1. 34 www.newsletter.co.uk Tuesday,January20,2015NewsLetter
SusieMcCullough,NITBwithUTVPresenterandcompereMarcMallett
Tourism Awards to honour
the best in Northern Ireland
The Northern Ireland Tourist
Board (NITB) have launched
theirannualNorthernIreland
TourismAwards.
The awards recognise out-
standing achievements in the
tourismindustry.
Taking place at the Whitla
Hall at Queen’s University on
Thursday May 14 the ceremo-
nywillbecomperebyUTVpre-
senterMarcMallett.
NITB is encouraging tour-
ism organisations of all sizes
toenterinanefforttowinrec-
ognition for their hard work,
dedication and the important
part they play in the creation
ofqualityvisitorexperiences.
In the 37th year of these
awards, eleven award catego-
riesareupforgrabsandNITB
has introduced two new cat-
egories for 2015 – Sustainable
Tourism and Best Marketing
Mix.
Susie McCullough, direc-
tor of Business Support and
Events, said: “Winning an
award is an independent and
prestigious endorsement for
organisations and the quality
of their products and servic-
es they offer. Entering these
awards gives an organisation
theopportunitytoreviewtheir
business performance and
identifycorestrengths.”
Bangor based Estate Agency
Pinkertons have scooped the
SilverAwardforNorthernIre-
landEstateAgencyoftheYear
2014.
Thecompanywntheaward
at the highly competitive UK
Estate Agency of the Year
Awardsinassociationwiththe
SundayTimesandTheTimes.
The award accompanies the
two awards received in June
lastyear.
They were honoured at the
UKLettingAgencyofTheYear
Awards again in association
with the Sunday Times and
The Times having achieved
a Gold for both Best Letting
County Down estate
agency scoops top
national accolade
BUSINESS
China’s ivory trade leads the
decimation of Africa’s wildlife
NobodycanaccusetheChi-
neseofbeingbackwardwhen
theiravariceforivoryisbeing
considered.
While Prince William was
haranguing the World Bank
ConferenceinWashingtonin
December last about the “ig-
norantcravingforivoryacross
the world” President Xi Jin-
ping’spresidentialjetwasbe-
ing used to smuggle ivory out
ofTanzania.
While there is no sugges-
tion that Mr Xi was person-
allyinvolvedinthesmuggling
it is understood that his ac-
companying mandarins and
businessmenusedhisofficial
aircraft,aswellasdiplomatic
bags to get their contraband
hometoChina.
Apparentlythesamething
happened in 2009 when the
previousleaderHuJintaovis-
ited Tanzania (as advised by
theEnvironmentalInvestiga-
tionAgency).
Ivory sales in China are
skyrocketing as investors bet
that prices will continue to
riseastheAfricanelephantis
poachedtoextinction–while
atthesametimeChina’smid-
dleclassflauntsitsnewfound
wealth.
It is reckoned that about
100,000elephantswerekilled
across Africa between 2010
and2012.
In January 2012 raiders
on horseback charged out of
Chad into Cameroon’s Bouba
Ndjidah National Park and
slaughtered some 450 ele-
phantsinonefellswoop.
In October 2013 poachers
poisoned more than 300 el-
ephants in Hwange National
Park in Zimbabwe by pollut-
ing watering holes with cya-
nide.
Againthefingerofblameis
putattheillegaltradeoperat-
edbytheChineseandpossibly
withalittlehelpfromsomeof
President Mugabe’s national
parkaficionados.
The vast majority of this
poaching is carried out by or-
ganisedcrimesyndicatesthat
usehighpoweredtechnology
andweaponrytotrackandkill
their prey without being de-
tected.
This involves the use of
AK-47’s, grenade launchers,
night vision goggles, GPS and
low flying helicopters, none
of which are
readily avail-
able to the
indigenous
African.
