There are three species of elephants; one species in Asia; and two in Africa - the forest elephant and the savannah elephant. Elephant ivory from both Asia and Africa has been used for thousands of years, for crafting a variety of objects, including: artistic or religious sculpture; tools; luxury items such as jewellery; and items in musical instruments, such as piano keys; among other things. Since CITES came into force, on 1 July 1975, international trade in elephant ivory has been strictly regulated.
Elephants in Botswana
Elephants face several threats to their survival, including habitat disappearance. The major threat over recent decades has been the killing of elephants to obtain their ivory tusks. The killing of elephants for ivory increased in the 20th century to such a level that the Asian elephant was included in Appendix I of CITES, to prohibit all commercial trade, from 1 July 1975. This meant that all the pressure for sourcing elephant ivory was then on the African species.
It is estimated that the population of elephants in Africa in 1930 was around 10 million. In 1979 there remained between 1.3 million and perhaps twice this number. As elephant numbers fell, the value of ivory increased, generating more trade and an increasing pressure on wild populations. So that a decade later, in 1989, the number of African elephants was around 600,000.
In that year, the alarming decrease in the population led the Parties to CITES to decide to include the African elephant in CITES Appendix I, prohibiting commercial international trade from January 1990. Since then, the populations of four southern African countries have been transferred to CITES Appendix II in recognition of the size, trends and management of those national populations, but with strict conditions that still preclude any normal commercial trade in ivory.
As an exception, and at the request of some countries with significant stockpiles of seized and found ivory, the CITES Parties authorized two exceptional so-called "one-off" sales from these stocks; 50 tonnes from three countries in 1999; and 108 tonnes from four countries in 2008. A number of subsequent studies concluded that these sales resulted in a sharp escalation in the illegal killing of elephants across Africa to supply the resurgence of a black market for illicit ivory, undercutting legal markets.
Illegal killing of the African elephant continued to escalate over the last few decades, especially driven by organized crime. It's estimated that around 100,000 African elephants were poached for their ivory from 2011 to 2013, and some 10,000 to 15,000 are killed by poachers each year for the illegal ivory trade.
The killing of elephants continues and the populations are still decreasing. In 2024, there are estimated to be between 350,000 and 415,000 African elephants and around 40,000 Asian elephants.
In response to the resurgence in poaching, in 2016 the Parties to CITES amended Resolution Conf. 10.10, on Trade in elephant specimens, to urge Parties to close domestic ivory markets contributing to elephant poaching or illegal ivory trade. Many Parties have since taken measures to close their ivory markets including China, the European Union, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
There are indications that the ban on commercial ivory trade and the national actions are having a positive effect. Analyses in the UN World Wildlife Crime Report for 2024 suggest that there are grounds for optimism that a combination of efforts from both demand and supply side, with high-profile policy attention, greater market restrictions, and targeting of high-level traffickers with law enforcement action may be returning positive results.
Since reaching a peak in 2012, poaching, seizure levels and market prices have steadily declined. Moreover, in some elephant range States, such as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, ivory poaching is much reduced and elephant numbers are recovering. And an increasing number of countries have adopted laws to prohibit commercial trade in elephant ivory, with some exceptions, such as antiques.
Nonetheless, some countries have sought to re-open the commercial international trade in elephant ivory, in particular to sell stocks in order to raise funds for elephant conservation. Proposals made to reopen the trade in 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022, were rejected by the Conference of the Parties to CITES. Such proposals have repeatedly been rejected by a large majority, most recently at the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, in Panama in 2022. With 15 in favour and 83 against at that meeting, the view of the majority of countries, including the majority of African States, is very clear; allowing the ivory trade is not the way to achieve elephant conservation, in particular because the international community has been unable to implement adequate safeguards to manage the trade, which has triggered the illegal killing of elephants for their ivory, fuelled smuggling, and provided a cover for laundering.
At its core, the proposal to allow trade in elephant ivory is about conservation financing. It is, however, clear that African countries’ legitimate need for a reliable and sustainable source of conservation finance will not be satisfied by international ivory trade. But countries require funding to support elephant conservation and to tackle the problem of human-elephant conflict. So what is the solution? Where will the financing come from?
Significant financial resources are now flowing to address the twin environmental crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. This fact may provide an historic opportunity for Africa to take a new approach to elephant conservation. Recent research by the International Monetary Fund shows the astonishing economic value of the carbon benefits provided by live forest elephants, with each animal estimated to be worth USD 1.75 million in such benefits across its lifetime.
African range States can take this message to the rest of the world - that tackling the twin environmental crises of biodiversity loss and climate change needs healthy elephant populations and the multiple services they provide. Directing funding into elephant conservation will reinforce the conservation of entire ecosystems and the wildlife they support, help to mitigate the impacts of climate change, and create sustainable jobs for people who live near these majestic, but dangerous, animals. Elephant conservation is an integral part of delivering on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity framework, the Paris Agreement, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The way forward is not to perpetuate a longstanding, and often fractious, debate about international trade in ivory. Rather, it is for African elephant range States – possibly with Asian elephant range States - to come together in common cause and call for biodiversity, climate and development funding to be directed towards elephant conservation.
The Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI), its 26 Member States, and its Secretariat, the EPI Foundation, stand ready to partner with all elephant range States to carry this effort forward.
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