China ivory burn draws calls for total trade ban

China has pledged to step up the crackdown on illegal wildlife products after burning six tonnes of ivory on Monday. However, conservationists say the country needs ban trade in animal trophies altogether.

Chinese officials said the public destruction of ivory in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, marked a radical policy shift that would eventually drive smugglers out of business.

“This is not just about destroying stockpiles of confiscated animal products, but also involves tough prison terms for offenders. China is out to send strong message to the world that it does not condone illegal trade in wildlife products,” Chifan Wu, spokesman at the Chinese Embassy in Nairobi told the Business Daily.

Experts see the burning of the ivory as the tightening of the noose around international poaching syndicates.

Conservationists in Kenya have, however, received China’s gesture with a tinge of skepticism, saying the Asian giant needs to impose a complete ban on ivory trade.

“The action is very bold and in the right direction but with China still permitting circulation of ivory stock which it regulates, the existence of black market will continue because government prices are usually higher than the illegal stock,” said Kenya Wildlife Service senior assistant director of security Julius Kimani.

He said smugglers could easily get markets for their products as long as trade in ivory remains a legal undertaking. It is estimated that China has stockpiled about 32 tonnes of confiscated ivory over the years, but the fact that only a fifth of the contraband was burnt yesterday has raised eyebrows.

State-owned China Daily reported that 6.1 tonnes of ivory were crushed in Dongguan, Guangdong province at 3:30 pm local time in the presence of state wildlife watchdogs and custom officials. Guangdong province is a well-known hub for ivory trade.

“We want to send a clear message that China will not tolerate ivory trafficking,” the newspaper quoted Zhang Jianlong, deputy administrator of the State Forestry Administration, as saying.

READ: Africa eyes tourism boon from China ivory destruction

This was the first tough action taken publicly by China since trade in ivory was banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 1989.

China signed the treaty in 1991 but was given an exemption in 2008 allowing it to buy 62 tonnes of ivory from Africa, which it releases piecemeal to state-owned factories for carving the commodity.

During his first forum on China-Africa co-operation held in August last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to help African leaders to fight counterfeiting and illegal trade in wildlife products, two vices that the Asian state is accused of abetting.

“China has always confiscated illegal animal products and arrested smugglers but we have now gone ahead and changed our policy to reflect our cooperation with African states,” Mr Wu said.

The policy includes jail for convicted ivory smugglers but no outright ban.

Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China and a major transit point for illegal ivory, is due to discuss disposal plans for its stockpile of more than 32.6 tonnes of seized ivory on January 23.

Part of the $5 billion (Sh425 billion) loan that President Uhuru Kenyatta secured during his visit to China in July last year was for protection of wildlife and environmental conservation.

Tourism brings Kenya about Sh100 billion a year and its sustainability is threatened by poaching, human-wildlife conflict and climate change.

In Kenya, poachers killed at least 137 elephants and 24 rhinos between January and May last year according to KWS records. Over the period, 5,842 kilogrammes of ivory and rhino horns were confiscated.

President Kenyatta has responded to the spate of attacks by ordering recruitment of more rangers and signing into law the Wildlife Conservation and Management Bill that has since elevated poaching to a capital offence.

Poachers now face financial penalties of Sh20 million and life sentences if convicted of killing any of the big five animals - elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and cheetah - for their horns or skin.

About 22,000 elephants were illegally killed in 2012, a CITES monitoring program showed. The total population of African elephants is now estimated at between 420,000 and 650,000.