Japan rolls out tough measures to curb illegal ivory trade

Under intense pressure to shut down its domestic ivory market, Japan has announced strict measures to control the illicit trade.

The country's Environment Ministry has made it mandatory for traders to prove the legal status of ivory pieces through carbon dating. The new law would be enforced starting July.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a global wildlife trade regulator, bans international trade of ivory obtained from African elephants after 1990.

But a large number of countries, including Japan, allow domestic trade of ivory procured before 1990.

For law enforcement agencies, it's a major challenge to ascertain the age of carved and raw ivory pieces. To make things worse, ivory traders often forge certificates to sell illegal ivory pieces procured from recently poached elephants.

The carbon dating method would make it difficult for traders to falsify the origin of ivory and its age, reducing the influx of illegal tusk.

"By shutting down the movement of ivory of unknown origin, the domestic market is moving closer to an effective closure," Japanese Minister of Environment Yoshiaki Harada said at a news conference, according to Japan Times.

In 2016, nearly 90 percent of large seizures of ivory shipments were from tuskers of elephants that died less than three years back, a radiocarbon dating and genetic analysis of 231 samples conducted by the University of Utah and the University of Oxford revealed.

Such loopholes have boosted the smuggling of ivory leading to large-scale poaching of African elephants. Every year more than 20,000 elephants are brutally killed in African countries for ivory.

Carbon dating is a positive step in the right direction to control illegal ivory trade, Peter Knights, CEO of WildAid, an environmental organization told CGTN.

"But now Japan needs to announce a phase-out of all ivory sales to join China, the U.S. and the rest of the world in protecting elephants," he added.

Japan and the European Union (EU) are facing sharp criticism from wildlife protection organizations for failing to take stringent action against illegal wildlife trade.

Last month, CITES termed Japan as one of the largest ivory markets in the world, reportedly creating demand in countries that have already closed domestic ivory markets.

The U.S., the UK, and China, including Taiwan and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, have all closed domestic ivory trade. Despite a ban in place, customs officials in these countries and regions regularly intercept large consignments of illegal ivory pieces.

Last year, Japan in a bid to tighten the noose around illegal ivory trade enforced regulations like registration of whole ivory tusks, traceability information for every cut piece and every worked product of ivory, and increased the penalty and prison term in case of violation.

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Myanmar And The Elephant Project Made History By Signing Agreement For Elephant's Care

The Myanmar government and The Elephant Project signed a new historical agreement that aimed to relocate elephants into a safer place, avoiding human conflicts. It was the first time the country made a settlement for the care of this animal after the government-owned elephants were turned into an attraction and forced to perform in parks, following the ban of raw timber export in 2014.

"We have to take action now," Dane Waters, The Elephant Project founder, and president, said, per the South China Morning Post. The worsening case of deforestation in Myanmar destroys Elephants' habitat, so they are left wandering in villages in search of food. However, their search often leads to human-elephant conflicts that put both parties in danger.

Under the new agreement, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation and The Elephant Project's forest department will look for elephants that need to be moved. They also have to find a place where they can be safely relocated.

The Elephant Project will begin relocating 10 to 15 elephants to designated safe zones. However, the organization has bigger plans to build a sanctuary that will be home to Myanmar's many captive elephants. About 5,520 gentle giants live in captivity, which are almost two folds of the 3,000 estimated elephants that live in the wild.

"Our sanctuary plan is different to any that has ever been built before," Waters said. If it happens, it will be the biggest sanctuary ever constructed and may hold up to 3,000 elephants.

There will be different investment opportunities to fund the sanctuary project. It includes ethical elephant experiences and eco-friendly stays near the shelter. Waters assured that these things would be built with the elephants' welfare in mind. "Investment is going into protecting elephants," he said.

Freelance documentary photographer Ko Myo revealed elephants' story in Myanmar is a sad one. According to The Irrawaddy, he saw how people treated these animals when wild elephants passed by a town in Kyaukpadaung, Mandalay Region.

About six elephants from the Bago mountain range wandered into Kyaukpadaung Township. When villagers saw them, they came together and used tame elephants to force them to change their director. They went back to their habitat in the mountains, where elephant poaching usually happened.

