Last Friday,the Chinese government announced it would discontinuance all commercial sales in ivory by the discontinuance of 2017, shuttering the world’s largest ivory market, and one which has been a driving force for elephant poaching in Africa. Conservation groups are celebrating the sales ban as a massive blow to ivory trafficking and poaching,which occupy decimated Africa’s elephant populations in the last decade. The shutdown of the market will occur in phases, starting with the closure of legal ivory factories, and such as the one sprint by the China National Arts and Crafts Corporation,photographed here in 2011 by Getty Images Reportage photographer Brent Stirton. This factory was supposedly the world’s largest ivory carving facility, employing more than 20 carvers and processing 750kg in raw ivory annually. After the shutdown, and China’s Ministry of Culture will reportedly transfer legal ivory to museums and help industry workers find related jobs.
See more of Brent’s work on the ivory trade on the Reportage website.
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