Elephants
EIA has been at the forefront of the global battle to protect elephants for decades, campaigning to put a stop to the commercial trade in ivory.
In 1989, EIA’s groundbreaking exposé revealed rampant elephant poaching and a booming global ivory trade, perpetrated by a network of criminals and corrupt officials in Africa and importing consumer nations. EIA’s work provided key evidence that contributed to the global community banning the international commercial trade in elephant ivory under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1989. Following the implementation of the ban, elephant populations in Africa that suffered during a rampant poaching crisis began to recover.
However, most countries maintained domestic ivory markets, permitting commercial trade in ivory domestically even though it was banned internationally. In 1999 and 2008, the 1989 ivory ban was seriously weakened by two legal international sales of ivory, the first to Japan and a second to Japan and China. These market-stimulating sales, coupled with the changing economic and political situation in Asia, including the growth of China’s middle class, led to another poaching crisis.
Africa’s elephants continue to be threatened by poaching to supply the trade in ivory. EIA strives to eliminate illegal ivory trade and increase enforcement to protect elephants. EIA campaigns to enforce the international ban on commercial ivory trade and advocate for the closure of domestic ivory markets worldwide to protect elephants from the threat of ivory trade for generations to come.
EIA UK’s office maintains a Global Environmental Crime Tracker which contains an interactive database of elephant ivory trafficking incidents and prosecution data. Visit the EIA Crime Tracker.