I had the
pleasure of
visiting the Hwange Nation-
al Park shortly after this cya-
nide attack and as someone
who spent a lot of holidays
in Game Reserves during my
nine years working in South
Africa,itwassickeningtoim-
agine such sophisticated car-
nageina“socalled”backward
partofAfrica.
But such killing is not lim-
ited to ivory poachers. The
BlackRhinopopulationinAf-
rica is reputedly down 97.6%
since 1960, the lion is now ex-
tinct in some seven African
countriesandtherearefewer
than 900 mountain gorillas
leftonthecontinent.
Illegal poaching has be-
comebigbusinessandunfor-
tunately this is only possible
where poachers have the ex-
pensiveweaponryandtheend
user markets in South East
Asia which makes this busi-
nessprofitable.
Asian demand for rhino
horn has recently created a
record price for rhino horn
powderof$30,000perpound,
makingitevenmorevaluable
thangoldorcocaine.
TheChinesemalebelieves
that rhino horn powder im-
proves his erectile function
but this is an expensive way
to enjoy yourself in a country
wherepeoplearerestrictedto
“onechildfamilies”.
It is estimated that rhino
poaching has increased 1000
per cent in the last decade
with some 500 rhinos per
year being killed in South Af-
ricaalone.
Illegal wildlife trade, driv-
enbyhighprofitmarginsand
aidedbypoorgovernanceand
weaklawenforcementefforts,
hasboomed,justasotherChi-
neseinvestmentinAfricahas
becomeincreasinglyactive.
Toothless laws, corrup-
tion, weak judicial systems
and light punishments allow
criminal networks to thrive
withlittleregardtoriskorcon-
sequence.
Unfortu-
nately the
demand for
ivory alone
has surged
to the point
where the tusks of a single
adult elephant can be worth
more than 10 times the aver-
age per capita annual income
inmanyAfricancountries.
Much of the demand out-
side of China is in 2 other
South-Eastnations,Thailand
andthePhilippines.
Some5.4milliontonsofil-
legal ivory was seized by cus-
tomagentsinManilain2009.
Assuming an average of
Illegalivorybeingpreparedtobedestroyedbyofficials
“Itissadtorelatethattheillegaltradeinivoryistied
socloselytoreligionandinterestingthattherhino
isbeinghuntedalmosttoextinctiontoassaugethe
desiresoflasciviousChinesemales”
byIanRainey
Managingdirector
MSLSearch&Selection
22lbs of ivory per elephant
these seizures represent the
slaughter of some 1745 ele-
phants.
These figures have been
provided by the Convention
on International Trade in En-
dangeredSpecies(CITES)who
highlight that Manila is often
astagingpostfortransporting
ivoryintoChina.
It is sad that the demand
for Ivory in the Philippines
and Thailand is driven by the
demandsofboththeCatholic
andBuddhistreligions.
InthePhilippinesthemost
celebratedreligiousiconisthe
SantaNinodeCebu.
Some Filipinos believe
thattheSantoNinideCebuis
Christhimself.
The elephant is a symbol
of Thailand and is revered in
Buddhism.
SmallivoryimagesofBud-
dha and miniature images of
famousmonksaresoldopenly
byvendorsinBangkok’smar-
ketstreets.
Ivory removes bad spirits
is a claim by the revered Ele-
phantMonk.
Many there believe that
“when elephants die they
want to leave man something
behind as a good deed to have
agoodnextlife”.
Itshouldalsobenotedthat
there are some 200 million
BuddhismbelieversinChina.
It is sad to relate that the
illegal trade in ivory is tied so
closely to religion and inter-
esting that the rhino is being
huntedalmosttoextinctionto
assuage the desires of lascivi-
ousChinesemales.
Agent in Northern Ireland
and Best Property Manage-
mentCompanyintheUK.
Victoria Puinkerton said:
“I want Pinkertons to be the
bestEstateAgency.”
VictoriaPinkerton(centre)with
MichelleMoneOBEandGaryTowns