Africa wants Europe to follow China on Ivory

32 African leaders have called on the European Union to follow China’s international leadership with a landmark ban on the ivory trade.

The petition comes as elephant numbers in Africa continue to dwindle.

Currently, they stand at around a quarter of their population in 1979.

The burning of smuggled ivory at the Nairobi National Park in Kenya. [Photo: Xinhua]

Just two weeks ago, we reported that the British government had revealed more detailed plans for a ban on ivory sales.

The British ban, which has yet to be signed into law, would see only a small number of exemptions – including for certain musical instruments and items with only a small ivory content.

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.

To many observers, it seemed that the issue had simply been swept under the carpet, or at least put to one side given the legislative preoccupation with Brexit.

The recently outlined plans represent a significantly more sweeping proposal than many environmental campaigners had expected.