How can ivory trade be stopped

New status reports released in September show that across Africa, both forest and savannah elephant numbers have declined to an all-time low and are continuing to fall. Based on survey results, one third of savannah elephants have been poached for their ivory within the past 8 years.

The continued legal trade in ivory, whether domestic or international, threatens the very existence of African and Asian elephants in the wild. Legal domestic markets enable illegal trade by serving as a cover for trade in illicit ivory, including within the EU.

Ivory markets fuel demand and, in turn, poaching. They also drive corruption, undermine the rule of law, and have been linked to terrorist and militia funding. Failure on the part of the EU to close its own domestic ivory market could undermine these important developments. Ivory remains on sale in many EU countries in markets, auctions, antique shops and online. Some EU countries maintain small, but active carving operations. EU regulations only permit the sale of antique or so-called pre-Convention ivory that was acquired before elephants were included on the CITES appendices.

There is evidence, however, that new, illegal ivory is being laundered into trade using this exemption, that ivory pieces are being treated to look antique, and that forged permits are in circulation.

At the same time, EU Member States are clearly being used as transit countries to smuggle illegal ivory from elephants poached in Africa to Asia. This is evidenced by recent large seizures, including 1. Data from the Hong Kong Government shows that a total of 7. We are deeply concerned that such exports of raw and worked ivory from the EU counteract efforts to reduce trafficking and demand, and are providing a route through which poached ivory is laundered, thus fuelling illegal trade.

The Council also urged Member States to consider further measures to put a halt to commercial trade in elephant ivory. To exclusively end the export of raw ivory however, will be wholly inadequate. The EU urgently needs to implement a comprehensive, legally binding ban on all ivory exports and domestic sales. As actions are increasingly being taken around the world to close domestic ivory markets and destroy stockpiles of seized and confiscated ivory, the world now looks to the EU to take responsibility to end its own role in the ivory trade.

France has already issued a ban on domestic sales and exports and the Netherlands has recently declared its intention to do the same. While the EU has been a leader in supporting efforts to crack down on the illegal ivory trade and reduce demand for ivory in other important consumer or transit countries, it is clearly lagging behind when it comes to closing its own domestic ivory market and banning exports.

Born Free therefore opposes trade in any ivory product, and works with governments, wildlife law-enforcement agencies, conservation bodies, industry representatives, the media and the wider public to promote the adoption of comprehensive bans on domestic and international commercial trade in raw and worked ivory.

Born Free also actively publicises the risk posed by any commercial trade in products containing ivory from other ivory-bearing species such as hippo, walrus, narwhal, and the extinct mammoth. With pledge packages available, this breathtaking fine art images include black and white, and toned, from stunning landscapes to close portraits, all wrapped up and printed in a large format hard backed luxury coffee table book.

Elephants are still being killed in their thousands for Bloody Ivory. Illegal ivory is still being smuggled out of Africa. For now, Japan has not answered that call. In an EIA report scheduled to be published on October 8, investigators found that nearly 60 percent of more than hanko vendors they approached had no qualms about customers taking ivory out of Japan. Several even offered to mail the ivory abroad themselves, which is illegal.

On the contrary, conservationists warn that as the stash is depleted, the temptation to smuggle in tusks from newly poached elephants could become irresistible. This may already be happening. In Huang Qun, former director of the Judiciary Identification Center of the National Forest Police Bureau, in Beijing, examined a seizure of more than 1, pounds of tusks from Japan that appeared to have come from recently killed elephants.

The enamel was moist, and the tusks were free from cracks and mildew, while their outer surface had deep deposits of grime. In June—in an effort to dispel mounting criticism, and citing a desire to strengthen controls—Japan tweaked its regulatory laws for ivory trade.

Rather than regulate ivory products directly, though, officials have chosen to increase their supervisory power over traders. Traders also must register all the whole tusks in their possession, and as in the past, they must self-report all their sales on a paper ledger.

Meanwhile the Ministry of Environment hired four new field officers tasked with controlling trade in endangered species. Japanese officials disagree. Some Japanese ivory users have come to see a domestic trade ban as inevitable—even welcome. Very few Japanese today create large-scale ivory sculptures of the sort produced in the Meiji period, but netsuke craftsmanship has made something of a comeback among a small group of artists and collecting enthusiasts, including Princess Hisako of Takamado.

Most artists now use a variety of materials, including wood, deer antler, metal, water buffalo horn, plastic, and stone—but for many, ivory still reigns supreme, according to Atsushi Date, chief curator of the Kyoto Seishu Netsuke Art Museum.

In his studio, he hands me a small wooden box. Nestled inside is a tiny, strikingly lifelike white rabbit with shining red eyes. Some hanko manufacturers agree with this thinking. A few have already opted out of selling ivory hankos, while others, including Soke Nihon Insou Kyokai, the company that first kicked off the ivory hanko craze, are considering alternatives.

Rakuten, the e-commerce company that Sakamoto previously investigated, banned ivory in , and Aeon, a prominent retail group, has already phased ivory out of its shops and given its mall tenants until to do the same. Some officials agree with this sentiment, though they generally keep such thoughts to themselves. Before stepping down as the U. Department of State. But in the meantime, thousands of elephants continue to be poached for their tusks each year. Rachel Nuwer is a freelance journalist.

Brent Stirton is a senior staff photographer for Reportage by Getty Images. He is a regular contributor to National Geographic. All rights reserved. Animals Wildlife Watch. Masters of the shamisen—a traditional stringed instrument—use an ivory bridge and pick to produce what they say is a superior sound. Japan has consumed ivory from more than , elephants since Read in Japanese. This investigation was assisted by a grant from the Abe Fellowship Program, administered by the Social Science Research Council and in cooperation with, and with funds provided by, the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership.

Wildlife Watch is an investigative reporting project between National Geographic Society and National Geographic Partners focusing on wildlife crime and exploitation. Send tips, feedback, and story ideas to ngwildlife natgeo. Share Tweet Email. Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants. This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city.

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