The African Elephant Coalition wants the European Union to follow China’s lead and shut down ivory trade among its members.

On December 30, 2016, China announced that it will completely shut down the ivory trade by the end of 2017, essentially closing the world’s largest market for poached ivory.

“We welcome China’s decision to close its ivory market,” Patrick Omondi, chairman of the AEC said. “It’s a major breakthrough in the battle to save elephants. But we need other countries with legal domestic markets to follow suit,” he added.

AEC’s call comes two weeks before the European Commission issues new guidelines on ivory trade in the European Union.

A meeting of the EU Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), which oversees trade in endangered species, is scheduled for February 7. On February 6, the UK parliament debated a petition to close its domestic ivory markets. The petition has received more than 100,000 signatures.

AEC’s proposal at the 17th Conference of the Parties (CoP17) of Cites in Johannesburg, South Africa last September and October, for a permanent ban on the international trade in elephant ivory failed to gain the necessary two-thirds majority, and was kicked out.

The EU represented by the European Commission and participating as a full party with 28 EU member states in one voting bloc, voted against the AEC up-listing proposal but France supported measures to protect elephants. Sources indicate the UK supported the EU position, contradicting public assurances on stopping the ivory trade.

“The Cites recommendation to close domestic ivory markets was a breakthrough. But it will be meaningless if countries ignore it. The EU and its member states have an opportunity to realign themselves with France, which recently issued strict regulations, and work with China to implement the Cites recommendation,” said Kenya Wildlife Service deputy director for Patrick Omondi in a statement.

“One thing is certain: Business as usual is not an option if we want to save elephants for future generations,” Mr Omondi added.

Former president of Tanzania Benjamin Mkapa recently called on all nations to ban the trade in elephant tusks. 

“We need to work together to stop this. They must ban the importation and use of elephant tusks. This means there will be no market for tusks and nobody will kill elephants,” said Mr Mkapa at the “Walk for Elephants” event in Dar es Salaam on January 14.

Tanzania’s elephant population, among the largest on the continent, has been hard hit by poaching.

“We strongly endorse the comments earlier this month by retired Tanzania president Benjamin Mkapa,” said Andrew Seguya, executive director of the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

“We want to work together to close down the market for ivory if we are to stop the killing of elephants,” added Mr Seguya.

The AEC, which has 29 members, represents 70 per cent of African elephant range states and leads efforts to reverse the poaching crisis facing African elephants.

Its package of five proposals at CoP17 included closing down domestic ivory markets around the world and banning international trade in ivory by listing all elephants in Cites Appendix I, the highest level of protection under international law.

Cites agreed that all parties and non-parties in whose jurisdiction there is a legal domestic market for ivory that is contributing to poaching take all necessary measures to close them down.

This was supported by Botswana, one of the four countries — alongside Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe — whose elephant populations currently enjoy less endangered status. 

Botswana has the largest population of elephants in the world and together with other African countries, has not been spared by the poaching crisis after losing 15 per cent of the since 2010.