We must preserve our wildlife

China’s recent ban of all domestic ivory trade and processing by the end of 2017 offers a glimmer of optimism in the fight against elephant poaching. The decision will disrupt the global’s major marketplace for the product, as it will compel legal ivory processing industries to close down.

 The ban will put in place strict mechanisms of ivory collection and disallow the display of ivory products in physical and virtual markets. With only about 415,000 elephants remaining in Africa, the step is crucial in ensuring the long-term survival of one of the continent’s most iconic species.