Can China"s Ivory Sales Ban Help To Save African Elephants?

Economy Majed Mohsen
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China’s voracious ivory market has caused a great deal of damage to the African elephant population, as an innocent animal is slaughtered every 26 minutes to satisfy their needs.

At long last, China has decided to take decisive action on the matter, creating a timeline that is designed to lead to the close of the ivory market for good, within one year. International ivory trade has been illegal since 1989, but southern African nations have long since utilized a loophole that gave them the opportunity to sell their ivory stockpiles legally.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora granted China permission to purchase ivory from these nations in 2008, and while this rule was passed as a means of reducing elephant poaching, it inadvertently caused a massive boom instead.

The elephant population in Africa dwindled by a whopping 30 percent in just seven years, according to elephant census polls, as nearly 145,000 elephants were killed. In response to these numbers, China and the United States have both agreed to ban the domestic trade of ivory.

China’s ivory carving workshops are to be shut down by April, while processors and registered traders will be phased out by the conclusion of 2017. With the rise of environmental awareness, the demand for ivory in China has fallen and the nation no longer considers the ivory trade to be an aspect of their culture that is worth defending.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong does not plan on shutting down their ivory trade and processing procedures until 2021, providing those who seek a loophole with further options.