A “Seigan-syo” (an official petition based on the Japanese Constitution) to be submitted to the House of Representatives on the closure of Japan’s domestic ivory market I. Points of the petition 1. Two African elephant species, symbols of international biodiversity conservation, are under threat from poaching for their ivory trade. As a result, African savannah elephants have declined by 60% over the past 50 years, and African forest elephants have declined by 86% over the past 31 years. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List assessed the risk of extinction of the two species as “very high”(EN) and “extremely high”(CR) respectively. 2. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of […]

Most ivory-consuming countries have closed their domestic markets, but in Japan you can still buy ivory legally on the shops. However, preparations have begun to revise Japan’s Act for Conservation of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The law regulate the ivory trade, and this is an opportunity for Japan to close its domestic ivory market with international cooperation. JWCS supported the request letter handed over to the Minister of the Environment by the Japan Tiger Elephant Conservation Fund (JTEF). EIA biog https://us.eia.org/blog/japan-is-revising-its-law-on-ivory-trade-time-to-finally-close-the-market/

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Advisory Council on Regulation of Ivory Trade concluded on 29 March 2022 and compiled a report. Then, in October 2022, before the 19th Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP19), the TMG sent a letter to the national government “Re: Action on Tokyo’s Ivory Trade”. The letter requested stricter ivory trade management due to concerns about ivory being taken out of the country as a result of the increase in the number of people entering the country in the future. However, despite incidents of ivory illegally exported from Japan being seized in China, the Japanese Government did not change its assertion at the Conference of the […]

JWCS is participating in CITES-related meetings: the 75th session of the Standing Committee on 13 November, the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties from 14 to 25 November and the 767th session of the Standing Committee on 25 November. The meetings will be livestreaming on the CITES  Youtube channel. The agenda of interest for Japan is as follows. ・While other countries around the world are closing their domestic ivory markets, Japan has no regulations on the sale of ivory products and is under pressure to deal with illegal exports from Japan. ・A proposal has been submitted for Appendices II listing of Requiem sharks, including blue sharks, which are […]