Ivory Act 2018

UK ivory trade ban extended to five more species – here's why we think it will be ineffective

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, June 10, 2023
Gaps, National, Wildlife, Crime, African, Convention, Elephant, Government, Walrus, Animal, Police, International Whaling Commission, Ivory, Ivory Act 2018, Research, Endangered species, International law, Corruption, International trade, Hunting, Drug, Cryptocurrency, Furniture

In a bid to protect animals from poaching, the UK government has strengthened legal protections for five more species.

Key Points: 
  • In a bid to protect animals from poaching, the UK government has strengthened legal protections for five more species.
  • Trading in ivory from hippos, walruses, narwhals, killer whales and sperm whales is set to be prohibited under the extended provisions of the Ivory Act 2018.
  • The newly protected species make up a smaller proportion of the ivory trafficking trade than elephants.
  • We think the effectiveness of the Ivory Act’s legal extensions may be hindered by several barriers.

1. Global disparity in wildlife law

    • The global disparity between wildlife trade laws enables the continued circulation of illegally obtained ivory, often laundered alongside trade in legitimate ivory.
    • The impact on ivory trafficking of an extended ban is likely to remain limited without a global consensus on wildlife laws.
    • This remains the case despite international law setting out the basis for wildlife protection.

2. Policing

    • Other studies consistently show that wildlife crime enforcement suffers from inadequate resources, and is not considered a primary focus within mainstream policing in the UK.
    • Although the UK has a dedicated National Police Wildlife Crime Unit, training in wildlife crime is not included in the compulsory training regime for police officers.

3. Criminal organisations

    • These criminal networks employ various techniques to facilitate their activities, including sophisticated smuggling methods, bribery, corruption and exploiting porous borders.
    • The participation of criminal organisations contributes to a lack of understanding about the true scale of the ivory trade and the different species involved.

4. Ivory identification

    • UK authorities enforcing the strengthened ban on ivory trade face the additional hurdle of accurately identifying ivory and ivory products.
    • The situation will be further complicated by the fact that some existing ivory markets, such as those involving warthogs, are not covered by the extended Ivory Act.
    • These gaps in protection again provide avenues for traffickers to exploit, by hiding illegal ivory among legal ivory trade.