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Sustainable use of ivory in Thailand 605


states have different perspectives and needs, arguing either for a ban on or the legalization of ivory trade. Prior to African elephants being transferred to CITES Appendix I, southern African nations unilaterally argued against a ban on the commercial trade of African ivory. Their rationale was that they already employed practices for managing overabundant elephant populations and that these prac- tices provided both ecological balance and economic bene- fit (Stiles, 2004). Elephants from countries with healthy populations were later transferred to Appendix II to facili- tate sustainable conservation practices (CITES, 1997, 2000). However, the legalization of some ivory trade has raised


FIG. 2 The complexity of current legislation for the three types of ivory in Thailand. Activities relating to ivory from captive Asian elephants are mainly regulated by the Elephant Ivory Act and five supportive laws. Activities involving ivory of wild Asian and African elephants are governed by six and five pieces of legislations, respectively. Both species are protected under WARPA, but export regulations under the Export and Import of Goods Act are only applied to Asian elephants. Regulations concerning key activities such as possession, transport, domestic trade, export and import vary among ivory types.


for non-commercial purposes. Import and export permits are required under the Elephant Ivory Act B.E. 2558 (2015) for the ivory obtained from draught elephants, andWARPA permits are mandatary for ivory from wild Asian and African elephants (Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act B.E. 2562, 2019). In addition, the export of Asian ele- phants (both wild and captive), including their parts and de- rivatives, requires a permit under the Export and Import of Goods Act B.E. 2522 (1979) (Notification of the Ministry of Commerce on specifying elephant as a goods required a license prior to export B.E. 2555, 2012). All elephants are also governed by the Animal Epidemics Act B.E. 2558 (2015), and export and import permits are required for raw elephant ivory. Given the legal provision of ivory, import and export of all ivory types must also comply with the Customs Act B.E. 2560 (2017).


Discussion


The global ivory trade The ivory trade is an example of the tension between inter- national and national efforts to conserve species important in wildlife trade. Elephant ivory is a long-standing and con- troversial agenda item in the CITES forum because member


concerns about demand stimulated by the legal trade, com- plication of enforcement efforts, and the link to poaching and the illegal ivory trade. This has led to calls for the total closure of the legal trade (Stiles, 2004; CoP17 Doc. 57.2, 2016; Dasgupta, 2016; Aryal et al., 2018). The commer- cial domestic trade of ivory has been prohibited in some countries that have no access to locally supplied ivory (e.g. USA, China, UK); Hong Kong and Taiwan have also announced plans to end their domestic ivory trade (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 2016; Kao, 2018; Morgan, 2018; Department for Environment, 2019). The 2016 IUCN con- ference accepted the resolution calling for governments to close their domestic markets for commercial trade in raw or worked elephant ivory (IUCN, 2016). Most member countries voted for a non-legally binding motion to close the domestic ivory trade, whereas Japan, Namibia and South Africa, all countries with regulated domestic markets, argued for continued regulation (Dasgupta, 2016). The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to reinforce the need to secure legal domestic markets, and im- plement Resolution of the Conference of the Parties 10.10 of CITES to close legal domestic ivory markets, as a matter of urgency, if these markets contribute to poaching or illegal trade (UNGA A/71/L.88, 2017). Countries with active do- mestic ivory markets, including Thailand, are still being pressured to close them (WWF-Thailand, 2016; Kent, 2019).


The domestic ivory trade


In circumstances such as those in Thailand, ivory could be treated as a renewable resource, the sustainability of which is achieved through a highly regulated legal trade. The Thai ivory trade, based on a supply of raw material obtained from captive elephants, has the potential to be sustainable, support local craftsmen and maintain traditional knowledge of ivory carving. Elephant tusks grow throughout the ani- mal’s life (Sukumar, 2003) and can be harvested with non- lethal methods from captive elephants; there is thus the potential to provide a renewable resource to supply the do- mestic ivory trade. At the first national registration in 2015, c. 160 t of raw ivory were held by private individuals in Thailand (Krishnasamy et al., 2016). The captive elephant


Oryx, 2022, 56(4), 601–608 © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605321000077


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