ivory is held in Malawi’s stockpile, and it is going to burn the lot. This will be done at parliament, and the march to the incineration will be led by the President, Peter Mutharika, wearing a polo shirt bearing the message “Stop Wildlife Crime”, reports The Independent.

The plan follows the burning in Ethiopia earlier this month of six tons of tusks and carved ivory. There are reports that Kenya will burn a further 15 tons in the coming week. But the Malawi burning is the most remarkable.

“It is really inspiring that the Malawi government is prepared to make wildlife conservation a priority in these difficult times,” said Johnny Vaughan, general manager of the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust.

Malawi has been hammered by a devastating corruption scandal, nicknamed Cashgate, in which around £35 m was believed to have been taken out of government funds. Earlier this year, flooding killed nearly 300 people and made 230,000 homeless.

The development has earned Malawi praises from UK newspaper The Independent which reported that Malawi’s bonfire is of “humbling significance”.

It said: “Here is the world’s poorest country putting such money as it has where its mouth is. Saying that elephants matter, that wildlife matters and conservation is not a luxury for when more pressing matters have been seen to.

“There is not a country or a government in the world that can look at Malawi’s efforts and not be a little embarrassed. If Malawi can do this, every country can afford to do its bit, too.”

The ivory bonfire will involve government officials, 600 schoolchildren and dancers dressed as elephants.

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91 replies on “Malawi to burn $7.5 million worth of ivory this week”

  1. Stupid malawians, when will you grow up!!! A couple of months ago you forced that dude who was rearing 500 crocodiles to burn them becuase you said he was ill treating them by giving them insuffucient food stuff. Yet the crocs were worthy millions of dollars when sold abroad! Poor and stupid malawians ! Go ahead and burn a cool K3, 400, 000, 000.00. Although selling them is illegal but they could have been sold in anyway. Mwakongola kale 8 billion kwacha meant for the famine, why not use that money for irrigation farming. Blind malawi when will you see, we dont solve a problem by creating a long term one. Sometimes I really get disgusted with how we think. Wake Up Malawi from deep slumber, Wake up, wake up. If you dont wake up you will surely die in your slumber

  3. We can make it into finished product give it more value and sell at a much better price which will we can use to breed new elephants to replace the dead ones. This will be putting good use to our valuable natural resource. Why lose twice when we can avoid further loss! It takes many years to have a full grown elephant hence the essence of making the ivory to good use other than burn.

  4. Government cannot sale ivory legally at present. The sale of ivory is banned worldwide. The only sane thing is to keep it for posterity.

  5. It is not true that burning the ivory wll bring more losses than gains to Malawians.We must learn to understand why government is intending to take such a bold step. Yes those few pieces of ivory can generate a little something to the government of Malawi, but for sure it can have long term negatives considering that it will just open up a window for more losses of this national heritage. We should refrain from making statements that have no basis atall.

  6. Poor thinking…
    slavish mentality! you want to cheat the world? you crooks,
    why burn the ivory whe you know its money. there is always illegal trade happening between govenments and states. who do you want to cheat? zopusa basi. mukuwona ngati chamba chikagwidwa amawotcha chonse? mukunamiza ndani inu. just sell the ivory and buy drugs in malawian Hospitals.

  7. sell the ivory and make money for the poorset country in the world. U mean you want to burn 7.5 million dolars are u crazy???

  8. All I can see here madness.why cant they just sell the Ivory and use the money to help in atleast one of our national development.Are we still in Azungu andituma?Think twice.

  10. How stupid for burning and you call yourselves educated dumb ass negros !!! What’s the point of burning it ?? At least if it’s sold then quite a bit of money can be raised …watch ivory wars on discovery!!

