The New Year started on a mixed note with a number of lives lost in Iraq, Turkey and Somalia.
But to conservationists, 2017 began in an excellent way: China pledged to stop the ivory trade, a move that is widely seen as a possible game-changer in the global fight against the poaching of elephants.
The promise by China – which has been the world’s largest market for both legal and illegal ivory trading – to close its legal ivory carving factories came about one and half years after it promised to combat the rising poaching cases.
The ban is a strong follow-up to the bilateral announcement with the US in July, when China pledged to set a timeline for the phase out of its market by the end of 2016.
In what media have referred to as the “monumental win for elephants,” the ban reinforced President Xi Jinping‘s perennial campaign against corrupt officials, who have been using ivory products as bribes.
It in no doubt injected some hope in the much-looked-after belief that China is actually turning out to be one of Africa’s best friends as the Asian nation looks to expand its influence on the continent.
For time immemorial, China resisted the strong global call for its leaders to monitor ivory sales. The sound of the alarm has been so high in the last decade during which it is estimated that more than 100,000 elephants were killed. The driver behind this, according to environmentalists, has been China’s ivory carving, considered a fine art and cultural tradition.
With increased pressure from international NGOs, media and activists, and the need for China to better its global image, attitudes among its top leaders have shifted over the last several years.