GOVERNMENT
Apart from the current measures taken by governments, below are a few additional suggestions that can further improve the situation. Click on the headers to find out more.
Currently, sales of ivory are still largely allowed though a certification is required to ensure that the ivory piece was obtained through legal methods. However, if ivory trade is totally banned by more countries, it removes the cover that smugglers can hide behind when they mix illegally-obtained ivory with the legal ones. For the consumers, it would reduce confusion among the consumers as they would not need to discern whether that ivory piece was legally obtained or not.
For illegal wildlife poaching, it can translate to better patrolling of nature reserves and harsher rules for illegal poachers. This increases the punishment of conducting illegal ivory poaching activities and can deter any poachers from doing so. For elephants used in tourism, laws ensuring proper treatments of elephants can help improve the living and working conditions of these elephants. This can be combined with education to give better results since penalties alone may only help to reduce the activity when individuals feel that they have a chance of being caught. Once penalties are removed, they may revert back to their initial behavior.
For regulations to be truly effective, enforcement by authorities is important. Particularly in areas where there is opportunities for high financial gains such as through sales of ivory or attracting tourists through elephant shows, the tendencies for corruptions and bribery to happen is high. However, this can still be overcome by good standard management as well as transparency in carrying out policies. Not only that, authorities would also have to instill in themselves positive environmental values to ensure that there is an internalized motivation to execute the regulations.
Many local poachers or elephant entertainers rely on these activities to earn a living. Even if they were aware of the harmful consequences of their actions, the external barrier for them to change is too high for them to be able to take any actions. By providing them with subsidies or incentives to switch to another form of livelihood, this can reduce the external barrier of action and lead them away from this livelihood that endangers elephants.
COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT
An alternative approach could be to let locals manage nature reserves used for trophy hunting. This has to be a mutually agreed and enforced system where hunting fees can be directly paid to locals so that chances of corruption and money flowing elsewhere is greatly reduced. The locals would also be more aware of the movement of elephants and availability of appropriate size of elephants allowed for hunting. If the need arises, locals could turn towards eco-tourism as well instead of trophy hunting.
MORAL, RELIGIOUS AND ETHICAL APPEALS
Many countries importing ivory have a sufficient religious scene which can be utilize to set behavioral limitations on elephant poaching behavior. For example, elephants are considered sacred in Hinduism as well as of cultural importance in Thailand, a place where Asian elephants can be located. Incorporation of elephants’ conservation ideals into religious beliefs may be able to emotionally and spiritually convince people the wrongs of elephant poaching and inculcate positive beliefs that can save the elephants.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
In terms of the human-elephant conflicts due to increased shared spaces, villagers can be educated on possible sustainable and natural practices they can adopt to prevent elephants from destroying the crops and hence the intentional harming of the elephants. For example, elephants naturally avoid chilli so one solution could be for villagers to surround their crops with chilli so that elephants are naturally deterred from entering their farm or plantation spaces. By reducing the loss of crops due to elephants, it can change the attitudes and beliefs villagers have about elephants being a threat to their livelihood. Overtime, ideally a more neutral or positive attitude will be cultivated.
Conservation of elephants can also be extended to be included in the education curriculum, particularly in young children. By teaching children from a young age, it allows them to build and cultivate an environmental identity linked to elephants and to develop right attitudes and beliefs that are against elephant poaching and even the cruel use of elephants in attractions and as rides.