24 July 2014
Well-known kiwis sign on to stop ivory trade
Today the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee will consider a complete ban on the ivory trade in
response to a petition by Auckland teacher Virginia Woolf and policy analyst Fiona Gordon.
The petition is signed by more than 4,300 people including Gareth Morgan, Stephen Tindall & Rachel Hunter. The petition is also supported by 19 prominent local and international conservationists like Dr Jane
Goodall, as well as wildlife organisations like WildAid, IFAW and the Born Free Foundation.
Recently launched online campaigning organisation ActionStation has gained over 900 signatures towards the petition in
just two days.
“People have overwhelmingly expressed shock that the ivory trade in New Zealand has yet to be banned” says ActionStation
National Director Marianne Elliott.
“Our concern is that the Committee will decline to make a decision today, indefinitely stalling the campaign while
animals at the center of this trade are on the brink of extinction. It’s time New Zealand took a formal stance against
the ivory trade.”
The petition formally asks the Government for the following measures:
• For the New Zealand Government to ban all ivory trade within, to and from New Zealand.
• For the confiscated ivory stockpile in New Zealand to be crushed.
• Tougher penalties for illegal ivory trading in New Zealand.
ENDS