Destruction of ivory


The destruction of ivory is a technique used by governments and conservation groups to deter the poaching of elephants for their tusks and to suppress the illegal ivory trade., more than of ivory have been destroyed, typically by burning or crushing, in these high-profile events in 21 countries around the world. Kenya held the first event in 1989, as well as the largest event in 2016, when a total of of ivory were incinerated.
The conservationists, governments, and non-governmental organizations that endorse the strategy argue that it fosters public support for the protection of elephants and that it sends a message to poachers their work is futile. Critics contend that the technique may increase poaching by creating a perception of scarcity that increases ivory's value on the black market, and that evidence for the technique's effectiveness is insufficient to justify the opportunity cost for countries struggling with poverty.

Background

Archaeological findings show human use of ivory to date back more than 35,000 years. It has been exported to Europe since at least Classical antiquity, but exporting accelerated during the Age of Exploration and colonisation of Africa. At its peak, at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, with the rise of mass production, well over of ivory were exported to Europe yearly. In the last quarter of the 19th century, the city of Sheffield, England alone imported just for cutlery handles. In the 1970s, Japan became the largest consumer of ivory, accounting for about 40% of all trade worldwide, with Hong Kong acting as the largest trade hub.
Hunting for ivory is responsible for significant reductions in elephant populations in several parts of Africa. Between 1979 and 1989, the African elephant population decreased from 1.3 million to 600,000. Ivory became a billion-dollar market, with about 80% of the supply taken from illegally killed elephants., according to a report by the Wildlife Conservation Society, about 96 African elephants are killed for their tusks every day.
In 1986, CITES introduced a control system based on permits, registration, stockpiles, and monitoring. Shortly thereafter, the CITES Secretariat weakened regulations, effectively legalizing stockpiles of poached ivory. For example, countries such as Burundi and Singapore, which were not home to wild elephants, registered and of trafficked ivory, respectively. As uncovered by the Environmental Investigation Agency, the "control system" turned out to be easy to manipulate, ultimately increasing the value of ivory and empowering smugglers. At the October 1989 CITES convention in Geneva, representatives from Tanzania proposed an effective ban on the international ivory trade. After heated debates, the ban was enacted, and went into effect in January 1990.
The ban proved effective for about a decade, and saw rising elephant populations, but starting in 1997 CITES began granting exceptions to the ban to allow countries such as Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to sell a limited amount of ivory, as well as an exception to Japan to buy a limited amount, based on each country's declared confidence in their effective regulation and control. From 1998 to 2011, other countries were granted exceptions and illegal trafficking at least tripled. The majority of ivory in the 21st century has gone to growing Asian markets, including and especially China, where the material has been viewed as a status symbol sometimes known as "white gold". In 2015, Chinese officials expressed their intent to phase out the country's involvement with the ivory trade. Prices fell by nearly half in the year prior to a 2016 report, and at the end of that year China's State Council declared its intent to halt ivory-related commerce by the end of March 2017.

History and events

Kenya and the first fires

In 1989 Richard Leakey, a paleoanthropologist and conservationist from the prominent Leakey family, was named head of Kenya's Wildlife Conservation and Management Department, the forerunner to today's Kenya Wildlife Service. Elephant hunting had been banned in 1973, but the ivory trade remained legal. By the 1980s, elephant poaching had become widespread due to the increasing price of ivory. In a May 1989 article, The New York Times described Tsavo National Park as "an elephant graveyard – piles of bleached white elephant bones – instead of an elephant habitat". Kenyan officials knew the value of the elephant to safari tourism, and wanted to persuade CITES to include the animal on its global endangered species list at its October 1989 meeting.
When Leakey took the position, the organization had 12 tons of confiscated illegal ivory in its possession, which he was urged to sell in order to fund conservation efforts. Instead, he piled all of it together and, with Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi, set it on fire. Ivory does not easily burn, but the choice to use fire rather than other means to destroy it was intentional as Leakey wanted the event to produce powerful images for the global media. To make the destruction spectacular, Leakey worked with a Hollywood special effects professional to devise an innovative pyrotechnics technique using jet fuel and flammable glue.
It was a successful publicity stunt, attracting international attention from the press while the fire burned for three days. It also proved influential among conservationists, encouraging others to dispose of their stockpiles in a similar manner and leading, in part, to the international ban on the ivory trade passed at CITES. Paul Udoto of the Kenya Wildlife Service called it a "desperate measure meant to send a message to the world about the destruction through poaching of Kenya's elephants."
Kenya has held two more ivory burns since 1989. The second was just two years later in 1991, destroying 6.8 tons. Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki held the country's third event in 2011, destroying another five tons of ivory.

