SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Elephants' Death Sentence
Jul 14, 2008
Truly critical moments do not often come along in wildlife conservation, but the decision of the Cites standing committee in Geneva tomorrow on whether or not to make China a licensed ivory buyer is one such, without any doubt.
If China's application is approved, the resulting huge increase in the legal ivory trade will give the biggest possible shot in the arm to the enormous illicit trade which is supplied by poachers killing elephants across Africa -- 23,000 a year at the most recent estimate.
With its own problems of poverty and disease, Africa has no money to enforce wildlife conservation, and the only way to stop mass-scale elephant poaching is by choking off demand for ivory. Many experienced conservationists -- not to mention the 148 British MPs who have signed an early day motion in the Commons -- feel that if China gets the go-ahead tomorrow, the African elephant will be getting a death sentence.
Chinese consumer demand for shark fins for soup is already driving down shark populations across the world. The demand from traditional Chinese medicine for tiger bones and other body parts is a principal reason for the collapse of tiger numbers in India, even in what are supposed to be protected areas. A report from Greenpeace in 2005 alleged that Chinese demand for tropical timber was already the biggest driver of rainforest destruction in Asia. And now this rapacious, remorseless and unending demand for natural resources is about to be unleashed on elephants.
The moment is all the more critical because it has come out of the blue -- the world has not yet woken up to what is happening, and until the situation was disclosed on The Independent's front page on Saturday, it had received virtually no publicity. The British Government appears to have been preparing to go along with China's application to be an ivory buyer, hoping that, since it was happening in an obscure committee meeting in Geneva, no one would notice.
--Michael McCarthy
(c)independent.co.uk
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 The Independent
Truly critical moments do not often come along in wildlife conservation, but the decision of the Cites standing committee in Geneva tomorrow on whether or not to make China a licensed ivory buyer is one such, without any doubt.
If China's application is approved, the resulting huge increase in the legal ivory trade will give the biggest possible shot in the arm to the enormous illicit trade which is supplied by poachers killing elephants across Africa -- 23,000 a year at the most recent estimate.
With its own problems of poverty and disease, Africa has no money to enforce wildlife conservation, and the only way to stop mass-scale elephant poaching is by choking off demand for ivory. Many experienced conservationists -- not to mention the 148 British MPs who have signed an early day motion in the Commons -- feel that if China gets the go-ahead tomorrow, the African elephant will be getting a death sentence.
Chinese consumer demand for shark fins for soup is already driving down shark populations across the world. The demand from traditional Chinese medicine for tiger bones and other body parts is a principal reason for the collapse of tiger numbers in India, even in what are supposed to be protected areas. A report from Greenpeace in 2005 alleged that Chinese demand for tropical timber was already the biggest driver of rainforest destruction in Asia. And now this rapacious, remorseless and unending demand for natural resources is about to be unleashed on elephants.
The moment is all the more critical because it has come out of the blue -- the world has not yet woken up to what is happening, and until the situation was disclosed on The Independent's front page on Saturday, it had received virtually no publicity. The British Government appears to have been preparing to go along with China's application to be an ivory buyer, hoping that, since it was happening in an obscure committee meeting in Geneva, no one would notice.
--Michael McCarthy
(c)independent.co.uk
Truly critical moments do not often come along in wildlife conservation, but the decision of the Cites standing committee in Geneva tomorrow on whether or not to make China a licensed ivory buyer is one such, without any doubt.
If China's application is approved, the resulting huge increase in the legal ivory trade will give the biggest possible shot in the arm to the enormous illicit trade which is supplied by poachers killing elephants across Africa -- 23,000 a year at the most recent estimate.
With its own problems of poverty and disease, Africa has no money to enforce wildlife conservation, and the only way to stop mass-scale elephant poaching is by choking off demand for ivory. Many experienced conservationists -- not to mention the 148 British MPs who have signed an early day motion in the Commons -- feel that if China gets the go-ahead tomorrow, the African elephant will be getting a death sentence.
Chinese consumer demand for shark fins for soup is already driving down shark populations across the world. The demand from traditional Chinese medicine for tiger bones and other body parts is a principal reason for the collapse of tiger numbers in India, even in what are supposed to be protected areas. A report from Greenpeace in 2005 alleged that Chinese demand for tropical timber was already the biggest driver of rainforest destruction in Asia. And now this rapacious, remorseless and unending demand for natural resources is about to be unleashed on elephants.
The moment is all the more critical because it has come out of the blue -- the world has not yet woken up to what is happening, and until the situation was disclosed on The Independent's front page on Saturday, it had received virtually no publicity. The British Government appears to have been preparing to go along with China's application to be an ivory buyer, hoping that, since it was happening in an obscure committee meeting in Geneva, no one would notice.
--Michael McCarthy
(c)independent.co.uk
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.