THE 29 nations of the African Elephant Coalition who yesterday urged the European Union and the UK to permanently ban the trade in ivory artifacts should be commended. The AEC invoked China’s recent announcement that it aims to end the ivory trade and processing by December. The EU and UK have legal domestic markets for ivory artifacts. The extent of the crisis engendered by the intercontinental ivory trade became abundantly clear at the 17th Conference of the Parties (CoP17) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora late last year in South Africa. Poaching and the ivory trade should soon be things of the past.

Source: The Star February 02, 2017 23:03 UTC