An intense debate continues to rage over whether the Namibian government should maintain its existing stockpiles of collected legal and confiscated illegal ivory. Trading in valuable wildlife products is one of the most important incentives for Namibia's coexistence with wildlife, especially rhinos and elephants, to support its conservation. There are two categories of stockpiles: Those held legally and those held illegally. Legally-held stockpiles consist of raw ivory, and are mostly owned by the government under the Controlled Wildlife Products and Trade Act 9 of 2008. They are sourced from natural mortality and culls or the confiscation of illegal ivory, in transit or from consumer countries. Ilegal stockpiles are privately held and clandestine. Their location and the extent are not fully known. Following the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) international trade ban vote in 1989, limited legal trade was permitted for two one-off sales only. The ban was an attempt to stem the decline of Africa's elephant population.