Beijing 2008 : rings made of ivory
On 16th July, 2008 in Geneva, three weeks before the opening of the Olympic Games, China was given authorization to act as a commercial licensed partner within the legal elephant ivory traffic. Thus, the biggest black market for ivory in the world will consolidate its position. Thousands of ivory retailers throughout China can hold their heads up high as they cooly welcomed the tourists of olympic games. Within a couple of months according to the CITES program (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), the price of 108 t of ivory stocks auctionned by South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe is expected to increase after China’s accreditation, Japan being till now the only legal candidate. As a matter of fact, little legal ivory is sufficient to launder a lot of illicit ivory and there is no doubt the price of ivory will skyrocket after China’s entry into ivory stock exchange.
The Heat is on the Elephants
The 14th meeting, Conference of the Parties of the Washington Convention on International trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora at The Hague (Netherlands), 3-15 June 2007
Even though he has been asked to support the moratorium on international ivory trading, M. Juppé, State Minister of Ecology and Sustainable Development assured in a Press Release on June 4th that « France will continue to pledge its relentless support in the fight against poaching and illegal trading of elephant ivory. »