If wild elephants continuously lost their habitat, there will be more conflict with humans and illegal trading. Hence, their species may disappear in Myanmar.

Ko Ye Min Thwin, Senior Communications Officer at WWF Myanmar, said Ko Myo's photos could help people to know more about elephants. "They are lovely and worth protecting; that we should value them and they don't deserve to be killed," he added. The photographer, on the other hand, disclosed that the only solution to solve this problem is to raise awareness and urge people to stop using products made of animals' part.

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China needs zero-tolerance approach to illegal wildlife trade

Kenyan authorities have detained three Chinese nationals and a local man over alleged illegal possession of wildlife products, according to the Associated Press on January 9. Their behavior not only violated Kenya's local law, but also harmed China's national image. They deserve punishment.

This case is not an only one. In December 2018, seven Chinese people were arrested in Zimbabwe after they were allegedly found in possession of rhino horns, according to Voice of America. Although these are a very few people's unlawful activities, they should draw more people's attention.

Only one day after detention, the Chinese Embassy in Kenya published an article on its official website, reminding Chinese citizens not to buy, sell or carry ivory products. In January 2018, the Chinese Embassy in Namibia also reminded Chinese citizens to keep away from ivory and other illegal wildlife products.

Chinese embassies have cautioned Chinese citizens repeatedly, which shows the Chinese government's firm stand in cracking down on the ivory trade.

We do need to rethink the question profoundly. We must understand that Chinese poachers have brought many negative impacts on the nation's reputation. Consequently, China should better control such illegal behavior. Meanwhile, China should involve more citizens in protecting elephants and other wildlife at home and abroad.

China is a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals. On January 1, 2018, China imposed a total ban on all trade in ivory. The ban reflects China's efforts in protecting wildlife as a responsible major country. It has also led to a great decline in seizures of ivory entering China as well as in raw ivory prices.

At many international airports in China, people can see basketball star Yao Ming on posters that advocate wildlife protection. Yao also participated in filming effective videos for Chinese people. But this is a long-term task. We must firmly break China's trafficking chain, and all departments concerned should promote more cooperation in conversation with other countries. China must take a zero-tolerance approach.

None of us is isolated on this planet, and we are all part of the ecosphere. This is also the spirit of a community of a shared future for mankind. As the host country of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2020, the nation and its people will shoulder this responsibility.

As China is promoting the Belt and Road initiative, more and more Chinese people are going abroad and doing business abroad. This is supposed to be reciprocal cooperation. However, it seems unavoidable that some Chinese people violate the local laws due to a lack of awareness. Others are reckless with greed and choose to rush into danger. The Chinese government has the responsibility to coordinate with all parties and work harder in introducing local laws and internationally accepted regulations for these people. China should more positively clarify its position. China-Africa cooperation is now moving forward, and we should try to eliminate the negative influence brought on by a very few people's illegal practice.

We should regard nature with reverence. Since we can't control every single individual's behavior, stricter control and a detailed introduction to local laws may be the best explanation for reverence, as well as a practical way to build China's national image.

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Mesa woman works to prevent elephants' extinction

Kavala, a 7-year-old orphaned elephant in faraway Zambia, needs the support and protection of humans until she can join a herd.

Her mother was shot by poachers in 2011 and Kavala was found three weeks later with an abscess on her knee and many infected sores on her body.

Mesa nonprofit Elephantopia, which has a mission to save elephants and build community, is sponsoring Kavala, who lives in an orphanage run by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. Next weekend, a Gilbert business is hosting an event to help the organization.

“Every day, they get to walk in the Kafue National Park. They have a guard, and it’s a hands-off policy. They let the elephants be elephants,” said Elizabeth Schrank, a Mesa resident who founded Elephantopia a few years ago. “The goal is that, hopefully, she’s going to meet a wild herd of elephants that will accept her, and she will go and live with that herd.

“Until then, she knows that she’s safe with this community of orphaned elephants because there are about 13 of them altogether and she doesn’t have to worry about getting attacked by poachers.”

Elephantopia, which fundraises via crowdsourcing and special events, is seeking 50 participants for a “paint, sip and relax” event on World Elephant Day, Aug. 12 at Painting with a Twist in Gilbert.

