The dragon and the elephant

Not a week has gone by when I haven’t been in an aeroplane at least once. I wrote previously about my impressions regarding the ivory trade in Thailand and the rhino horn trade in Vietnam, following a meeting with WWF staff from both countries in Bangkok. From there I travelled to Beijing; the second time I have visited that fascinating city.

On the last occasion I had a little time to see some of the sights: the Badaling stretch of the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.  Which was just as well because on this occasion I never got beyond the narrow district which comprised my hotel and the WWF Office. I consoled myself with the thought that, whereas it was summer on the last occasion, this time I would have had to endure biting winds and sub-zero temperatures if I had wanted to visit these magnificent places.

I am always struck by how much wealth and conspicuous consumption is visible in China. Shops offering designer clothing and jewellery are doing a roaring trade, despite a hefty luxury tax on these goods. The same drive to gain standing and “face” is the biggest headache for us in WWF at the moment in terms of what it means for many endangered species.

We all know about the use of rhino horn and tiger bone in traditional Chinese medicine. In fact, they were both removed from the Chinese Pharmacopeia in 1993 and their use as medicine has declined. However, their rarity makes them sought after simply as status symbols. Rhino horn is more in demand in the form of carvings (often libation cups) than as powdered horn; it is often offered as a gift to sweeten a business deal. Similarly, tiger bone wine is popular as a conspicuous gift, more than as a tonic.

Then we come to ivory, which – of course – was always a prestige commodity rather than a medicinal one. China has probably the finest ivory carving tradition in the world so it can justifiably be regarded as part of their cultural heritage, rather than simply a source of raw material for vulgar trinkets (as some commentators supply). Nevertheless, the current level of demand is unsustainable.

The Government runs what is pretty much a “state of the art” chain of custody system for regulating ivory stockpiles (that either preceded the 1989 ban or were derived from a legal auction in 2008). However, in the last year or two outlets have sprung up that are simply by-passing the legal system, by failing to provide certificates to their buyers or by providing bogus ones. Such ivory products are almost certainly illegally sourced and China is failing to take adequate steps to shut them down.

As I said previously, China is not the sole offender; Thailand has a large market too that is completely unregulated. Moreover, China is doing more to stop entry f illegal ivory into the country than almost any other importing country. However, the scale of the demand is such that its enforcement efforts are failing to keep pace with the sheer volume of raw ivory coming in – and this is before we consider ivory products being purchased illegally by Chinese nationals in Thailand and in Africa.

The chief victims of this demand are the forest elephants of central Africa, whose numbers are plummeting as a result of poaching and illegal domestic trade, facilitated by rampant poaching in the relevant countries.

I was actually tasked with running a workshop on corruption last week in the UK, bringing together staff from the regions most affected (Latin America, Africa and Asia). It was no surprise that the problems in all three continents are very similar; however, while it was useful to share experience, it was clear that there is no silver bullet to solve the problem.

Stay positive!