I welcome the proposed ban on Ivory sales announced today by DEFRA Secretary, Michael Gove. The ban will be the toughest in Europe and amongst the toughest in the world and will help protect elephants for future generations.
The move follows a consultation which had more than 70,000 responses – with over 88 per cent in favour of the ban. The UK has long been a global leader in the international fight against the illegal ivory trade. But over the last decade, the number of elephants has declined by almost a third and around 20,000 a year are still being slaughtered due to the global demand for ivory, which shows there is more to do.
This announcement confirms that this Conservative Government will make every effort to halt the heart-breaking decline in Africa’s elephant population in recent years. We need to leave our planet in a better state for the next generation, with stronger protections for animal welfare, but also cleaner air, greener spaces and tougher action on plastic waste.
The Environment Secretary said that “ivory should never be seen as a commodity for financial gain or a status symbol, so we will introduce one of the world’s toughest bans on ivory sales to protect elephants for future generations. The ban on ivory sales we will bring into law will reaffirm the UK’s global leadership on this critical issue, demonstrating our belief that the abhorrent ivory trade should become a thing of the past.”
Following on from the ground breaking conference on the illegal wildlife trade held in London in 2014, the UK will host the fourth international conference on the illegal wildlife trade in October. This will bring global leaders to London to tackle the strategic challenges of the trade.