Gove leads fight to reduce illegal killing of elephants
ENVIRONMENT Secretary Michael Gove is to chair a new drive to reduce the illegal killing of African elephants.
The Ivory Alliance 2024 will bring together a network of global leaders, conservationists and experts to engage with countries where ivory demand and trafficking is high. It will aim to reduce illegal elephant deaths by at least one-third by 2021 and halve it again by 2024.
Speaking on World Elephant Day, Mr Gove said: “We must all do more to ensure the survival of these majestic animals for future generations.
“That’s why I am delighted to be chairing a new initiative, Ivory Alliance 2024, to bring countries together to close ivory markets and improve enforcement. This will form an important part of the discussions at the Illegal Wildlife Trade conference being held in London during October.”
The new alliance aims to increase the number of countries committed to domestic ivory bans to more than 30 by 2020 and for tougher enforcement against those caught breaking the law.
The UK announced its own domestic ivory ban in April this year.
As part of £26 million Government spending on combating the illegal wildlife trade between
2014 and 2021, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is putting £11m into protecting elephants.