The use of African safari decor in the home to create stunning visual home design is a popular choice. A well placed piece of African fabric will add a splash of color and brighten up an otherwise dull room. However when it comes to ornaments and African themed decoration is ivory an acceptable material to use?
Whilst there are huge stockpiles of ivory in Africa, and beautiful artifacts and decorative items are already in circulation, the use of ivory in the home does open up some ethical questions.
It is a common claim that is made that the elephants from which ivory comes are destructive and that efforts need to be made to control their populations. Zimbabwe and Botswana often claim that the trade in ivory is a necessary evil, not only as a major source of income to the country but also to limit the destruction and damage caused.
Naturally, an elephant can do a lot of damage – however in reality the damage to the environment caused by elephant populations is small, and the trade in Ivory does not bring great wealth. Well, not to the people who matter. Studies demonstrate that it is the ivory trading middlemen who receive the money and that only a tiny percentage reaches the people who most desperately need it.
The proliferation of ivory poaching in the 1980’s spurred the United Nations and other organizations to take steps to reduce the illegal slaughtering of elephants. The demand for traditional African safari decor fuelled the culling trade. Kenya lost over 85% of its elephant populations in the 15 years preceding 1987. It is estimated that close to 300,000 elephants were slaughtered for ivory in just 6 years in the 1980s.
In 1999 the 10-year worldwide ban of ivory sales by CITES was lifted, to clear the stocks of ivory in Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia. Whilst the proceeds from sales were to be put towards the conservation of elephant populations, there was worldwide concern that the lifting of the ban would lead to a new rush of illegal elephant hunting.
The fact is that there are thousands of tones of stockpiled Ivory which remain unused, and that the trade in this material does not affect elephant populations. The problem however is that the trade of stockpiled ivory is difficult to police. The decision to release these stockpiles reopens channels for illegal ivory trade. The material is highly valuable, and where there is value and poverty there is an opportunity to make money. By opening a legal channel, it creates the opportunity for illegal ivory trade to continue, with the laundering of illegal supplies with the stockpiled material.
In 2007, EBay added the sale of Ivory items to its list of banned item following pressure from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and whilst a small step, it did serve to highlight the fact that ivory trading is still very much a real concern, and not just a problem solved in the late 80’s.
African safari decor will certainly add an exotic and unique flavor to any room, and the range of fine artifacts made out of other African materials should give you plenty of scope for redecoration with an African flavor. However by purchasing or using ivory, you could be well be endorsing the trade in endangered species.