China, SA and UK join forces to combat illegal wildlife trade

China, South Africa and the United Kingdom are hosting a three day workshop in Namibia to help combat illegal wildlife trades. 

A baby elephant, a species at risk of extinction, is seen at the African Safari zoo in Puebla, Mexico, on July 12, 2017. The little elephant was born at the zoo in Puebla last May 16, weighing 75 kilograms. [Photo: VCG/ Jose Castanares]

Starting today, the three day workshop is being held in Windhoek, including six SADC countries such as Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 

It will feature experts from the Border force of the United Kingdom, the Chinese State Forestry Agency and the South African Revenue Service. 

The workshop will help to combat illegal wildlife trades by raising awareness of organised crime, cross-border routes and markets for the products. 

China has recently led the way in seeking to end one such market, that for ivory goods. 

As we reported in January, the Chinese government has now banned all commercial ivory carving and retail sales. 

That decision, as we revealed at the time, was widely praised by activists, campaigners, and ordinary people alike. 

However, as the country's ban on the ivory trade came into effect, the British government now lags well behind the Chinese example. 

In August, we reported that the UK had been ''named and shamed' as the global capital of the legal ivory trade. 

That news was all the more embarrassing for the British Government, given that the ruling Conservative Party had promised in their election manifestos of both 2010 and 2015 to act to ban the trade of ivory.