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PRESS RELEASE
Hong Kong Lawmakers Join Together
to Support Hon. Elizabeth Quat's LegCo Motion to Ban Ivory Trade
HONG KONG (02 December 2015) — Lawmakers from across Hong Kong's political divide joined forces today to call on the Hong Kong Government to step up the fight against wildlife crime by supporting Hong Kong lawmaker Hon. Elizabeth Quat's motion to ban the city's domestic ivory trade to help protect elephants.
Outside Hong Kong's Legislative Council Complex, NGO representatives from WildAid, WWF-Hong Kong, Greenpeace, Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Animals (SPCA), Jane Goodall Institute, SupportHK.org assembled with 60 students and staff from Li Po Chun United World College. Together they joined in solidarity with pro-establishment lawmaker Hon. Elizabeth Quat of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) and pan-Democratic lawmaker Hon. Lee Cheuk-yan from the city's Labour Party and Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions to “Say No To Ivory!”
Also in attendance at this important elephant conservation event was Hong Kong's Acting Secretary for the Environment, Ms Christine Loh, who told reporters, “I actually feel that Hong Kong is going through a change where we see wildlife protection as much more important and Hong Kong is actually very successful in persuading people without actually passing laws, not to consume shark fins for example. So I think now, in terms of ivory, this is an area that has received tremendous local and international concern. And we see that China and the United States have come to a broad understanding of coming to a near-ban for the commercial trade of ivory even on the domestic basis. So I think in Hong Kong we want to take all of these very seriously and we are considering what should be our next step. […] We have said that we are open-minded to a domestic commercial trade ban because right now we already have an international trade ban. So we are open-minded to thinking about further restrictions in Hong Kong itself. But I think of the details, we need a little bit more time to think through whether we could do that or not.”.
WildAid is urging the Hong Kong government to not delay any further as according to the latest science available, 35,000 African elephants are being illegally-killed each year for meaningless trinkets and jewelry, which equates to about 96 per day – or one elephant every fifteen minutes. Without strong legislative action to halt the trade immediately, this majestic species will go extinct within our lifetime.
The Hon. Elizabeth Quat's motion is important because, if passed, it will make it much harder for the Hong Kong government to drag their feet much longer on this important conservation issue. According to a recent report by the Kenya-based NGO Save the Elephants, Hong Kong has the world’s largest retail market for ivory, and it has been proven beyond doubt that the city's legal trade provides a convenient cover for a massive underground illegal trade and smuggling racket.
The Motion Debate on “Strengthening the combat against the crime of wildlife smuggling” is due to begin in Hong Kong at around 5pm local time and is expected to adjourn today, before resuming in the morning of Thursday 03 December 2015. It can be viewed live on the LegCo website: http://www.legco.gov.hk/
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