AFTER decades of trying to crack down on illegal poaching, governments and conservation groups are now turning their attention to the huge demand for wildlife products that drives the crime in the first place.
At a conference in Botswana last month, delegations from 32 countries called for that drive the illegal wildlife trade. It鈥檚 a big improvement on a similar declaration issued last year, which failed to discuss how to reduce demand for products like rhino horn.
鈥淧eople have not been focusing on demand at all,鈥� says , Asia director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). 鈥淲e can put all our money into anti-poaching, but if we don鈥檛 change behaviour in the marketplace, we鈥檙e not going to make an impact.鈥�
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So conservation groups have been looking east. 鈥淐hina is clearly the biggest player in terms of exploitation of wild animals,鈥� says Adam Roberts of Born Free USA. 鈥淐hina is the biggest consumer of elephant ivory in the world.鈥�
China also drives the illegal trade in tiger parts, rhino horn, shark fins and pangolins. But the demand for wildlife parts is increasingly coming from the luxury goods market, rather than traditional medicine.
鈥淔undamentally it鈥檚 about luxury items and greed,鈥� says Roberts. For example, where bear bile and gall bladders were once used for medicine, they are now added to luxury cosmetics. 鈥淭raditional medicine practitioners are becoming less important in the consumption of wildlife parts, and it鈥檚 transferring more to the big businessmen,鈥� he says.
It鈥檚 a trend that has been fuelled by China鈥檚 huge consumer power. But the fact that ignorance seems to underlie this demand offers hope. An IFAW survey in China found that 70 per cent of respondents didn鈥檛 know that ivory can only come from dead elephants. 鈥淲e also found that 83 per cent of those people who had bought ivory said that they wouldn鈥檛 have purchased it if they had known,鈥� says Gabriel.
It鈥檚 early days, but public awareness campaigns launched across China may already be having an effect. According to Roberts, the demand for ivory seems to be falling. Each year the Chinese government releases a portion of its stockpile of ivory for legal use, but only 80 per cent of the most recent allocation has been taken up.
It鈥檚 not just ivory sales that are being targeted. Another campaign has tackled shark fin soup. Early efforts like these may be having some effect: shows that shark capture is now declining. Many students have persuaded restaurants to stop serving shark fins.
Will such efforts be enough to save critically endangered species? 鈥淚f there is no demand for these products then the markets are going to dry up, and if the markets dry up, there鈥檚 no need to poach,鈥� says Roberts.
But species like rhinos are running out of time, and it could take a generation or two to bring down the financial incentives for poaching. In the meantime, more traditional enforcement approaches, particularly in Africa, will remain vital, alongside these new campaigning approaches. 鈥淔rom an economic perspective, it鈥檚 a very interesting and poignant time in wildlife conservation,鈥� says Roberts.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淐onsumers starting to reject ivory鈥�
