2017年CRI China's ban on ivory trade comes into effect

 

A major step toward reducing elephant poaching has been made in China, with a new ban on ivory trading coming into effect.

Under the new regulations, it’s now set to become illegal to process or sell ivory or ivory products in China.

CRI's Guan Chao has more.

The move is a complete prohibition¹ of commercial processing and trading of ivory in both the domestic market and abroad.

Zhou Fei with the World Wide Fund for Nature in China, says the new regulations are a major step forward in the country.

"Total ban means both the new ivory, the so-called new ivory and also the old ivory. Why is it a total ban in China's case, because in the past we have both legal and illegal ivory in the market. So this legal ivory help to stimulate² demand in market, and then legal ivory also provide some cover to illegal trade. So now this total ban is in place. A total ivory ban is never an ideal solution, but this is the last result to save African elephant."

The ultimate goal is to help end the poaching of African elephants and reverse the declining population of the species.

Around 30-thousand elephants are killed every year in Africa, putting the animal on the path toward eventual³ extinction⁴ the past few years.

Despite the broad-based numbers, there have been signs of improvement.

Kenya saw the official number of elephant deaths drop from 390 in 2013 to 46 last year.

Following a series of restrictions⁵ brought in last year connected to the ivory trade, China saw an 80-percent decline illegal ivory entering the country, as well as a 65-percent decline in raw ivory prices.

Huang Hongxiang is a leading proponent⁶ of the elimination⁷ of the ivory trade in China.

He produced a documentary titled "The Ivory Game," and is the founder⁸ of the non-governmental organization "China House."

"Because we have been working with many African wildlife conservation NGOs and they are all excited when they know China is going to have this ban. They don't expect all the provinces to stop immediately, but they see this as a very positive sign."

He says while China has had its issues with the ivory trade, he suggests the continued criticism is somewhat unwarranted.

"On one hand China is one of the biggest market for ivory and many other illegal wildlife products, but at the same time in China, the people who are actually involved in this kind of illegal trade is only an extremely small percentage of Chines people. And there are Chinese people who like wildlife as well. There are Chinese people who are fighting hard for wildlife protection as well. So if you see China as part of the problem, then you should be more reasonable for you to understand China more and try to engage China. Blaming China won't be anything help at all."

Since 2012, China has made building an "ecological⁹ civilization" a development priority.

In late 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged alongside former U.S. President Barack Obama to address the wildlife conservation and illegal hunting and the smuggling¹⁰ of wildlife products.

The commitment has been making headway, with data from China's General Administration of Customs recording¹¹ hundreds of criminal cases involving wildlife trafficking being recorded through this past year.

For CRI, I'm Guan Chao.

1 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

2 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

3 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

4 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 proponent   

n.建议者；支持者；adj.建议的

参考例句：

• Stapp became a strong early proponent of automobile seat belts.斯塔普是力主在汽车上采用座椅安全带的早期倡导者。
• Halsey was identified as a leading proponent of the values of progressive education.哈尔西被认为是进步教育价值观的主要支持者。

7 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

9 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

10 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

11 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。