France's Ivory Crush Is More Proof that Wildlife Trafficking Is a Global Problem

More than three tons of illegal ivory was crushed by French authorities this morning, in just the latest national ivory destruction ceremony around the globe. And while the stockpile of ivory seized by French customs is about half the size of those crushed by the United States, the Philippines, and China in previous months, the French ceremony is notable because France isn't a country many think of as being involved in the ivory trade.

While much attention is given to source countries in Africa and demand countries in Asia, the French crush is overt proof that ivory smuggling and wildlife trafficking in general are indeed problems that involve the entire globe. With some 22,000 elephants killed in 2012—2013 stats are still forthcoming—and the UN declaring that illegal ivory is funding war, the good news is that governments are increasingly taking action against the trade.

According to customs officials, France's stockpile was collected over the last two decades, following the 1989 global ban on the ivory trade. As with other recent crushes, which include one in Gabon and Hong Kong's promise to destroy its own enormous stockpile, the goal was to send a clear message that ivory is only valuable when it remains attached to an elephant.

"Customs seizures can vary from one year to the other—there is a lot of evolution in it—but one thing doesn't change, that's the consumer appetite for ivory," Sebastien Tiran, a customs agent at Paris' Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, told the AP.

WWF-France was in attendance, and congratulated the French government on the crush, which followed President François Hollande's pledge of more support in the fight against wildlife poaching in Africa. According to WWF, Philippe Martin, France's minister of ecology, sustainable development and energy, has even made a "declaration of war against poachers."

What does the crush mean for elephants? It's largely a symbolic action, as the crushed ivory had already been confiscated in previous customs seizures, and  But when the goal is to raise support for conservation and reduce demand for ivory products, such symbolic actions are powerful. Every time a country crushes its ivory, it sends a message delivered through the press and elsewhere that if we don't all push to end the commodification and killing of elephants, poaching isn't going to stop.

@derektmead