The loss of nature is one of the many environmental crises facing our planet. And a key challenge in tackling it is to stop the poaching and trafficking of wildlife, often driven by the demand for ivory.
To help protect animals from poaching, the UK government has increased legal protection for five more species. The trade in ivory from hippos, walruses, narwhals, killer whales and sperm whales will be banned under the extended provisions of the Ivory Act 2018. Since coming into force last year, the Act has been hailed as “one of the toughest bans of its kind in the world”.
Its original aim was to curb the trade in elephant tusks, which are smuggled and sold for purposes including traditional medicine and as trophies and ornaments. It makes it illegal to sell, hire, import or export elephant ivory in the UK. Those found guilty of breaking the law could face fines of up to £250,000 and, in serious cases, imprisonment.
The newly protected species make up a smaller proportion of the ivory trade than elephants. But they are still hunted for their ivory.
A recent investigation examined 621 online listings of ivory in the UK and found that around a third were from non-elephant species. In addition, a separate report highlighted the clear demand for hippo ivory, with an estimated 957kg of hippo ivory seized globally between 2009 and 2018.
The legal protection of trade in these species has the potential to deter ivory traffickers. But it’s important to recognise that any ban is only as good as its enforcement. We believe that the effectiveness of the Ivory Act’s legal extensions may be hampered by a number of barriers.
1. Global disparities in wildlife legislation
In many countries, ivory trade is only ‘regulated’ rather than banned, allowing existing markets to continue. In 2022, ten African countries tried to strengthen protection for hippos. However, their proposal was rejected and the legal trade in hippo ivory continues in these countries.
The global disparity in wildlife trade laws allows for the continued circulation of illegally sourced ivory, which is often laundered alongside the legal ivory trade. Hong Kong, for example, reports that it imports more hippo ivory from Uganda than Uganda reports it exports. Approximately 14,000 kg of hippo teeth were unaccounted for between Uganda and Hong Kong between 1995 and 2013, suggesting that actual trade levels far exceed agreed quotas.
Without a global consensus on wildlife laws, the impact of an extended ban on ivory trade is likely to remain limited. Unfortunately, wildlife laws vary widely from country to country, with each state taking its own approach. This is despite the fact that international law provides the basis for wildlife conservation.
For example, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) imposes international restrictions on wildlife trade that signatory countries are required to comply with. Similarly, commercial whaling is explicitly prohibited by the International Whaling Commission.
However, there are many cases where countries have signed these agreements without implementing or enforcing the necessary changes. Earlier this year, Mexico admitted that it faced sanctions from Cites for failing to adequately protect the vaquita, an endangered species of porpoise.
2. Policing
Wildlife crime is not always given the priority it deserves. Research based on surveys of UK police forces and police and crime commissioners found that wildlife crime enforcement relies heavily on the ‘enthusiasm, commitment and expertise of individual officers’.
Other studies consistently show that wildlife crime enforcement suffers from inadequate resources and is not considered a priority within mainstream policing in the UK. Although the UK has a dedicated National Police Wildlife Crime Unit, wildlife crime training is not included in the compulsory training regime for police officers. As a result, wildlife crime is inconsistently prosecuted, and even when cases do reach the courts, fines and sentences are often lenient.
3. Criminal organisations
Organised crime networks play an important role in facilitating the illegal ivory trade. As a result, it’s likely that many incidents go unreported and undetected. These criminal networks use a variety of techniques to facilitate their activities, including sophisticated smuggling methods, bribery, corruption and the exploitation of porous borders.
The involvement of criminal organisations contributes to a lack of understanding of the true extent of the ivory trade and the different species involved. This hampers efforts to collect accurate data on the ivory trade and to allocate resources for enforcement.
4. Identification of ivory
UK authorities enforcing the strengthened ban on ivory trade face the additional challenge of accurately identifying ivory and ivory products. Traffickers often use deceptive tactics to disguise elephant ivory as other products, particularly on online market Research has documented cases of ivory being misrepresented on e-commerce platforms as materials from other species, such as cow bones. This practice makes it difficult to distinguish illegal ivory trade from legitimate transactions.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that some existing ivory markets, such as those involving warthogs, are not covered by the expanded Ivory Act. These gaps in protection provide opportunities for traffickers to exploit by hiding illegal ivory within the legal ivory trade.
Any law that protects endangered wildlife is welcome. But a ban alone will not stop illegal activity. The establishment of a properly funded enforcement system is essential if we are to protect our natural world.
