As we are sure many of you are aware, the destruction of ivory stockpiles around the world is gathering momentum, and this week was one of the most significant - the first batch of 29 tonnes of confiscated ivory being destroyed in one of the ground zeroes for the sale of ivory, Hong Kong.
Add to that that the three biggest retailers of ivory in Hong Kong have announced that they will no longer sell it, and we are on the first sure steps along the path to reducing demand.
Meanwhile, our role at Big Life is to keep one of the main remaining wild populations alive. Because if we wait for international trade bans to be properly enforced, and we wait and wait for government action, by the time they roll around, it is probably too late.
Groups like Wild Aid are doing a great, essential job of trying to educate hundreds of millions of people as fast as possible in places like China and the Far East. We can’t do this without the likes of them as well. But we also can’t wait for their efforts to effect sufficient change.
Read more in the NY Times at:http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/conservationists-praise-hong-kongs-move-to-destroy-confiscated-ivory/?src=rechp
