Saying No to Poaching

　　China is committed to combating the illegal trade of wildlife products

　　he crunching sound of 662 kg of illegal raw tusks， carved ivory pieces and a range of ivory products being ground to dust in a giant crusher makes quite an impression. In a public display of commitment and intent， the destruction in China’s capital provided a massive boost for the efforts of the global anti-poaching campaign.

　　The Confiscated Ivory Destruction Ceremony took place at the Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center on May 29. It is the third time that China has destroyed confiscated ivory in public after 6.1 tons of ivory were destroyed in Dongguan， south China’s Guangdong Province， and another 28 tons in Hong Kong in 2014.

　　“This event demonstrates the firm resolution of the Chinese Government in advancing ecological progress， conserving wildlife and combating illegal trade of wildlife and its products， including ivory，” said Zhao Shucong， Minister of the State Forestry Administration， at the ceremony.

　　Debate on destruction

　　In 1989， Kenya responded to rampant elephant poaching by burning its stockpile and became the first country to express a firm stance against illegal poaching in this way， with many other countries following suit.

　　“Over the past 24 months， we have seen Belgium， Chad， the Republic of the Congo， Ethiopia， France， Gabon， Kenya， the Philippines， the United Arab Emirates and the United States all destroy stockpiles of illegally traded elephant ivory that has been seized and confiscated，” said John Scalon， Secretary General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)， in the written remarks of the ceremony.

　　As an international agreement between governments that went into effect on July 1， 1975， the CITES aims at ensuring the international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

　　In a survey conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society based in New York City after the destruction on May 29， more than 50 percent of respondents agreed that the destruction is the right way to say no to the illegal ivory trade， while about 20 percent thought it was not ideal.

　　“These ivory products are expensive. Why don’t we sell them and use the money to protect more elephants？” said Zhou Mingguang， a college student from the Communication University of China. “Thousands of elephants were killed by the poachers to get these tusks， and the government also made great efforts to get the tusks from the poachers. The destruction made all these seem to be in vain.”

　　Though good in theory， Zhou’s suggestion may simply be impossible. “No nation is allowed to sell seized ivory internationally according to the CITES’ regulations，” explained Zhao. “The cost to secure the stockpiles of ivory is also high， and it is hard to prevent theft. Both cases run the risk of putting the seized goods back onto the market. For nations whose ivory stockpiles present a large cost and security burden， the destruction of ivory stockpiles lowers those costs and prevents theft.”

　　Legal trade

　　Today， ivory that is allowed for trade in China comes from only two sources - those that were imported before the country joined the CITES in 1981 and the 62 tons of raw ivory stocks which China bought from four African countries in 2008， as permitted by the CITES.

　　In 2008， China and Japan were allowed to purchase a total of 115 tons of tusks from four countries in Africa - an effort by the CITES to try legal trade among specific countries in order to ease poaching， but the results were not promising.

　　“Putting more ivory into the legal supply chain would create a smokescreen for illicit trade in ivory， making effective prosecution of criminals more difficult，” said Daniel Ashe， Director of Fish and Wildlife Service.

　　“The destruction of confiscated elephant ivory in Beijing will not in itself put an end to the illegal trade in elephant ivory，” said Scanlon. “It is， however， ensuring that no one will ever profit from this contraband and， when coupled with the seizure of ivory and the prosecution and conviction of offenders， it sends a powerful message that China does not and will not tolerate this illegal trade.”

　　Taking action

　　China’s basketball legend Yao Ming visited Kenya and South Africa in 2012 on a 12-day trip with Peter Knights， Executive Director of WildAid， a non-governmental organization based in San Francisco， learning about the poaching crisis. In this fact-finding mission into the heart of Africa’s wildlife conservation crisis， they witnessed the disastrous risks that the wild animals face - five elephants in Kenya were butchered and a rhino was poached in South Africa during their trip.

　　The poachers are becoming better and better equipped， with some of them being in possession of machine guns， night-vision goggles and even helicopters. Countries with wild elephants can hardly compete with these forces. The situation also has threatened the local communities that coexist with the animals.

　　The whole trip was made into a documentary called The End of the Wild， which was aired on China Central Television in two parts. Part I focuses on elephants and ivory trade and Part II on rhino poaching.

　　In the documentary， Yao clearly states his intent. “I believe that what people will see in those pictures， they will remember it. That’s what we’re here for： film this， bring it back home...and show everybody the reality.”

　　In April 2013， Yao launched two campaigns： Say No to Ivory and Say No to Rhino Horns. The campaigns were produced in conjunction with WildAid， the African Wildlife Foundation， and Save the Elephants. Before this， Yao had already started efforts to reduce China’s demand for shark fin through his campaign with WildAid. He appeared in public service messages that have reached hundreds of millions of consumers throughout China on broadcast and satellite television， on the subway， railway stations and airports.

　　A survey in 2013 revealed that 85 percent of respondents in Beijing， Shanghai， Guangzhou， and Chengdu had stopped eating shark fin soup from 2010 to 2013. Among them， 65 percent cited public awareness campaigns as a reason.

　　On February 26 this year， China announced a one-year ban on imports of African ivory carvings.

　　In a brief statement on its website， the State Forestry Administration said the move is to protect African elephants， and the one-year timeframe is designed to assess the effect.

　　According to the rules， raw elephant ivory and its products should be processed at designated places， sold at licensed shops and tracked on an individual item basis. Each legal ivory product can be tracked through a unique photo ID and is recorded on a database.

　　“While promoting ecological awareness in an overall manner， the Chinese Government will participate in international cooperation more actively and provide support to related countries according to its capacity，” said Zhao on May 29. “It will also make due contributions to safeguarding global ecological security.”

　　By Yuan Yuan