Contribution by Dr. Wolf Krug

“The burning of ivory is an extremely expensive PR exercise with little impact on conservation.”

Poaching and illegal wildlife trade always occurred, yet today a true crisis has developed. If no action is taken against wildlife crime, the survival of many species is threatened. The practice of burning ivory in Kenya dates back to July 1989, when Kenya’s then President, Daniel arap Moi ignited 12 tonnes of elephant tusk and achieved to change the global policy and ivory exports.  Since then many countries followed the initiatives, but does setting fire to ivory really help saving elephants?

Dr. Wolf Krug, who has extensive professional experience researching the economics of biodiversity conservation and conservation finance in Africa disagrees with the destruction of the ivory. Read his full article about his 5 points to be seriously considered.

About the author

Wolf Krug, in association with the “Centre for Social and Economic Research for the Global Environment“ in London, has worked as a consultant for the World Bank, OECD, UNEP, WWF and IUCN. For the last 11 years he has been consulting African governments on governance, security and development policies. He holds a PhD in Economics from UCL.

Wildlife Crime and the CIC

It is well-known that legal, well-regulated sustainable hunting is an important component of wildlife conservation, since it includes demonstrable actions to contain wildlife crime. Combating wildlife crime is one of the strategic priorities of the CIC. The organization has supported the anti-poaching „Selous Elephant Emergency Project (SEEP)” in Tanzania by providing valuable equipment and materials to rangers. This assisted in stabilizing elephant numbers in the Selous over the past years. The CIC continues to fight against wildlife crime!