Kerala: Green activists against Europe's agenda on ivory trade

KOCHI: Every 15 minutes an elephant is brutally slaughtered for its tusks worldwide, and at this rate they will be gone forever in just a few years. Momentum is growing for a complete global ban on ivory, but Green activists are peeved that the European Commission (EC) has just come out against it. The Cochin Natural History Society (CNHS), a body of nature lovers in Kochi, has joined the global campaign against EC which is the world’s biggest exporter of legal ivory.

The European Union argues that the best way to tackle the elephant crisis is to crack down on the illegal trade, while keeping legal traders operating, which African nations now oppose and the bid is to collect as many signatures as possible against this stand of EC.

“The elephant crisis is heartbreaking. In some areas these magnificent, sensitive creatures are so terrified that they only come out at night, and mourning baby elephants refuse to leave the butchered corpses of mothers. Now 29 African governments have said if Europe gets its way, it will spell extinction for our elephants,” says Vishnupriyan Kartha, secretary of CNHS.

“A key global summit is just around the corner where we could win the total ban we need, and there are signs that powerful countries like France and Germany could lead a rebellion against the EU’s elephant death sentence. African governments will deliver our giant call straight into key meetings to build support for the ban -- sign now to keep our elephants safe, and share with everyone you know,” says the communiqué in this regard.

“The killing of tuskers leads to gender imbalance in the forests which is also disastrous. So it has to be stopped,” says Vishnu. Over 1,60,000 people have so far signed the petition. To sign in the campaign log on to https://secure.avaaz.org/en/.