On July 19, thieves stole 51 rhino horns from the ostensibly secure store room in South Africa. This isn't the first time something like this happened. Unless kept for legitimate enforcement or scientific purposes, rhino horn stockpiles are counterproductive to rhino conservation efforts.
As long as the demand for ivory continues, elephants will be poached for their ivory. Japan’s legal ivory market remains a threat to a mostly consensus approach among the global community that closing domestic markets is essential to protect elephants from poaching.
Aside from Brazil itself, there is perhaps no other country with as great an opportunity to help prevent this deforestation than China, Brazil’s biggest customer for the two agricultural commodities that are the main drivers of deforestation: soy and cattle.
While much work remains to be done, EIA is optimistic that a path has been effectively laid for a future where the global shipping sector can adapt to a more energy efficient and quieter operational approach that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while protecting marine mammals from underwater noise at the same time.
Campaigners from EIA’s UK and US offices have returned from CITES COP 19 in Panama and declared it an overall win for wildlife.
In its 2021 investigative report Tainted Beef, EIA documented how beef from cattle illegally raised in Colombia’s protected forests ends up on the shelves of city supermarkets. The current lack of accountability, perpetuated through opaque supply chains, makes consumers unwitting contributors to the deforestation of Colombia’s protected areas and the financing of illegal armed groups. […]