At the time of the decision to endorse China as a trading partner, the Director of WWF’s International Species programme stated: “The only way to end elephant poaching is through an effective clampdown on illegal domestic ivory markets”
The BBC documentary Ivory Wars: Out of Africa detailed the ongoing tragedy of rampant elephant poaching and the international ivory trade. Leading experts featured in the Panorama special failed to confront the most pressing issue – that China’s ‘legal’ ivory trade is driving the slaughter
These are just the tip of the iceberg in what’s been a highly productive and busy year for EIA, one in which we also played a key role in achieving a groundbreaking agreement on timber trade between the European Union and Indonesia, and kept tabs on supermarket promises to get rid of greenhouse gases in their fridges