Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-13-Speech-2-182"
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"en.20040113.7.2-182"2
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"Mr President, I wish to begin by again thanking the rapporteur for this very necessary report. I regret that Mr Ford wants to make this a political matter, because I believe this is something on which all political parties could work together for the greater good in order to stop this horrible trade.
As we meet here in Strasbourg, great apes, gorillas, chimpanzees and monkeys are all being hunted to extinction for
bushmeat. At the current rate, people are paying a premium to eat more great apes each year than are now kept in all the zoos and laboratories of the world. The shocking statistic is that if the slaughter continues at its current pace, the remaining wild apes in Africa will be gone within the next 15 to 50 years – a long time, but it will soon go if we do not stop this trade.
I pay tribute to Dr Brian Carroll of Bristol Zoo, in my own region, who has worked with zoos across the UK to collect a stunning half a million signatures as part of the Europe-wide campaign.
We are facing a catastrophe that affects both the survival of our closest relatives and the people who rely on forests for their livelihoods. The biggest challenge now facing conservationists is to reduce the demand for bushmeat. It is essential that we maintain an education programme that will keep people from buying and eating great apes through greater understanding and awareness.
However, we can do more here in Europe. I am horrified by the scale of this sickening trade every year. Tonnes of bushmeat are confiscated at Europe's airports. We must have stricter controls at all EU ports and airports to stop such meat getting into Europe – witness, colleagues, the devastation caused by foot-and-mouth outbreaks across Europe. We had our own inquiry. Foot-and-mouth is prevalent in parts of western Africa. Smuggled bushmeat could not only spark a new outbreak in Europe, it could also expose our livestock to diseases and epidemics on the African continent. Every kilogram of smuggled meat in the EU food chain poses a real threat not only of animal diseases, but also human ones, such as Ebola.
Colleagues, your support for the conclusions of this temporary committee into the outbreak, and its demand for tougher measures to prevent diseases entering the EU was overwhelming, yet in my own country we have only six sniffer dogs to seek out this hideous trade. We are not taking this threat seriously enough and all Member States could do more. Endangered wildlife and habitats are a precious and irreplaceable asset. We must stop this barbaric trade before it is too late."@en1
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