In 2014, 20,000 African elephants were killed by poachers and between 2009 and 2015, Tanzania and Mozambique lost over half their elephant populations, with similar figures reported across east and central Africa.
The most recent figures show a 61 per cent decline in African elephants between 1980 and 2013.The death rate is such that every 15 minutes, an elephant in Africa somewhere is killed by poachers.
The EU is the world’s largest exporter of pre-convention ivory – ivory acquired before the creation, in 1976, of the convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora (CITES), the body that regulates wildlife trade.
Between 2011 and 2014, member states reported seizures of around 4500 ivory items reported as specimens and an additional 780 kg as reported by weight. Between 2003 and 2014, 92 per cent of EU exports of pre-convention tusks went to China or Hong Kong.
The African Elephant Coalition (AEC) – a coalition of 29 African states – has presented its proposals, which include a global ban, to CITES and recently met senior EU officials in Brussels to build support for its campaign.
However, on 1 July, the EU announced that it opposes a comprehensive global ban on the ivory trade. It would be better to encourage countries with growing elephant numbers to “sustainably manage” their populations, it says.
An existing global embargo on ivory sales is due to end in 2017 and Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa and Botswana are pushing for it to be replaced with a decision-making mechanism for future tusk trading.
AEC is warning of a mass extinction on the continent within 25 years, unless elephants are given an Annex I CITES listing, which would ban any future domestic ivory trade.
It says the EU “lags behind” the international community in fighting the illegal ivory trade: the US has introduced an almost total ban; China and Hong Kong have announced they will close their markets. However, many EU member states trade in ivory and Europe is a global hub for ivory.
France supports a total ban and in addition to the UK, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany have stopped issuing ivory export certificates, calling on Brussels to make this an EU-wide policy.
