VALUES, CULTURE AND THE IVORY TRADE BAN

The document examines the tension between international regulatory norms, such as those established by CITES, and the varied local values associated with elephants and ivory. It argues that a 'one-size-fits-all' prohibition often fails because it ignores the complex socio-economic and cultural drivers of poaching and consumption. Using case studies from Cameroon's Congo River basin and Southern Africa, the authors illustrate how the commodification of ivory during the colonial era and the subsequent imposition of Western conservation models have alienated local communities, sometimes driving hunting underground or creating resentment. The paper concludes that for the ivory ban to succeed, policymakers must reconcile global norms with local realities, ensuring that communities derive tangible benefits from conservation.

• International ivory trade prohibitions may fail or produce adverse local reactions if they do not account for the fact that values associated with elephants and ivory differ widely across regions and levels of authority.
• Globalisation has amplified the perception of ivory as a symbol of wealth and status in some African and Asian societies and facilitated the rise of a Chinese middle class capable of purchasing ivory products, thereby increasing poaching pressures.
• In south-eastern Cameroon, the transition from traditional collaborative hunting for ritual and subsistence purposes to a commodified trade began with the arrival of European merchants in the 1880s, which shifted the value of ivory from a collective ritual material to an individual economic asset.
• Conservation efforts in Cameroon's Lobéké National Park, led by the WWF and MINFOF, have created animosity among local populations by criminalising subsistence hunting and ignoring the nutritional needs of impoverished communities, while illegal poaching for powerful officials continues.
• In Southern Africa, different national approaches to 'sustainable use' create varying local outcomes: Namibia uses trophy hunting to provide community benefits, whereas Botswana's ban on hunting has increased human-elephant conflict and potential resentment toward conservation.
• The effectiveness of the CITES ban is hindered by porous borders and the development of national transport infrastructure, which connect previously inaccessible biodiversity areas to urban markets.

APA

Wu, Y.-S., Rupp, S., & Alden, C. (2016). VALUES, CULTURE AND THE IVORY TRADE BAN. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Occasional-Paper-244.pdf

Chicago

Wu, Yu-Shan, Stephanie Rupp, and Chris Alden. VALUES, CULTURE AND THE IVORY TRADE BAN. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2016. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Occasional-Paper-244.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wu |first1=Yu-Shan |last2=Rupp |first2=Stephanie |last3=Alden |first3=Chris |title=VALUES, CULTURE AND THE IVORY TRADE BAN |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=September 2016 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Occasional-Paper-244.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wu2016values, author = {Wu, Yu-Shan and Rupp, Stephanie and Alden, Chris}, title = {{VALUES, CULTURE AND THE IVORY TRADE BAN}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2016}, month = sep, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Occasional-Paper-244.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }