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Coastal East Africa
Projects - Shutting Down the Largest Illegal Ivory Markets in East Africa
African elephants. Numbering roughly 175,000 in the countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique, elephants occupy shrinking protected area habitat; only 9 percent of elephants are located in protected areas throughout Africa.
© WWF-Canon / Martin Harvey
There are 550,000 elephants in Africa today. Yet reports show that 25 tons of ivory - equivalent to 2,200 elephants – was illegally traded last year due to new demand from Asia. This is threatening the survival of elephants in Africa.
The countries of Coastal East Africa - Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya - function as major conduits through which large-scale ivory consignments move from the Congo Basin to international markets in Asia. This trade appears to have increased sharply in recent years. Rising demand and weak enforcement has led to increasing ivory markets and elephant poaching.
Confiscated ivory in a stockpile. Ivory does not rot so it is piled in park office headquarters once it is collected from elephants that die from both natural deaths and illegal poaching
© WWF-Canon / Folke Wulf
Current Work:
WWF is currently funding TRAFFIC (the wildlife trade monitoring network) to study the flow of ivory in eastern and southern Africa.
While this is a solid start to halting the trade in illegal ivory, the most pressing next steps to eradicate the major unregulated and illegal ivory markets in East Africa will be to:
- Establish a ‘best practice’ ivory stockpile management system.
- Develop a comprehensive capacity building and training program directed at port authorities, law enforcement personnel, and key private sector stakeholders, like shipping companies.