  12. afirika kupepera. you think azungu angaotche nyanga zao? they are polluting entire oceans with oil. you think they would hesitate to profit from nyanga? they want you to make sacrifices while they profit from nature’s degradation. za ziiiiiiiiiiiiii

  14. KUWOTCHA MINYANGAYO TOTOOOO! TAKANA.MUTIMVERE NGATI NZIKA ZA MALAWI.KULIBWINO KUGULITSA OR NDALAMAZO ATAZIPANGA CASHGATE,BOLA M’MALAWI WAZIGWIRITSA NTCHITO YOTI ENA ATHANDIZIDWA.CHONDEEE! TAGWIRA MWENDO WANU KAYA NDINU A WILDLIFE & PARKS + BOMA.NDIKULAKALAKA MUKADAYIKAPO PHONE NOS.KUTI MUMVE MAGANIZO A A MALAWI.APATU NDI CHIMODZIMODZI KUTI MBAVA ZABA M’NYUMBA,KANAKO ZAGWIDWA KATUNDU ZALANDIDWA,BASI NKUMATI,MWALAMULO LATHU LIJA,KATUNDUYU TIWOTCHA.KODI ANA NGAKHALE AKUDZIWA ZA LAMULOLO,ANGAKONDWE NAZO? LAMULOLO MBAMBA LISINTHIDWE.KOMANSO MUKAWERENGA MAKOMENTIWA MUWAGWIRITSE NTCHITO CHONDEEEEE!!!

  15. Malawi is party to convention in trade of indangered species of wild fauna and flora (CITES) and other related international conventions. Most of these ivory pieces didn’t originate from Malawi but were confiscated in transit at airports and roadblocks. Hence selling it will be a violation of international agreements and can also give a wrong signal to some unscrupulous ivory traders

  17. these white-dudes brainwashed us.we cant make any decision unless the one that pleases the whites? whats wrong with our minds? this is total ambiguous …..
    slavery really affected us,and i can honestly say that we are not independent at all.

  21. People get da point, its the same principle the government uses when burning confiscated marijuana…..

  23. Selling the ivory will not make sense people, the 7.whatever millions you are mentioning can not do the works which you are dreaming of. and hence more it will never show that malawi is intrested to burn this evil bloody trade at all.

  24. Have you not done your research? This ivory is only worth $7.5 million to CRIMINALS. You cant even sell this ivory it is illegal. Malawi would have to break international law it has signed to sell it on. It is no different to selling confiscated drugs or arms for the same reason. Malawi need elephants for tourism and that is worth way more than the value of ivory will ever be. Lets think of tomorrow and not just be greedy for today.

  25. Selling the ivory will benefit the Malawi nation. Most importantly, that’ll put some value to the elephants that they did not die in vain.

  26. who da fuck z advising da president 2 authorise this bullshit..wat da fuck z wrong wth this poorest country in da world?or mayb t is also the poorest in mind and decision makin..frm those 4 tonnes of ivory,hw many elephants lost their lives and wat wil the people of malawi gain in burnin da ivories..malawi nids 2 wakeup frm slumber..dnt b a followin nation..plz t beter try 2b a leading nation..sell those ivory and use the money for wildlife conservation activities or u wl stil remain nt only the poorest bt also most stupid nation in da world..luk i understand y they burn indian hemp coz no loss or damage z done bt this..come on..the dead elephants sprit wl haunt u for nt protecting ts offsprings frm the revenue u cud hav got after selling their ivory

  28. Stupid leadership, if you burn the ivory will the dead Elephants come back to life? There will be hunger this year yet you are thinking of burning $7.5 million. Flood victims needs more than $7.5million, l dont want to hear this stupid government begging. Thank youComment

  29. Mad Malawians ban the ivory at your own peril.Why should the whole country suffer because of only few selfush white dudes my foot.The chinese can buy all of Africa Ivory at a better price.

  30. The stupidity of an African mind is stupendous! You could protect the animals effectively with the 7.5 million US$ or even pay your teachers you know. Niggers!!!!

  31. U know wat? Azungu akutipusitsa. Plz wake up Malawi. Otherwise we will remain the poorest of the poor. The animals have already been killed, let us make good use of these God given assets. Let’s make money with these items. We can actually open up ranches and start breeding these precious animals not for tourism only but also their meat and ivory. Remember cattle, goats, pigs and many more were once wild animals. Basi always believing whatever mzungu says. God created them for our use!! The origin of all this nosense is ANIMAL WORSHIP. Dont fool us sons of vipers

  33. Useless thinking, how can gavernment burn M7.5 M when there is no Medicine in Hospitals? Those Elephants were killed already and u will just west it for nothing just to please some 1? Shame on you my Fellow country men

  34. We are still under colonial masters. Why can’t we do our own things? Who is gonna benefit in all this? What reward will Malawi get. Look! all the countries that are planning to burn this gold are African. Why is this so? Could this have happened if this material was found in other lands outside Africa? I don’t think so.

  37. This is indeed a shitty nation, how can it do that. No wonder they say,”The surest way to remain poor is to be honest”. We have a drunk state in the sub_Saharan Africa. Lets protect what is alive, not the already dead elephants. This is a drunk nation without any doubts.

  38. That’s total bullshit,let it be told to the authorities, no two wrongs could yield a right.sell the Ivory & put the money to better our economy.The fire will only pollute our environment.don’t copy what other daft countries are doing.wake up!

  43. If truly confiscated, awotcheranji. Kunamiza gulu kapena kupusitsa chabe? Bwanji osapeza njira yakupindulitsa kudzera m’boma and ife sitingalitengere boma kukhoti pachimenecho. Chonde!!!! kuganiza bwino ndikofunika. Tichepetetse kuchita zinthu mongosangalatsa mgelezi pena pake.

  44. I have never supported some “noble” causes such as this one. Firstly, it is a fact Malawi elephant population is decreasing at an alarming rate due to poaching. Secondly, the resources that are in Malawi belong to the nation.

    In the first instance, if one morning we wake up to find all elephants gone, what will we holding onto as a nation where these giant herbivores roamed? The ivory reserves must not only be valued as money but consider them as a national treasure to be kept for posterity. Does burning the ivory stop the poaching? I don’t think so. It only reduces supply thereby increasing the demand. We must make our own sober judgement on our resources.
    I welcome countries such as US, China, Phillipines, Hong Kong, Thailand and others for moving to burn or burning their “illegal’ ivory. For those countries without elephants’ natural habitats and gotten illegal ivory, it is understandable to burn stockpiles.

    I read one article for the justification of the burning of the ivory and it said, the move ‘only raises awareness and a discussion’ about the plight of wild life crimes. It doesn’t stop poaching.

    Without prejudice, rhinos are closer to extinction than elephants by my judgement. And South Africa has the largest rhino horn reserves publicly and privately. Their debate is to be allowed to sell their stock so that the market has too much supply. I haven’t even heard anybody talking about destroying the rhino horn stockpile within South Africa.

    The stockpile of ivory is a national treasure and must preserved at whatever cost for posterity.

  45. Double loss. The animals were already killed and you want to burn the valuable products from those animals. Think twice.

  46. Thats westing indeed mukufuna kusangalasa azungu pomwe anthu anu akuvutika.Thnk twice bfore doing such stupidity.

  50. Hey! Hey! The exception rule here! I will never burn $7.5 million if I was in charge of Malawi. Sell these natural resources, and bring money into account number 1. The elephants are already dead. Burning the ivory is dying twice. Don’t play impressionists! We need that money. Please! Sell that ivory and improve the road to Nyika, maintain the Nkhufi road, buy a modern tourist boat on Lake Malawi, put tar mac from Nkope to Cape Maclear, establish a game park at Dzalanyama, etc.

  51. we don’t just burn such things free of charge let people put in a challenge say I will put £500.00 if burn this , I hope MPS AND THE President have pledged in a lot of money, you never know some have been smuggled already. we will hear mnyanga cashgate in a minute.

  52. I am sure there is a better way of disposing these confiscated ivory tusks than burning them. What is it that we want to achieve? Who are we trying to impress? The ivory should be sold to license holders locally and exported. After all what is done is done there is noway you can reclaim the lost elephants.

  53. Why don’t you just sell and the proceeds can be used to build a school.mpaka kuotcha? Nyamazo zinafa kale

  55. Poaching is not a good thing because it goes against natural conservation. We need to protect our wildlife as a Nation. This is why there are regulation or law and initiatives by the government of Malawi and international laws that need to be followed.

