interesting discussion : Is an ethical ivory trade possible?

Green · 10th June 2023, 04:57 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hunp9Vgxb9Y

A. G. Maisey · 12th June 2023, 11:05 PM

I have not yet had time to watch all of this video, however, going back to about 1990, at which time I was still making custom knives & blades, I can recall a round table discussion with other knife makers, and the universal opinion that came out of that discussion was that elephants could be preserved forever if they could be made commercially viable.

In other words make the jumbos worth money & they will never die out.

Problem is people & elephants are in competition for food & land.

Under the present system, one or the other must lose.

But it is the wealthy part of the world that wants to keep the elephants.

The poor people living with the elephants just want to live.

To my mind, if those of us living fat & happy in New York, London, Paris & Rome want to keep the jumbos in Botswana or wherever we need to provide both the funds & the system that will permit people to live & elephants to live.

Essentially we are looking at a problem that is similar to the disappearance of the world's jungles:- no matter where we are on earth, we need those jungles, but they just keep on disappearing at a rate of knots. Fifty years ago Borneo/Kalimantan still had head hunters, now the jungles have gone & been replaced by palm oil plantations. The indigenous people live in tin shack slums.

If those of us with some wealth want the forests to stay untouched, we need to provide both funds & systems to ensure that the world can continue to breathe.

Elephants : jungles.

Same problem

and the root cause is the control of world wealth.

10th June 2023, 04:57 PM	#1
Green Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Malaysia Posts: 307	interesting discussion : Is an ethical ivory trade possible? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hunp9Vgxb9Y

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12th June 2023, 11:05 PM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,697	I have not yet had time to watch all of this video, however, going back to about 1990, at which time I was still making custom knives & blades, I can recall a round table discussion with other knife makers, and the universal opinion that came out of that discussion was that elephants could be preserved forever if they could be made commercially viable. In other words make the jumbos worth money & they will never die out. Problem is people & elephants are in competition for food & land. Under the present system, one or the other must lose. But it is the wealthy part of the world that wants to keep the elephants. The poor people living with the elephants just want to live. To my mind, if those of us living fat & happy in New York, London, Paris & Rome want to keep the jumbos in Botswana or wherever we need to provide both the funds & the system that will permit people to live & elephants to live. Essentially we are looking at a problem that is similar to the disappearance of the world's jungles:- no matter where we are on earth, we need those jungles, but they just keep on disappearing at a rate of knots. Fifty years ago Borneo/Kalimantan still had head hunters, now the jungles have gone & been replaced by palm oil plantations. The indigenous people live in tin shack slums. If those of us with some wealth want the forests to stay untouched, we need to provide both funds & systems to ensure that the world can continue to breathe. Elephants : jungles. Same problem and the root cause is the control of world wealth.