Earlier today, Tusk’s Royal Patron HRH The Duke of Cambridge delivered a landmark speech in Yunnan Province, China, highlighting the illegal wildlife trade. At the final session of a Regional Wildlife and Conservation Conference in Xishuangbanna, Prince William joined delegates from China and other Southeast Asian states. Reflecting on his visit, he spoke about the conservation initiatives that are developing in China, before then addressing the issue of the global illegal wildlife trade.
Prince William commended China for its contribution to CITES and its participation in the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in 2014, but added that there is so much more to do. He spoke directly to the government and the people of China, speaking of how “a powerful blow we can strike against traffickers is to reduce the demand for their products. Demand provides traffickers with their incentive. It fuels their greed, and generates their vast profits.”
Tusk’s CEO Charlie Mayhew joined The Duke of Cambridge in China for part of his visit. Below are his impressions of the impact that this visit has had, which was first published in The Guardian here.
As The Duke of Cambridge’s convoy made its way through the stunning hills and valleys that typify Yunnan Province in China, the tropical heat was climbing and the contrasts with Shanghai were striking.
China’s relentless economic growth is self evident in Beijing and its big cities but it is reassuring that there are still parts of this vast country which remain relatively unspoilt.
Yunnan covers 4% of China’s land, but boasts 60% of its species and the Prince chose to end his China tour by visiting Elephant Valley in the Xishuangbanna Forest Nature Reserve. His aim was to focus on one of his great passions – conservation of Africa’s wildlife.
It is a subject that he is well versed in having spent a great deal of time in Africa – a part of the world that he cares deeply about. His China visit has given him the chance to see conservation work in the region but, more importantly, the chance to meet president Xi Jinping, with whom the delicate issue of the illegal wildlife trade and China’s consumption of ivory and rhino horn was openly discussed on Monday.
Having spent the first two days successfully promoting political, trade and cultural links, his final day has been all about seeing, listening, and learning of the conservation challenges faced in this part of the world.
Conservation is ultimately about people. The Prince knows this well from witnessing firsthand community programmes funded by Tusk in Africa. So it was no surprise that for his first engagement at a Dai village he took great interest in the problems faced by this rural community protecting their crops from China’s 250 remaining elephants living in the neighbouring reserve.
It strikes me that coming to see China’s last remnant population of elephant is highly symbolic. Are we witnessing what Africa might be like in a decade or two if the slaughter of its elephants continues unchecked? The irony is that in a country where demand for ivory is pushing Africa’s elephants to the brink, here in Yunnan the Chinese State Forestry Administration is proud of their efforts to protect and slowly increase the population again.
And if to emphasise the point, as part of the visit, the Prince was introduced to a habituated elephant, Ran Ran, which had been found and rescued by 80 villagers having been caught in a huge iron trap.
The Prince clearly enjoyed meeting a group of young conservation students eager to ensure that theirs is not the last to see wild elephants in China. Throughout the trip there was real evidence that China’s youth is increasingly becoming engaged in promoting conservation and concerned with pollution and climate change.
Later in the day, the Prince spoke passionately at a regional conservation conference about the brutal reality of an illicit trade now estimated to be worth $20bn a year to the criminal syndicates who exploit it.
“It is a vicious form of criminality: plundering the natural resources of poorer countries, taking lives, hindering development and spreading corruption. It erodes the rule of law, fuels conflict, and may even fund terrorism,” he said.
However, he was also careful to applaud the Chinese leadership for banning shark fin soup from the menu of all state banquets – a move that has seen a 70% reduction in the devastating shark fin market and he clearly wanted to encourage more.
“We have to conserve our planet – to provide security and prosperity for all people, and indeed to sustain humanity,” he continued. “The extinction of animals such as elephants, rhinos and pangolins would be an immeasurable loss to the whole of humanity,”
In concluding, the Prince encouraged China to become “a global leader in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade” and adding, “no tradition or fashion is worth the extinction of an entire species, and no criminal gang should be allowed to destroy any part of nature.”
The fact that this 32-year old prince has been able to eloquently raise and discuss this issue at the highest possible level with both the presidents of America and China within just four months is an extraordinary achievement and illustrates his unquestionable commitment to the cause.
As he returns to London, the question that the conservation world now waits to see is whether China will indeed take the next step of banning the ivory trade outright.