China praised for ivory U-turn
China has promised to close down its domestic ivory trade completely by the end of 2017, a decision greeted by environmentalists as offering real hope to curb a poaching crisis that is wiping out tens of thousands of elephants across Africa.
‘‘China’s announcement is a game changer for elephant conservation,’’ said Carter Roberts, president and chief executive of the World Wildlife Fund. ‘‘The largescale trade of ivory now faces its twilight years, and the future is brighter for wild elephants.’’
In a statement released by its governing State Council yesterday, China announced that it would ‘‘cease part of ivory processing and sales’’ by the end of March, and cease both completely by December 31, 2017.
It is a massive step for a country which previously argued that ivory carving was part of its national cultural heritage, and where intricately carved ivory items have become both a status symbol and a popular gift to grease the wheels of government and business.
The government was moved to act not just by international pressure but also by changing attitudes among ordinary Chinese people towards the ivory trade. Celebrities such as former NBA basketball star Yao Ming have led campaigns to stop the buying of ivory, and to educate people that elephants have to die for the ivory to be taken.
There was also a sense that China’s key role in the illicit ivory trade – estimated to be worth around US$10 billion a year, and run by international criminal networks and African rebel groups – was damaging its image in Africa.
After the market is closed down, the Chinese Ministry of Culture will help ivory sector employees transition to other jobs – for example, encouraging ‘‘master carvers’’ to work in museums to help repair and maintain significant ivory works of art.
Peter Knights, chief executive of WildAid, a San Francisco-based group at the forefront of efforts to change attitudes in China towards the ivory trade, called it the ‘‘best possible news for Africa’s elephants’’ and congratulated President Xi Jinping for his leadership on the issue.
Although poaching peaked a few years ago, around 20,000 African elephants continue to be killed for their tusks every year, experts say, largely to fuel demand for ivory from Asia, particularly China.
Africa’s elephant population has dwindled from about 1.2 million 35 years ago to between 400,000 and 500,000 now. Central African forest elephants could be extinct within the next decade if current trends continue, while Tanzania’s elephant population fell by 60 per cent between 2009 and 2014.
But even if a ban is enforced in China, some experts warn that the trade could shift across the border into neighbouring Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar, where large markets flourish selling endangered wildlife products to Chinese consumers. There is also a danger of traders passing off elephant ivory as legal mammoth ivory.