Long fight against illegal ivory trade

The recent destruction of tons of valuable tusks brought critical conservation issues to the fore

The decision by China's wildlife watchdog to destroy 6 metric tons of confiscated ivory on Jan 6 has sparked praise as well as criticism.

That day in Dongguan, in South China's Guangdong province, dust filled the air around two crushers as they pulverized 6.2 tons of the confiscated ivory. Batch after batch of whole tusks, delicately carved statues and ornaments were spat out the other end of the crushers in a stream of fragments.

This was the first time the State Forestry Administration, China's wildlife watchdog, had destroyed confiscated ivory. The substantial quantity, which had been seized over several years, could command about 200 million yuan ($33 million) on the black market.

For many of those present, watchdog officials and members of animal protection organizations, the destruction of the ivory was not only a symbolic funeral for the more than 2,000 elephants that were slaughtered for the ivory but also a signal to the world that China will not tolerate elephant poaching or other wildlife crime.

But many people who learned of the event from media saw the destruction as wasteful.

"Many people thought the tusks were still a valuable natural product, and it was quite wasteful to destroy them," says Yan Xun, chief engineer for wildlife conservation at the State Forestry Administration.

"Why didn't the government put the tusks in a museum, or auction the seizure and use the money for conservation?" Shi Ting, a Beijing resident who watched the destruction on TV, asks.

Her question matches many concerns expressed online.

Critics also contend that the action may actually have the opposite effect. By reducing the supply of ivory, such events will drive the price up and thus encourage the poaching of even more elephants. Experts from the government are defending the decision to destroy the stockpile.

Yan, the chief engineer, says the government will continue to control the price of ivory.

"Only ivory craft items with certificates can be sold, and their auctions need special approval," he says, adding that strict management is the main reason why the price of ivory craft items is rising much more slowly than other collections.

According to Jin Yu, a professor at the national wildlife detecting center at Northeast Forestry University, the management of legal ivory products in China is among the strictest in the world.

"For instance, the United States allows the import of raw tusks from elephants hunted for sport, but does not restrict the number of tusks a hunter can bring in," she says. "It also allows trade in antique ivory, despite the fact that on a practical level it is impossible to distinguish old ivory from new."

In China, only 36 factories and 137 retailers are certified to manufacture and sell ivory products and each product must be certified; this can be checked on an official database.

Every year, the certified factories apply to the administration for a quota. After the approval, the China Arts and Crafts Association assign tusks to the factories.

The remaining task for officials is to enforce the strict legislation, Yan says.

On Jan 15, Beijing prosecuted two independent ivory carvers.

"Any carver who is self-employed is committing a crime," Yan says.

In 2008, China legally imported 62 tons of elephant tusks from four African countries under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Japan also bought legal ivory from that one-off sale.

Under the convention, the Chinese government also promised to incorporate its international obligations into its domestic legislation. However, after 2008, the media reported a surge of elephant poaching in Africa and stunning numbers of ivory smuggling cases, all targeted at the destination country - China.

The main reason for this is China's rising middle class, according to "Ivory Worship", a report published in National Geographic in 2012.

He Yong, a program officer with the International Fund for Animal Welfare says the government needs to reduce market demand as well as ensure the law is enforced.

The organization has been campaigning on the idea of "no trade, no slaughter" and putting posters in metro stations and on signposts to educate the public.

He says the campaign has had a positive impact on past buyers. According to a survey conducted by the fund in 2013, those saying they would definitely not buy ivory increased from 33 to 66 percent.

He says people who argue against the destruction of ivory stockpiles think that having a legal supply is the answer to the poaching problem. But attempts to flood the market with ivory in the past have produced bad results.

According to He, before 2008 when China and Japan had a legal source of ivory, the poaching of elephants had been controlled, and market demand was actually stimulated after they received the material.

He says the ivory trade should be addressed as a moral and ethical issue, as well as a legal one. "What we need to know is that ivory belongs to living elephants in the wild, and we should value the tusks not only by money, but also by their value in our ecosystem."

Recently, the well-known Chinese stand-up comedian, Yu Qian, showed an audience his ivory collection, and attracted a lot of criticism.

"Public figures should especially be models for telling the public not to buy elephant tusks," He says.

Zhu Chunquan, the country's representative at the International Union for Conservation of Nature, says that another problem with putting more ivory into the legal supply chain is that it would make law enforcement and effective prosecution of criminals more difficult.

Another concern stems from the legal ivory carving side, given that ivory carving is considered a traditional Chinese art form.

Xiao Guangyi, manager of a certified ivory carving factory in Beijing, however, remains positive.

"Destroying the illegal works would not have much impact on us," Xiao says. "Actually we applaud this move. After it, we became the only source in the market."

Though ivory carving is listed in China as non-material heritage, the skills can be used with other materials.

Guo Chen, an ivory carver at Xiao's factory, majored in sculpture and says that when tusks are no longer available he will still be able to carve in wood or stone.

"I am not that worried about losing my job," he says.

At the center of the debate stands the State Forestry Administration, which is trying to find a balance between conserving an endangered species and preserving the legal ivory carving industry.

According to the CITES decision, China cannot ask for legal ivory until 2017.

Will China bargain for more tusks after the legal supply runs out? Officials have not disclosed their stance on the issue, but say they will continue to enforce the rules.

China also says it is a joint effort, as the fight to save elephants and end the ivory trade needs support from all countries involved in the illegal trade chain.

From Jan 6 to Feb 5 last year, China led an operation, code-named Cobra, that involved 22 Asian and African countries, according to the State Forestry Administration.

The cross-border campaign against wildlife crimes uncovered more than 200 cases involving trafficked wildlife parts and led to the detention of more than 100 suspects.

Meng Xianlin, director of the China Management Authority for CITES, says its officials are planning further action to crack down on illegal trafficking in protected wildlife.

yangyao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 01/24/2014 page3)