The “twist” is that eco-conscious individuals, while socializing and painting Kavala’s likeness, will help raise about $800 of the quarterly $3,000 needed to nurture her.

Without protection, poachers will take Kavala’s tusks and sell them in Asia’s illegal ivory trade to be fashioned into carvings or jewelry or crushed into a powder believed to have medicinal value.

This year, China banned the ivory trade, but it continues illegally.

According to the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, about 144,000 elephants were killed for their ivory from 2007 to 2014. Only about 450,000-600,000 elephants survive in the African wild today. By 2025, the existence of forest elephants will be threatened.

About 7,600 elephants live in Zambia. According to the 2015 Great Elephant Census in Zambia, the population is stable in some portions of the country.

In Sioma Ngwezi National Park, elephants are almost extinct. The World Wildlife Fund says there were 1,089 elephants there in 2004 and by 2015 there were only 48.

There’s a glimmer of hope, however.

“It’s a slowing trend,” Schrank said. “It used to always be an average of 96 elephants a day were being killed (globally) for ivory. That number is lowering, meaning the protections put in place are working and the public outcry is starting to take effect.”

Schrank fell in love with the huge mammal when, as a child, she got the opportunity to feed one at a zoo. She assumed that they’ll always be around.

As an adult living in South Africa, she experienced them in the wild. She also learned of their status as a keystone species in the African ecosystem – without elephants, hundreds of other plant and animal species would cease to exist because many animals depended on their droppings to exist.

“If you take the elephants out of the equation, all of a sudden – over a hundred tree species relied on elephants for propagation – all of a sudden, you’re going to lose a lot of different tree species, different birds and other animals that use the droppings,” Schrank said.

She also learned about the ongoing human-elephant conflict.

In South Africa, she lived in a village where most people were subsistence farmers, who grow food for themselves and their families.

“So, when an elephant came through and ate all their crops, it was a real issue because they can’t go to the store and get more food. That was their food,” she said, adding, “It was eye-opening.”

Hence, Elephantopia believes not just in saving the animals, but also building community.

“After having lived there for a while and visited so often, you can’t really do one without the other,” she said. “The people who are there 24/7, they are the ones who have to deal with elephants walking in 24/7 through their backyards. You’ve got to support them, so they can make their own livelihood.”

That would be the first step to securing their help to conserve the wildlife around them, Schrank said.

To that end, Elephantopia, which operates with a handful of volunteers, has done other projects.

With a $5,000 grant from Tempe Rotary Club, it has installed water wells for the entire Mukambi community, which is located just outside Kafue National Park, and donated math sets and paid the school fees of the 80 students at Mukambi Community School.

Elephantopia’s new focus is men in their 30s and 40s, who are often overlooked. This is also the age group that resorts to poaching as a livelihood because they don’t have an education or training to aspire for a job.

Schrank, a music teacher by profession who runs her own studio, wants to establish a project to help support small businesses for these people so they can make an honest living. An example would be training to become safari guides or drivers.

“It’s just a matter of finding those people a niche,” she said.

Schrank’s next visit to Zambia will be in 2020 with a small group of volunteers to work on her plans. She is also looking for volunteers to “join the herd,” as she calls it, and help fundraise, share on social media or even travel to Zambia.

In the meantime, Elephantopia uses World Elephant Day to draw attention to the animals’ plight and call people to support organizations that are working to stop illegal poaching and trade of elephant ivory.

Last year, the nonprofit reached more than 100 people at the Phoenix Zoo with educational activities for children, including opportunities to send a “thank you” letter to rangers protecting elephants in Zambia.

Other initiatives it has led include the Global March for Elephants, Photo Safaris to Zambia and participation in a successful petition and letter to the Chinese government to halt the sales of ivory in China.

This year, in addition to the event in Gilbert, Elephantopia also is hosting events in Virginia and Texas.

Every bit helps to ensure that the species survives and thrives on this planet for generations to come, she said.

“It’s not just the issue of ‘Oh, my favorite animal’s not there anymore,’” Schrank said. “It’ll change the whole ecosystem.”

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