Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps are being taken to end the ivory trade in Africa.

The UK is committed to tackling poaching of elephants and illegal trade. We fully support the existing ban on international commercial trade in ivory under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

I attended the CITES Conference of Parties held in Johannesburg from 24 September to 5 October 2016, where the UK discussed elephant and ivory issues with a wide range of countries, including a number of African range states. At the conference, Parties agreed by consensus proposals on the closure of domestic ivory markets where they contribute to poaching or illegal trade and decisive action to strengthen National Ivory Action Plans, which help combat illegal ivory trade in key markets. In addition, proposals that could have led to the re-opening of international commercial trade in ivory were defeated.

Poaching to supply the illegal trade in ivory is a major threat to elephants. The UK has played a leading role in efforts to combat this problem including initiating and supporting a series of global conferences. The UK was represented by the Secretary of State at the Hanoi Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in Vietnam in November 2016, the third in the series. At this conference, countries committed to practical actions to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, including trade in ivory, building on commitments made at previous conferences in London and Kasane. In addition, the Secretary of State announced an additional £13 million for measures to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, doubling our investment.

The UK regularly discusses action to tackle the illegal trade in wildlife with a number of key range states, as well as transit and consumer countries, and shares its expertise internationally to help combat illicit flows of ivory.