    However, in the case given, though it looks ok to burn the poached ivory because we have to follow the international law and set an example as others have done. But in our case, do we have to do that? Malawi as a nation has its own issue and during this time Malawi is going through some economic challenges. I agree with the others, is it possible to consider selling the ivory so that Malawi can be assisted because the money is a lot. The damage has already been done. Even if we decide to burn the ivory, one thing is for sure that we cannot restore the lives of the killed elephants. The good thing is that the ivory was taken away from the hands of the culprits. Imagine if the Government of Malawi would sell this Ivory and realise this money. I believe this money would go a long way in solving some of the challenges.

    Having said this, I would propose that Government should strengthen its regulations to protect its wildlife in t he future. The truth of the matter is that we should lose both sides.

  56. To be honest that will be a grave decision to burn these ivories just to please other well to do countries. If there is a legal market for that stuff why can’t our government sell it so that the money incurred should be for those medicine we are shortage of in our hospitals? Burning the ivories it’s not a message of protecting the wildlife rather a mockery to those elephants killed. $7.5 Million that’s a lot of money to be just burnt in order to please the very same people who are punishing us with their aid freezing. Let them know that they have their frozen aid and we have our own God given aid in the name ivory period!!

  57. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! KENYA AND ETHIOPIA you compare with Malawi, sorry, think twice before you act.Malawi economy is very poor, then you want to destory the treasure which is in hand,sell to western country and have money to assist the poor ones or exchange with medicen.
    At the end you will be begging money from western countries —— !!!!laugh!!!!!!!

  59. anybody against this z stupid, you want the govt to sell ivory, so that U pocket your poor pockets go to hell idiots. Bravo DNPW, Isupport the move.

  60. Nyasa Times please report facts. It is not the world’s most expensive bonfire. Just this month President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya set fire to a pile of 15 tonnes of ivory worth $30m and “it is NOT reported”…it is already done.

  62. Onother mess in Nyasa land,sad to here Big Headed Idiot will lead the “shame”, limodzi ndi Namanyekhula wake.

  63. asaaa tagulitsani and make good use of the money…olo mudye cash gate zilibe kanthu kusiyana nkuotcha..whom do u want to please?mxiiiiii

  66. I Understand That We Are Poor But We Are Also Poor In Mind Why Burning Those Money For? Kukhala Ophunzila Sizikutanthawuza Kuti Ndiwe Wanzelu….

  67. This appears abnormal. Such valuable items to be spoiled just like that. After all the animal has already been killed and its harvested product should be put to good use by poor Malawians not those poachers. There are No drugs in hospitals, bad roads, looming hunger following floods and bad rains. Seek permission from the world body not to waste these for the sake of all Malawians. Govt please do not be wasteful. The money realised could go a long way to assist our cash trapped situation.

  68. sell these and put money to good use.you burn these,what difference does it make?you want to burn 7.5 Million to please someone?

  72. That’s totally madness and unnecessary appeasement. Whom are they trying to appease here? Will those elephants come back ? Sale them please. By Mapiko martin

  74. Burning ivory is a waste of resources and time. Why can u just sell them and help people affected by floods? Burning $7.5m, about k(7500000 x 450) for what? Just put strict measures to protect our wildlife and biodiversity in general basi.

  75. Please do not burn them. sell them and use the money to enhance security of wildlife. 7m dollars can go a long way to save many elephants.

  76. Burning ivory is a waste of resources and time. Why can u just sell them and help people affected by floods? Burning $7.5m, about k(7500000 x 450) for what?

  77. Two wrongs does not make right thing: killing the elephants & rhinos its bad and burning the already fetched ivory its another worst thing. Why dont government clear these stuff and sell them legally? And make money help the flood victims?

  78. We are poor why can’t we just find a market for that stuff it’s already happened. Animals are killed already and what we can do so far is to strengthen security to our wild life reserves.

  84. The elephants were already killed. Just put measures to curb the act of poaching while that ivory is being sold than burning it as such wont change anything on the ground.

  86. Pliz keep that ivory. There are brief windows that IUCN rules allow legal sell of ivory. In fact, in the coming decade or two, legalization of controlled ivory trade to kill the illegal trade will become the norm – in the same way that canabis is now sold freely under some controls. Who is advising this government? Perhaps someone wants to profit from the bluff!

  90. hmmmm..this is Malawi..one can never be sure whether it will be real ivory they will be burning..are we gonna weigh it?..some pockets gonna be fatter by the end of this exercise i bet

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