Zimbabwe won’t destroy its 70 metric-ton stock of ivory and says bans on trade don’t save protected species from poachers or extinction. The ban on the trade of ivory stifles growth in developing nations while doing nothing to help preserve endangered species, Environment Minister Oppah Muchinguri told foreign diplomats on Wednesday in the capital, Harare. “The rhino species are now on the brink of extinction, despite being on the CITES Appendix 1 for 40 years,”’ she said, referring to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Zimbabwe will continue to lobby other CITES member states to adopt and defend the principle of sustainable wildlife utilization and the use of proceeds for development, the minister said.