GOVERNMENT

Thus far, government measures mainly target at limiting poaching in African countries and this is largely carried out through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES is an international agreement between countries to govern wildlife trade to ensure that their species’ populations are not threatened.

Timeline of the elephant conservation actions that have been taken under CITES since 1975.

The African Elephant Action Plan is managed by the African countries and lists actions that local governments should take. Not only does it target the reduction of illegal killing of elephants, it also aims to reduce human-elephant conflict through maintenance of elephants’ habitats and raise awareness on elephant conservation efforts.

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

In 2016, 29 African countries came together and voted to ban all ivory trade in their domestic markets. Prior to this, limited ivory sales were permitted. There has been two cases, in 1999 and 2008, of a sale of stockpiles of elephant ivory from the governments of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to China and Japan.

INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENTS

International governments have also stepped up on their efforts to reduce ivory trade and exports to their countries. In 2013, the U.S. government burned their stockpile of ivory in a display to show their intolerance towards elephant poaching. In October this year, the UK government has also decided on a total ban on ivory regardless of the age, a change from current laws that allow sale of ivory dating before 1947. China, one of the largest consumers for ivory, has been stepping up with measures as well to curb ivory demand by pledging to close her ivory factories and licensed ivory retailed shops by the end of 2017. Closer to home, Singapore is also exploring the option of banning ivory trade locally. Even though our local market for ivory is small when compared with countries like China, our ports are potentially major transit points for people smuggling ivory illegally.

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