On the 29th of May conservationists and global citizens all over the world were celebrating the Government of China’s announcement that they would eventually halt the commercial processing and sale of ivory and its products. This is, so far, the most monumental victory in the fight to save Africa’s elephants, and a major push back against greed, status symbols and corruption.
But the announcement was met with a healthy dose of skepticism as China has not yet committed to any timelines, and considering an elephant is killed every 15 minutes, every day that passes is a gamble on extinction – as populations across Africa decrease the criminal syndicates’ investment in ivory increases. According to a report by Environmental Investigation Agency, at least 90% of the ivory coming out of China’s carving factories is from poached elephants. This alleged ‘legal’ market is a front for the illegal market, and unless these markets are shut down, our generation will in all probability be the last to see elephants in the wild.
Following up with WildAid’s Hong Kong office, Wildlife Campaigner Alex Hofford reflected that China has a 5,000-year history, and they’re not known for timelines. Says Hofford, “In my opinion, when China takes an incremental approach, they do tend to stick to their word. I think China’s announcement was a tipping point away from favouring the trade towards favouring the conservation lobby.”
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