Conservation and Sustainable Use of Wildlife
Japan’s Efforts to Achieve the Objectives of CITES (MIKE Program)
In order to enhance measures to conserve elephants and prevent poaching in elephant range states, the Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) program is ongoing under CITES. According to CITES, the overall aim of MIKE is to provide information needed for elephant range States and the Parties to CITES to make appropriate management and enforcement decisions, and to build institutional capacity within the range States for the long-term management of their elephant populations by improving their ability to monitor elephant populations, detect changes in levels of illegal killing, use this information to provide more effective law enforcement and strengthen any regulatory measures required to support such enforcement.
Illegal wildlife trade is an urgent global issue. The government of Japan is deeply committed to the cause of protecting elephants from atrocious acts of poaching by transnational criminal organizations and places a great importance on supporting measures against poaching in elephant range states. The government of Japan has provided a variety of assistance for elephant conservation through the MIKE program, including the construction of a strategic anti-poaching outpost for elephants in Uganda (completed in 2019) and a wildlife law enforcement center in Mozambique (completed in 2020).
Lions Bay Ranger Post Handover Ceremony (Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda)
Center for Surveillance and Protection of Wildlife of Niassa National Reserve Handover Ceremony (Maputo, Mozambique)
For details of the assistance activities, please refer to the websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan provided below:
Click here for more information on ESABII Japan’s efforts to achieve the objectives of the convention (ESABII)