The Ivory Trade

Ivory is a raw material that can be taken from hippopotamus, walruses, narwhals, and many other animals, however, the best quality ivory is found in the tusks of Elephants.  It is used to manufacture products such as handles for cutlery, billiard balls, gambling checks, chess-men, napkin-rings, and more.  Ivory-carving has long been a part of China’s culture, and there it is mainly used to produce ivory chopsticks, bangles, engravings and other products which people indulge in to show off their wealth and social standing.   The Chinese have been said to master the fine work in ivory carving and due to the cheap labor there it is a target marketplace for ivory sellers.  The demand for the above products increase as individual wealth in China grows, which also contributes to the appeal of China as a place to sell ivory.

Background of the Ivory Trade:

Due to the great demand for ivory, the poaching of Elephants has become a serious problem.  CITES (the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) banned the international commercial trade of ivory in 1989 by putting African elephants on its endangered species list, where items are strictly prohibited, after drastic declines in elephant populates across the world.  According to “Illegal Ivory Trade Flourishes once again”, an article from the Shanghai Daily, “between April and September of last year, 4, 759 pieces of ivory tusks were confiscated around the world,” meaning the remains of more than 2,000 slaughtered elephants were found within those six months alone, with most of them likely on their way to China to be carved into a luxury item, rather than something that is a necessity.  

Is the Ivory Trade really banned?

Although CITES initially banned trade, it is unrealistic to think that this means trade will stop.  Rather, it just leads to smuggling as a popular channel for bringing in new supplies.  In 1997, CITES agreed to a stockpile sale or “one-off sales” of ivory in which Japan was able to purchase 54.6 tons of ivory, coming from Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.  Another stockpile sale was approved in 2007, allowing China to join as a trading partner. 

The reasoning behind CITES allowing for such trade to occur include requests from African countries (where the majority of elephants are found) claimed that they “needed money to fund their animal-protection activities,” meanwhile the target market countries such as China and Japan, noted that they need the raw ivory, which their own countries lack, to continue the art of tusk carving, an ancient part of their culture which they wish to keep alive.  It is ironic how countries in which there are endangered species are willing to continually hurt these particular species in order to fund their supposed protection of them.  It is also saddening on countries who continually participate in the purchasing of these raw materials, when they are mostly being used to manufacture things that are merely for show or entertainment.

Illegal Sales

In order for China to be able to participate as a trading partner in the auction they had to meet CITE requirements.  In order to do so, they created a new ivory registration system in which every piece of ivory sold needed to have documentation, and that only operations with government licenses could participate in legal ivory trade.  The International Fund for Animal Welfare performed investigation in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Fuzhou in September and October of last year, to determine the status of the ivory trade in China.  They found that of the 158 ivory factories and shops visited, only 57 were approved by the State Forestry Administration and the Ministry of Commerce meaning two-thirds of the factories and shops visited were illegally participating in the trade.

What can be done?

The Chinese government insists that it has not been ignoring the smuggling and illegal trade of ivory, however, it is apparent that not much is being done to stop it.  The government in China plays a major role in the functioning of its companies, and the fact that only one-third of the ivory factories were legal shows that they are clearly not being monitored.  It is way too easy for this illicit trading to continue, as the demand and price for goods made of ivory continually increases, with growing personal wealth in China.

 Many people do not sympathize to the fact that an innocent species is being exterminated, but when will it stop? Once elephants and other animals have been completely wiped out and there are no longer any sources of ivory?

There are people out there campaigning to save endangered species and help end trades such as the ivory trade.  To help joing the fight against the ivory trade in China you can petition against it by visiting sites such as the following, http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/168/639/035/ .