The destruction of ivory is a technique used by governments and conservation groups to deter the poaching of elephants for their tusks and to suppress the illegal ivory trade. , more than of ivory have been destroyed, typically by burning or crushing, in these high-profile events in 21 countries around the world. Kenya held the first event in 1989, as well as the largest event in 2016, when a total of of ivory were incinerated.
The conservationists, governments, and non-governmental organizations that endorse the strategy argue that it fosters public support for the protection of elephants and that it sends a message to poachers their work is futile. Critics contend that the technique may increase poaching by creating a perception of scarcity that increases ivory's value on the black market, and that evidence for the technique's effectiveness is insufficient to justify the opportunity cost for countries struggling with poverty.
Background
Archaeological findings show human use of ivory to date back more than 35,000 years. It has been exported to Europe since at least Classical antiquity, but exporting accelerated during the Age of Exploration and colonisation of Africa. At its peak, at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, with the rise of mass production, well over of ivory were exported to Europe yearly. In the last quarter of the 19th century, the city of Sheffield, England alone imported just for cutlery handles. In the 1970s, Japan became the largest consumer of ivory, accounting for about 40% of all trade worldwide, with Hong Kong acting as the largest trade hub.
Hunting for ivory is responsible for significant reductions in elephant populations in several parts of Africa. Between 1979 and 1989, the African elephant population decreased from 1.3 million to 600,000. Ivory became a billion-dollar market, with about 80% of the supply taken from illegally killed elephants. , according to a report by the Wildlife Conservation Society, about 96 African elephants are killed for their tusks every day.
In 1986, CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) introduced a control system based on permits, registration, stockpiles, and monitoring. Shortly thereafter, the CITES Secretariat weakened regulations, effectively legalizing stockpiles of poached ivory. For example, countries such as Burundi and Singapore, which were not home to wild elephants, registered and of trafficked ivory, respectively. As uncovered by the Environmental Investigation Agency, the "control system" turned out to be easy to manipulate, ultimately increasing the value of ivory and empowering smugglers. At the October 1989 CITES convention in Geneva, representatives from Tanzania proposed an effective ban on the international ivory trade. After heated debates, the ban was enacted, and went into effect in January 1990.
The ban proved effective for about a decade, and saw rising elephant populations, but starting in 1997 CITES began granting exceptions to the ban to allow countries such as Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to sell a limited amount of ivory, as well as an exception to Japan to buy a limited amount, based on each country's declared confidence in their effective regulation and control. From 1998 to 2011, other countries were granted exceptions and illegal trafficking at least tripled. The majority of ivory in the 21st century has gone to growing Asian markets, including and especially China, where the material has been viewed as a status symbol sometimes known as "white gold". In 2015, Chinese officials expressed their intent to phase out the country's involvement with the ivory trade. Prices fell by nearly half in the year prior to a 2016 report, and at the end of that year China's State Council declared its intent to halt ivory-related commerce by the end of March 2017.
History and events
Kenya and the first fires
In 1989 Richard Leakey, a paleoanthropologist and conservationist from the prominent Leakey family, was named head of Kenya's Wildlife Conservation and Management Department, the forerunner to today's Kenya Wildlife Service. Elephant hunting had been banned in 1973, but the ivory trade remained legal. By the 1980s, elephant poaching had become widespread due to the increasing price of ivory. In a May 1989 article, The New York Times described Tsavo National Park as "an elephant graveyard – piles of bleached white elephant bones – instead of an elephant habitat". Kenyan officials knew the value of the elephant to safari tourism, and wanted to persuade CITES to include the animal on its global endangered species list at its October 1989 meeting.