In a well-deserved move against the ivory trade, the British Government has finally banned the sale of ivory to help stop rampant poaching in Africa. Environmental Secretary Michael Gove has announced a discussion to ban ivory products of all ages. The only exemptions will be musical instruments and items of cultural significance. The ivory ban by UK has been welcomed by conservationists. Although a ban on raw ivory tusks exists in the UK, ivory products like carvings and antiques are legal. The Environmental Investigation Agency report declared that between the years 2010-2015, more than 36,000 items of ivory were exported from the UK, three times more than the second biggest exporter, the US. Incidentally, the UK is the world’s largest exporter of legal ivory.
The last major pan-African elephant census carried out revealed a decline of 30% in the population between 2007 and 2014. According to the WWF, more than 20,000 African Elephants are brutally killed annually for their ivory tusks. It also possesses evidence to show how UK’s legal ivory market was being used as a cover-up for the illegal ivory trade. The current ban covers ivory products produced after 1947. The new proposals will seek to ban ivory products before 1947 as well. The current ban was more of a sham as it only resulted in current ivory products treated to look like aged antiques to pass legal barriers.
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There have been earlier attempts by the conservative party to cap the sales of ivory but their efforts failed to get off the ground. Environmental secretary Andrea Leadsom announced a UK ban on ivory products after 1947 but follow-ups to the ban never materialized. Mr. Gove’s initiative that includes a 12-week consultation is scheduled to start immediately where a draft legislation that features a ban on sales and exports will start in the new year. According to Gove, "Ivory should never be seen as a commodity for financial gain or a status symbol - so we want to ban its sale, these plans will put the UK front and center of global efforts to end the insidious trade in ivory."
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Prince William has long been campaigning against the sale of ivory in the UK and urged the government to pass a total ban on domestic sales in 2016. Attending a wildlife conference in Vietnam he said "Ivory is not something to be desired and when removed from an elephant it is not beautiful. So, the question is: why are we still trading it? We need governments to send a clear signal that trading in ivory is abhorrent."
It appears that a complete ban on all ivory is now gathering momentum. Last year when the Convention International Trade In Endangered Species (CITES) convention agreed to include domestic trade in an international ivory ban, it was China who surprisingly agreed to it with a declaration that it would ban its own ivory trade by end 2017. The planned decision of the ivory ban by UK decision was influenced by eminent personalities such as Prince William, Stephen Hawking, Jane Goodall, the WWF and the most pressing fact that the UK will host a major illegal wildlife conference in 2018.
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