Ban the Hong Kong Ivory Trade

Here's a message from the petition organisers, Lucy Lan Skrine (柯嵐), aged 11, and Christina Seigrist (孫藍慧), aged 8, who both live and go to school in Hong Kong.

“Tens of thousands of elephants are slaughtered every year for their ivory and Hong Kong can do something important to help stop this evil trade. We were horrified to discover that there have been seven seizures of smuggled ivory this year alone, and that the Hong Kong government has a stockpile of 12 tonnes of ivory collected in the past three years alone. The total stockpile could be as big as 33 tonnes.

Can you imagine how many elephants died for that huge pile of tusks cluttering up our customs warehouses? Destroying confiscated ivory means it can never be traded again and sends a powerful message to poachers. The Philippines crushed and burnt five tonnes of tusks in June 2013. The United States then crushed six tons in November 2013. And in January 2014 China destroyed another six tons. A global trend has emerged. It is now time the Hong Kong government do the same with its stockpile.

We must do something. It’s our responsibility. Elephants are being driven to the brink of extinction by the ivory trade. If we don’t act, they could be extinct within our lifetimes!

Destroying the stockpiles is only a start. We also want the Hong Kong Government to enact a permanent ban on ivory sales in Hong Kong. Then the Chinese government should ban its domestic ivory trade too. They should shut down the 145 shops selling ivory products, which are owned by 70 private companies. And of course China should close down all of its 37 state-owned ivory carving factories across the country.

But as a first step, we want you to sign our petition asking the Hong Kong government to crush and burn the stockpile of ivory. We want Hong Kong to send a message to the world that ivory isn’t welcome here and we won’t allow our city to be any part of this cruel trade. Think about the elephants that died to create that 33 tonne pile of tusks. We must do all we can to make sure they didn’t die for nothing!”

If you would like to know more about Lucy and Christina's campaign, please visit 'Hong Kong for Elephants' on Facebook or Twitter.

https://www.facebook.com/HK4elephants

https://twitter.com/HK4elephants @HK4elephants

Thank you.

我們要求香港政府銷毀全數被充公的象牙，作為宣揚數以萬計的大象因為象牙貿易而遭殺害的手法。跟毒品和其他被沒收的偽造品一樣，被充公的象牙毫無商業價值，且在市場上沒有作為。銷毀被充公的象牙是按照瀕危野生動植物種國際貿易公約為依據，中國亦是締約國之一。在香港銷毀被充公的象牙能向世界各地的中國買家發出一個強烈訊息：購買象牙是一項不道德和錯誤的行為；同時偷獵者嚴正宣佈：亞洲政府和市民絕不會容忍他們的行為。

不少國家已銷毀了被充公的象牙。因此，我們要求香港政府擔當一個有承擔和高透明度的角色，以粉碎或焚化的方式，公開銷毀在香港被沒收的象牙。

兩名香港學童 - 十一歲的柯嵐和八歲的孫藍慧是今次聯署行動的發起人，以下是她們的訴求：

「每年有數以萬計的大象因為象牙遭殺害，香港可以做一些具影響力的事去阻止如此歹毒無良的貿易。我們發現單單這一年已檢獲了六次走私象牙，而香港政府在過去三年則充公了十二公噸的象牙，總數可達至三十三公噸，對此我們感到非常震驚。

你可以想像有多少頭大象就是為那一大被堆存放於海關倉庫的象牙而犧牲嗎？銷毀這些被充公的象牙等同表示它們再不能被販賣，同時能向偷獵者發出一個強烈訊息。菲律賓於六月已粉碎和焚毀五公噸象牙，美國亦打算於十月粉碎七公噸象牙。香港政府應效法他們，銷毀倉庫裡囤積的象牙。

我們必須坐言起行，這是我們的責任。大象正因為象牙貿易被逼至瀕臨絕種的邊緣，假若我們袖手旁觀，牠們很可能在我們有生之年內絕種！

我們希望你先以簽名支持我們的聯署行動，要求香港政府焚毀其象牙儲備。我們希望香港藉此向世界發出一項訊息：香港並不歡迎任何象牙製品，我們也不允許香港參與這項殘忍的貿易。請你想想那些為三十三公噸象牙而犠牲的大象，我們必須竭盡所能，確保牠們不會枉死。」

如欲了解更多有關柯嵐和孫藍慧的聯署願行動，請瀏覽FACEBOOK或TWITTER上的 ”HONG KONG FOR ELEPHANTS”。
https://www.facebook.com/HK4elephants
https://twitter.com/HK4elephants @HK4elephants

多謝你！

Hashtags!

#ivorycrush

#chinaivoryburn

#HKivoryburn