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| Photo © World Wildlife Fund |
| "Where is the urgent need to use ivory in this century? To bone corsets? Our archaic romance with ivory should stop." |
Words by Zarina Holmes The BBC reported this week that South Africa has held the world's biggest legal sale of ivory for almost 20 years. More than 51 tonnes of elephant tusks was sanctioned by the UN body, which oversees trade in endangered species. They were sold for $142 per kilo, netting the government $6.7m (£4.2m), which is less than expected. The tusks came from elephants that either died naturally or were culled as part of a population control programme. The move is seen as a setback by wildlife conservationists. In 1989, United Nations has banned almost all cross-border trade in ivory. Critics of the auction - such as Kenya - say creating a legal ivory market encourages elephant poaching and makes it easier for illegal tusks to be sold. Ivory has a prominent place in fashion history. It had many uses in the past as accessories, handles, opium pipes, piano keys, sacred objects and ornamental crafts. The Syrian and North African elephant populations were wiped out due to the demand for ivory in the Classical world. So where is the urgent need to use ivory in this century? To bone corsets? Our archaic romance with ivory should stop. Fashion, craft and antique industries have a responsibility to redefine ‘precious’ craft materials of today. A tusk is technically just a tooth. Unless you share the fashion sense of Crocodile Dundee, I can’t see why it should be worn.
| "According to WWF, since 1999 the cost of ivory has gone down by -50%, suggesting an increase in supply." |
According to Wanda Mkutshulwa from South African National Parks, profit from the sale will be spent on conservation. "We're seeing less and less funds being channelled towards conservation and yet... there is so much work that still needs to be done," she said. Her statement sounds innocent, yet the reality of the African ivory trade is very grim. Ivory smuggling business is worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year. According to WWF, since 1999 the cost of ivory has gone down by -50%, suggesting an increase in supply. In March 2007, National Geographic has reported on illegal poaching activity of central African elephants in Chad. Since 1999 six guards have been killed by poachers and at least six poachers by guards in Zakouma. It is just not worth dying for. |
