Body of Hope, an elephant poached in Kenya

Make UK Government keep its promise for elephants

.Urgent Action

  • Ask your MP to close the UK ivory market because it fuels poaching globally
  • Please donate to expose the illegal poaching of elephants and other species

Elephants are facing a crisis – more elephants are being killed each year than are being born. Ivory trade is the biggest threat to elephants, yet the UK Government allows “legal” trade in ivory.

On February 6, 2017 a Parliamentary debate will take place on shutting the UK ivory market. You can ensure the survival of this magnificent species. Urge your local MP to attend the debate and call for the closure of the UK domestic ivory market.

China has declared it will close its ivory market by the end of 2017. China is the world’s largest ivory market and is one of the biggest players in ivory trafficking. The UK Government isn’t anywhere near taking such action and we are falling behind China!

Twice now our Government has promised “a total ban on ivory sales”. The Conservative Party’s election manifesto included it in 2010 and again in 2015. Yet, the UK still has a large “legal” domestic market. This gives an easy avenue for laundering illegal ivory and fuels poaching and ivory trafficking. For example, even Christies and Chiswick Auctions were found selling illegal ivory.

You may be shocked to find out that the UK is also implicated in the international trafficking of illegal ivory. Lax controls on the ivory trade in the UK are often exploited to ease illegal trade. During 2009–14, illegal ivory was one of the most frequent wildlife products seized by the UK Border Force. As recently as October 2015, a huge seizure of 110kg of ivory was made in Heathrow Airport which included elephant tusks shipped from Angola.

We know you feel as strongly as we do about this issue. This is not simply a problem in far-flung countries. This is on our doorstep and you can do something about it today.

Please, take just four minutes to ask your MP to add their voice to the debate. You can make a difference and help stop the slaughter of elephants for their ivory.

You can find your MP on writetothem.com using your postcode and urge them to ensure the Government acts on its promise on February 6. It’s quick and easy. Compose your own message or just copy and paste the text below. It’s more effective if you add a message about how strongly you feel (but please stay respectful).

Please copy and paste the following:

I urge you to attend and speak out at the Parliamentary debate on February 6, 2017 to close the domestic ivory market in the UK.

[In your own words: ‘I feel passionately about this issue because …]

Delete if appropriate: In fact, I feel so strongly about this issue that I’ve also made a donation to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) to continue investigations into the abuse of the UK legal ivory market and illegal poaching.

The UK ivory market stimulates ivory trade which is threatening the very survival of elephants. This horrendous trade fuels poaching with an estimated 30,000 African elephants killed every year for their tusks.

China has announced that it is closing its legal domestic ivory market by the end of 2017. It is the world’s largest ivory market and one of the biggest players in ivory trafficking. The US adopted a near-total ban last year and Hong Kong has announced plans to close its market. The majority of African elephant range states also support the closure of domestic ivory markets.

Yet, the UK Government continues to turn a blind eye and is falling behind China and other countries working to close their ivory markets!

Despite repeatedly promising to close its market, the UK is dragging its feet. UK businesses and traders continue to sell and export a large number of ivory products to China and other Asian markets. This stimulates demand for ivory in major Asian markets. It also provides an avenue for laundering illegal ivory from poached elephants.

The UK Government needs to ACT NOW to ensure the survival of elephants.

Thank-you for taking action today. You are ensuring a future for elephants in the wild.

For three decades EIA has fought to protect elephants. This year will be no different. With your help we will close the UK ivory market. Through ground-breaking investigations we will isolate and expose the criminals behind the illegal trade and end the poaching of wild elephants once and for all.

We know you feel the same way we do about poaching and the decline of this magnificent species. Once you’ve written to your MP to close the UK’s legal ivory market, please make a donation to help fund investigations to stop the illegal poaching of elephants and other endangered species.

On your behalf, we will ensure a future for elephants in the wild.

Elephants in Tanzania (c) EIA / Mary Rice