{"id":31640,"date":"2014-01-08T11:22:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-08T11:22:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-05-14T18:44:08","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T18:44:08","slug":"6640-china-destroys-seized-ivory-to-combat-illegal-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/6640-china-destroys-seized-ivory-to-combat-illegal-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"China destroys seized ivory to combat illegal trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chinese government has destroyed <\/a>6.15 tonnes of seized elephant ivory, in a move suggesting that China is firmly behind international action to address the illegal ivory trade<\/a>. Gabon, the Philippines and the USA <\/a>have all recently destroyed ivory stockpiles, while France has also signalled its intention to do so too. <\/p>\n

“The destruction of seized ivory makes an important public statement that, in conjunction with other government-led efforts to reduce demand, has the potential to have a significant impact on the illegal market for ivory,” said Tom Milliken, an ivory trade expert for TRAFFIC<\/a>, an organisation that campaigns against the illegal wildlife trade. <\/p>\n

Although China has a legal ivory market based on stocks that pre-date the 1989 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES<\/a>) ivory trade ban, under CITES rules, seized ivory cannot be used for commercial purposes. <\/p>\n

China has previously indicated it is prepared to clamp down hard on the illegal ivory trade: the ivory destruction takes place just weeks after eight Chinese citizens were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment in east China’s eastern Anhui Province for smuggling a total of 3.2 tonnes of ivory.<\/p>\n

Fan Zhiyong, Head of WWF China’s Species Programme said: “WWF believes that destroying seized ivory is a signal of the government’s commitment to enhance law enforcement against illegal ivory trade that will support international action against elephant poaching and illegal wildlife trade.” <\/p>\n

“Tens of thousands of African Elephants are being killed by poachers because of the high demand for ivory. China’s gesture is a solemn commitment by the government to cleanse the Chinese ivory market and to guarantee the survival of Africa’s elephants.”<\/p>\n

The high poaching levels are mirrored by the ivory trafficking figures compiled through the Elephant Trade Information System <\/a>(ETIS) database, which TRAFFIC manages on behalf of the CITES Conference of the Parties. <\/p>\n

Large-scale ivory seizures typically indicate the participation of organised crime; provisional data for 2013 includes 18 such seizures yielding more than 41.6 tonnes of ivory. Analysis of ETIS data has identified China as the major destination for ivory in Asia. <\/p>\n

Although the amount destroyed is far less than China’s estimated total stockpile of over 45 tonnes<\/a>, the move has still been welcomed. Joe Walson of the Wildlife Conservation Society told The Guardian<\/a> <\/em>that the importance of the destruction "is not its direct impact on the market price of ivory (zero) or the safety of wild elephants in Africa tomorrow (negligible); its importance lies in it being the manifestation of a very real debate within the Chinese government on this issue."<\/p>\n

According to Tom Miliken, “China’s actions, more than those of any other country, have the potential to reverse the rising trends of elephant poaching and illegal ivory trafficking.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

China’s destruction of its ivory stockpile will aid efforts to reduce demand<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":56975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[764],"tags":[],"hashtags":[],"country":[],"class_list":["post-31640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChina destroys seized ivory to combat illegal trade | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"China’s destruction of its ivory stockpile will aid efforts to reduce demand\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/6640-china-destroys-seized-ivory-to-combat-illegal-trade\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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