Hong Kong was one of the key hubs for ivory distribution. The government's decision to ban its trade is among the most significant for the lives of the elephants killed every year for their tusks.
The government of Hong Kong is definitively closing the ivory market. Three phases are planned: in the first instance, the sale of hunting trophies and ivory objects dating from after 1975 — the year in which the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species came into force — will be banned. Subsequently, the sale of older ivory will also become illegal, and by 2021 retailers will have to have disposed of all their stock.
"Hong Kong was an enormous distribution hub for illegal ivory, which was being laundered through licensed traders' warehouses," says Andrea Crosta, founder of the organisation Elephant action league. China also closed its ivory market at the end of 2017. Crosta is confident that these historic measures "will manage to significantly reduce the illegal importation of ivory from Africa, causing the number of elephants killed" — 35,000 a year — "to plummet".
Many organisations welcomed the news with satisfaction, calling it "a lifeline for elephants". As MP Elizabeth Quat noted, it is now important to ensure that the law is enforced.