First off thank you to everyone who took the time to sign the petitions and voice their support for Elephants in these volatile and critical times. It has been nearly a month since we first posted a petition in support of the ban on ivory. Now with CITES CoP15 drawing closer by the day the decision on whether or not ivory stockpiles will be sold comes even closer.
In the words of Dr. Julius Kipngetich, from a speech last year,”everytime there is a CITES decision on Trade in Elephant Ivory, you always see a spike in poaching activities. The recent escalation is a direct result of CITES 2007 decision allowing 4 southern African states to trade in Ivory”
Currently, the petition on saying NO to the decision to sell Ivory Stockpiles, by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is closed. The petition collected 11,615 signatures, which will be presented to all relevant contacts to each of the parties of CITES CoP15, 3 days from now. The other petition, which will be presented to the CITES Secretary-General, is currently ongoing and has amassed over 50,000 signatures thus far. You can find it here.
There is another petition, created recently by the organization AVAAZ, calling out all relevant parties of CITES to extend the ban on ivory for at least another 20 years. It has currently amassed over 220,787 signatures and is constantly increasing.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter”