Largest fire

On 30 April 2016, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta set alight the largest ever pile of ivory for destruction in the Nairobi National Park. The pile consisted of 105 tonnes of elephant ivory from about 8,000 elephants and 1.35 tonnes of horns from 343 rhinoceroses. Estimates for the total black market value of the destroyed contraband range from $150 million to $220 million. The ivory was transported to the site in shipping containers then stacked into towers up to tall and in diameter. The ivory towers took personnel from the Kenya Wildlife Service ten days to build. The pyre also contained exotic animal skins. The amount of ivory destroyed equaled about 5% of the global stock. Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba was also in attendance.

More frequent events across four continents

, more than of ivory has been destroyed in high-profile events in 21 countries around the world. Much of this is due to the help of the Elephant Protection Initiative, which aids countries in burning their ivory stockpiles. The EPI was launched by the governments of Botswana, Chad, Ethiopia, Gabon and Tanzania in 2014.
  • United Arab Emirates and Zambia: The first countries to follow Kenya's lead were the United Arab Emirates and Zambia in 1992, destroying 12 and 9.5 tons, respectively.
  • Gabon: In 2012, Gabon burned the tusks and carved ivory it had been confiscating since 1985, adding up to about 4.8 tons.
  • Philippines: The Philippines, a country which the CITES Standing Committee noted as one of the major consumers of ivory in 2012, became the first such nation to destroy its holdings in June 2013. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the division coordinating the destruction, had planned to hold a "ceremonial burning", but environmental objections to the idea of legitimated open burning led them to instead crush all five tons by first running over them with a road roller, then pounding them with the bucket of a backhoe, and finally taking the bits that remained to an incinerator.
  • United States: In November 2013, the United States employed an industrial rock crusher to pulverize six tons of amassed ivory. Although the US does not ban the domestic sale of ivory, it is illegal to bring ivory into the country. Its interest in destroying its ivory was also connected to research that found links between the ivory trade and threats to national security through terrorism and organized crime. The US government and American non-governmental organizations have been involved in multiple forms of anti-poaching measures, largely in Africa, and American diplomats are actively engaging other governments to take part in eroding the ivory market by destroying stockpiles. Another ivory crush took place in New York City's Times Square in June 2015.
  • China: China is the world's largest consumer of ivory, accounting for 70% of global demand as of 2014. Many of the countries that have destroyed their ivory accumulated the stockpiles because of their location on the trade route between Africa and China. Given its prominent role in the market, China's decision to crush 6.1 tons of ivory in January 2014 was a major cause for celebration among conservationists.
  • France: France was the first European country to destroy its three tons of seized illegal ivory in February 2014, with tusks fed one-by-one along with other ivory goods into a pulverizer.
  • Hong Kong: In May 2014, Hong Kong began a systematic destruction of its 28-ton stockpile, which was scheduled to take place over the course of two years. In its announcement of the destruction, Hong Kong's Endangered Species Advisory Committee chairman, Wong Kam-sing, explained that, moving forward, "any future forfeiture of ivory will be similarly disposed of on a regular basis". Although the sale of ivory has not been banned entirely in Hong Kong, the commitment and actions it has taken are significant not just for being the largest stockpile destroyed to-date, but also because it has been the world's largest ivory market.
  • Chad: 1.1 tons destroyed of ivory in 2014.
  • Belgium: 1.5 tons of ivory destroyed in 2014.
  • Ethiopia: In Ethiopia, where the size of the elephant population has decreased by 90% since the 1980s, officials issued a National Ivory Action Plan to address poaching and ivory trafficking. Among other strategies, the Plan includes the publicized destruction of seized ivory. The first such event took place in March 2015, in Addis Ababa, where the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority's 6.1-ton stockpile was burned.
  • Republic of the Congo: 4.7 tons of ivory destroyed in 2015.
  • United Arab Emirates: 11 tons of ivory destroyed in 2015.
  • Mozambique: 2.4 tons of ivory as well as 440 lbs of rhinoceros horn destroyed in 2015.
  • Sri Lanka: In January 2016, Sri Lanka became the first South Asian country to destroy its ivory and also the first to issue a formal apology for its role in the ivory trade.
  • Italy: In March 2016, the Italian government partnered with the Elephant Action League to burn a tonne of ivory, worth an estimated £3.6 million GBP.
  • Vietnam: On 12November 2016, Vietnam destroyed nearly 2.2 tons of seized elephant ivory and 70 kg of rhinoceros horns.