Kenya torches stockpile of ivory in bid to protect wild elephants

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/01/kenya-burns-ivory-elephants-stockpile

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The Kenyan president set fire to a huge stockpile of ivory on Saturday in an effort to show his country’s commitment to saving Africa’s elephants.

Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the destruction of more than 100 tonnes of tusks from around 6,700 elephants, stacked in 11 pyres at a ceremony in Nairobi national park. The fires, destroying a quantity seven times bigger than ever before, are expected to burn for several days.

Kenyatta, who was joined by other African leaders and foreign officials, has demanded a total ban on the ivory trade to protect wild elephants on the continent. The move has been supported by a range of conservation groups but criticised by others who claim it will encourage poaching.

The haul represented nearly the entire stock of Kenya’s confiscated ivory and included tusks, ivory sculptures and rhino horn said to be worth £82m on the black market.

Before lighting the first pyre, Kenyatta said: “The height of the pile of ivory before us marks the strength of our resolve. No one, and I repeat no one, has any business in trading in ivory, for this trade means death of our elephants and death of our natural heritage.”

The ceremony was designed to highlight the decline in Africa’s wild elephant population and the impact of poaching. Each year more than 30,000 elephants are killed for their tusks.

Kenyatta said: “Kenya is making a statement that for us ivory is worthless unless it is on our elephants. This will send an absolutely clear message that the trade in ivory must come to an end and our elephants must be protected. I trust that the world will join us to end the horrible suffering of our herds and save our elephants for future generations.”

The director of the Kenya wildlife service, Kitili Mbathi, told the BBC: “The reason is to make a statement to the world that we are committed to conservation, and to underline the fact that we don’t believe that there ought to be any value attributed to ivory and rhino horn but on elephants and rhinos.”

Mike Norton-Griffiths, an environmental economist, said he feared the move could encourage poaching. “I am very worried about it. I think it’s almost reckless of the Kenyans. The problem is it’s a very large burn of ivory, 5% of the global stocks of ivory, and when you take 5% of stocks out of a market like this, a resource market, something is going to happen.

“The traders will see 5% less ivory available to be released to them. Their response will be: ‘They’re taking this seriously. They’re never going to release this ivory to us. We must go and collect more from elephants.’”