Trade Wars: The Ivory is STILL Theirs 

In 1990, David Shepherd created a painting depicting a group of African elephants. Produced to raise much needed funds for his beloved tuskers, the picture was simply titled ‘The Ivory is Theirs’. 

34 years on, DSWF continues to fight for these incredible animals. Yet, the progress we’ve made and the protections we’ve gained are now under serious threat. We face a potential unravelling of everything we’ve fought for across four decades. 

In May, at a meeting of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) countries, attended by the presidents of Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Namibia, as well as the Vice President of Botswana, a communique was issued. It expressed joint support for these countries withdrawing from CITES, the UN body tasked with regulating and controlling trade in endangered species, with the intent to re-open and re-stimulate the international trade in wildlife products, including ivory.  

Whilst this is not a new threat or call to action, their voices have become louder, and their drum beat stronger.  

These countries are lobbying at the highest political level, backed by trophy hunting organisations. It threatens our diligent work on behalf of elephants, and the breakthroughs we’ve achieved to ensure the ivory trade is not resumed. Such a move would only weaken protection for elephants. It would kick open the back door to a black market that would seek to undercut any legal trade as well as re-stimulate the market for ivory as a high value commodity.  

Problematic population propaganda 

In March, Botswana’s Wildlife Minister, Dumezweni Mthimkhulu, threatened to send 10,000 elephants to Hyde Park, whilst President Mokgweetsi made an equally empty promise to send Germany 20,000 in April. They proclaimed elephant populations were rising to unsustainable levels in their countries. 

Justification for the resumption of the ivory trade is often pinned to this argument. Yet this argument too is flawed. 

First, elephants are transboundary. They cross multiple borders as they migrate or forage. And monitoring of these populations shows them to be stable at best. Secondly, there has been a significant increase in elephant carcass finds – especially in northern Botswana, with a 593% increase in carcasses discovered between 2014-2018. 94 more recent carcasses were confirmed to be the result of poaching. Giving weight to this worrying data was the seizure of 651 pieces of elephant ivory in Mozambique, en route to Dubai, in March of this year. When considered alongside the 166 tusks confiscated by Tanzanian authorities in May 2023, and the six tonnes of ivory seized by Malaysian customs in 2022 after it shipped from Mozambique, it’s clear that any claim that elephant populations are booming should be treated with great caution and suspicion, especially when made by countries looking to reopen the trade or appearing to be the source of such gruesome crimes. 

An argument without value 

The fact these countries are sitting on stockpiles of ivory has not gone unnoticed. But their value is greatly overstated. Without a legal market to supply, ivory prices only continue to fall. And when, in 1998 and 2008, one-off ivory sales were sanctioned, the results were disastrous; demand skyrocketed, and poaching increased catastrophically to meet it. 

A resumption of trade would also instantly devalue and undermine years of demand reduction work in nations where the use of wildlife products is tied to myths around their curative benefits or as a status symbol. Significant steps have been made to change these perspectives and justifiably vilify those looking to profit from these traditions and beliefs. Restimulating markets and reapplying a commercial value to ivory will only act as a justification for such false claims: for there to be demand, there must surely be a use. And then, after these African states benefit from the short-term windfall sales generate, demand will be unsustainable, and the war on wildlife through poaching will escalate at an unprecedented rate. 

What DSWF is doing to stop the trade 

DSWF is a leading voice in the fight to end all trade in ivory and plays a key role supporting the African Elephant Coalition, a group of 30 elephant range states leading this charge. Our role will be crucial in the upcoming CITES meetings, especially COP 20, taking place in 2025.  

Our arguments and reasoning are based on decades of scientific data and biological study compiled by experts in their field. But, in a political arena, the effectiveness of these arguments can be diminished by potential ‘horse trading’ and attempts to appease those pushing for the trade to be reopened. When politicians and policy makers compromise too readily wildlife ultimately pays the price.  

We recognise greater global agreement is needed on the long-term protection of elephants. But re-opening of the trade isn’t the answer. 

We urge you to support our 40^th anniversary appeal so we can continue to FIGHT for elephants, PROTECT them from a reopening of the ivory trade, and ENGAGE on their behalf.  

Support our 40th anniversary appeal ‘In The Footsteps of Giants’

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