China Destroys More Ivory in Symbolic Gesture

Following on the heels of an initiative announced yesterday by the Beijing Capital International Airport Customs Office to inform Chinese air travelers to never buy ivory abroad and bring it home, the Chinese government today symbolically destroyed 662 kgs of ivory outside of Beijing.

 It further indicated it may eventually phase out its domestic ivory trade. With China being the world’s largest ivory-consuming nation and with 25,000 to 35,000 elephants killed in Africa each year to supply the illicit ivory trade, African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) applauds the Chinese government for taking steps to ensure its citizens do not contribute to the illegal trade.

“It’s clear the Chinese government is taking ever greater responsibility over the potential role of its citizens in the illicit ivory trade, and for that we commend them,” says Dr. Patrick Bergin, African Wildlife Foundation CEO, noting that China’s State Forestry Administration had also placed a one-year ban on ivory imports in February. “We are also hopeful that the government’s indications today that it will be phasing out its ivory trade will indeed occur, and on as fast a timeline as possible. For the sake of Africa’s elephants, all ivory trade in the country must be banned.”

China currently allows for the domestic trade of ivory, which experts have said has been used as cover for the illicit trade. A 2014 survey of Chinese residents in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Gaungzhou found that 95 percent believe the Chinese government should impose a ban on the ivory trade to help stop the poaching of elephants in Africa. The survey was commissioned by AWF, WildAid and Save The Elephants.

For those unfamiliar with the crisis, a new public service announcement (PSA) featuring world-famous classical pianist Lang Lang aims to educate the public on the toll that both the legal and illegal ivory sale are taking on Africa’s elephants. The PSA, part of the Ivory Free campaign sponsored by AWF, WildAid and Save the Elephants, was released today and will be distributed throughout Lang’s native China.

In recent months, a number of countries have destroyed their stockpiles of ivory. Ivory burns have taken place in Nairobi, Kenya, on March 3; in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on March 20; in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, on April 29. An ivory crush also took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 29.

AWF meanwhile continues its own efforts to halt the ivory trade. Through its US$10 million Urgent Response Fund, announced last year, AWF has:

• Helped increase protection for elephant populations throughout the African continent;
• Launched a detection canine program to supply sniffer dogs to wildlife authorities;
• Held a number of judicial workshops in East Africa to sensitize magistrates and those in law enforcement to the seriousness of wildlife crime, with others planned elsewhere on the continent; and
• Continued a three-year-old demand-reduction campaign in Asia with WildAid, Save The Elephants and others.