(Adds reactions) By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent THE HAGUE, June 14 (Reuters) - A U.N. wildlife conference extended a 1989 ban on African elephant ivory exports on Thursday by nine years, after sales from stocks, in a pact hailed as a step to safeguard the giant mammals. "This will allow human beings and elephants to co-exist in Africa," Zimbabwe's Environment and Tourism Minister Francis Nhema told Reuters of the deal approved by the 171-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). CITES backed an African plan, agreed after overnight talks among ministers, to crack down on poaching while allowing Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to make one-off ivory sales. They say their elephant numbers are rising. The deal will let the four sell government ivory stockpiles registered at Jan. 31, 2007, and then bar them from seeking exports for nine years. Cash from sales will be ploughed back into conservation and local communities. Julius Kipng'etich, head of the Kenya Wildlife Service who led his country's delegation in arguing for a ban, said it was "Africa's finest hour, a proud moment for the continent, its people and the elephant". "This African solution to an African problem marks a great step forward for wildlife conservation," CITES Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers said. African nations had never before agreed a common ivory front at CITES, which meets every three years. He estimated the four African nations had stocks of 210-260 tonnes that can be sold to Japan, the only importer although China is also seeking CITES approval as a buyer. Stocks are from elephants that die from natural causes, ivory seized from poachers and shootings of "problem" elephants. ZIMBABWE POACHING "We believe this will help the elephant," said Todd Willens, head of the U.S. delegation. Still, he said Washington opposed exports by Zimbabwe, saying President Robert Mugabe's government had failed to curb a rise in poaching. "We'll give Zimbabwe a chance to prove us wrong," he said. The compromise was far from the original demands at the June 3-15 conference in The Hague. Kenya and Mali had argued for a total ban on ivory exports for 20 years, saying 19,000 elephants are killed a year and that poaching is pushing elephants towards extinction in many areas. Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa had sought regular sales, saying rising elephant populations were running into increasing conflicts with people in rural areas. Ivory is used mainly in jewellery and in carvings. Conservation groups broadly welcomed the compromise. "This consensus is a milestone in elephant history," said Susan Lieberman, director of WWF Global Species Programme. But she said that the wrangling had prevented needed debate about how to stop poaching and illegal domestic ivory markets. Zimbabwe's Nhema said the deal might let Africa focus in future on other species -- such as lions, cheetahs and leopards. Among dissent, the Swiss-based IWMC World Conservation Trust branded the deal a "poachers' charter", saying it would deprive African nations doing most to conserve elephants of export revenues for nine years. Elephants, the world's largest land mammals, are under pressure in many parts of Africa from poaching, loss of habitats to farms and towns, pollution and climate change. Numbers have fallen to 470,000-685,000 against millions decades ago. Since the 1989 ban, a one-off sale of 50 tonnes of ivory was approved in 1997 that raised $5 million. Another approved last week -- of 60 tonnes to Japan -- would become part of the stockpile sale. (Additional reporting by Muchena Zigomo in Johannesburg)
