Environmental groups warn DENR vs plan to burn seized elephant tusks

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources' plan to burn some five tons of seized elephant tusks on June 21 may violate the law and send a wrong message to the public.

On this note, environmental groups on Thursday registered their opposition to the plan to burn the seized tusks, even if the burning is only ceremonial.

"(B)urning the confiscated tusks goes against the prohibition against the open burning of municipal solid waste enshrined in two of our major environmental laws: R.A. 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and R.A. 8749, the Clean Air Act," the groups said in a letter to DENR Secretary Ramon Paje and Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau director Theresa Lim.

Citing a DENR news release, the groups said authorities are to burn the confiscated elephant tusks at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center (NAPWC) in Quezon City.

The DENR, in a news release last June 9, had quoted Paje as saying the tusks "will be crushed by a road roller and burned in the presence of foreign experts and anti-ivory trade advocates on June 21 at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon City."

But while the signatories said they support the global effort to stop illegal wildlife trade, burning the tusks may send a message to the public that is confusing at best.

"Even if the intent is only to conduct 'ceremonial burning,' we remain anxious as this will likely send a confusing message to the general public from the environmental authorities that open burning is acceptable. A photo showing the Environment Secretary setting a pile of tusks on fire may be interpreted as a tacit endorsement that 'open burning is okay,'” they said.

Also, they said an “open burning is okay” message may conflict with the the Integrated Persistent Organic Pollutants Management Project (IPOPs Project) that the DENR is implementing with financial assistance from the Global Environment Facility and the World Bank.

It may also "breach the people’s right to breathe clean air that the state recognizes and commits to uphold," they said.

The groups recommended that the government instead crush and pulverize the tusks with a road roller, such that the tusks are rendered useless to traders and users.

They also proposed that the crushed tusks be buried for composting at an appropriate site within the NAPWC.

In turn, the eco-burial site "can serve as a lasting memorial to our country’s commitment to ending illegal wildlife trade and to poaching that is mercilessly killing the elephants," they added.

The signatories as of Thursday morning included: