China’s ivory market is shrinking with the decline in the number of ivory items for sale, ahead of the government’s ban on ivory trade, animal rights organizations said.
动物权益组织最新研究报告表示，在中国政府禁止象牙贸易之前，随着象牙制品数量减少，象牙市场也日益萎缩。
Two wildlife conservation organizations, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and TRAFFIC, found that the number of ivory items — in both legal and illegal ivory markets in China—has declined alongside falling ivory prices, according to a joint report sent to the Global Times on Sunday.
周日，环球时报联合报告表明，世界野生动物基金会和野生动植物贸易调查委员会发现，在中国合法和非法象牙市场的象牙制品数量已随象牙价格的下降而下降。
After a survey of 503 physical outlets in 22 cities where ivory was being sold illegally, researchers from these organizations found that, on average, only five ivory items were for sale per outlet. This marks the lowest number of publicly displayed ivory since 2007, compared with nine items per shop in 2016 and 18 items per shop in 2007, the report said. "The decline in the number of ivory items for sale is a result of China’s efforts to ban the ivory trade," Sun Quanhui, a senior scientific adviser at the international NGO World Animal Protection, told the Global Times.
来自这些组织的研究人员发现，在对22个象牙非法销售的城市的503个实体店进行了调查之后，平均来说，每个出口商店只有5件象牙制品。该报告称，这是2007年以来公开象牙的最低数量，相比之下，2016年每个商店有9件商品，而2007年每个商店有18件商品。国际非政府组织世界动物保护组织的高级科学顾问孙权辉对环球时报说:“象牙制品数量的减少是中国全力禁止象牙贸易的结果。”
China will ban all commercial ivory processing and trade by the end of 2017, the State Council, China’s cabinet, announced on December 30, 2016. The announcement has been highly hailed by the international community, and is a sign of the Chinese government’s intent to participate in global ecological governance.
中国国务院于2016年12月30日宣布，到2017年底，中国将禁止所有的商业象牙加工和贸易。这一声明得到了国际社会的高度赞扬，表明了中国政府有意参与全球生态治理。
The State Forestry Administration (SFA) issued a notice in March, ordering 67 out of 172 ivory stores accredited by the SFA to close their shops before March 31, and the remaining 105 to close before December 31.
今年3月，国家林业局(SFA)发布了一份通知，要求SFA授权的172家象牙店中的67家在3月31日之前关闭它们的店铺，其余105家在12月31日前关闭。
Researchers from the two organizations surveyed 50 stores that were scheduled to be shut down in the first round of closures, and found that just one store was still selling ivory, albeit surreptitiously.
这两家机构的研究人员调查了在第一轮中被关闭的50家门店，仅有一家商店仍在私下销售象牙制品。
But among the stores that are slated to be closed by December 31, some 28 percent were found to be in violation, including failure to displace identification cards corresponding to displayed ivory items not operating in approved locations, and so forth, the report said.
但报告称，在截至12月31日的门店中，约有28%的门店被发现违规，其中包括未在批准地点运营和没能做到一物一证等。
The researchers found that compared to 2012, the average price of ivory chopsticks in the illegal market had declined by 57%. Data from law enforcement authorities also shows that the price of raw ivory has been falling sharply in recent years: in Beijing. It declined by 20-25% between 2015 and 2016, and by 50% in 2017.
研究人员发现，与2012年相比，非法市场象牙筷子的平均价格已经下降了57%。来自执法部门的数据也显示，近年来，象牙在北京的价格一直在急剧下降。2015年至2016年间，这一比例下降了20-25%，2017年下降了50%。
"Once implemented, the blanket ban on commercial ivory trade should facilitate law enforcement efforts and raise consumer awareness about the illegality of the trade," said Zhou Fei, head of TRAFFIC’s China Office and the Wildlife Trade Programme of the WWF China.
野生动植物贸易调查委员会会长、世界野生动物基金会中国野生动物贸易项目负责人周非说：“一旦实施禁令，对商业象牙贸易的全面禁令不仅可以促进有效执法，还会提高消费者对贸易非法行为的认知。”
After the announcement of the ban, the illegal trade of ivory has been moving to second-tier cities where there’s weaker enforcement and people have low awareness about animal protection, Sun said. Most illegal ivory products are concentrated in second-tier cities, the report said. The researchers found 1,742 illegal ivory products in 14 second-tier cities, accounting for 76 percent of the total illegal ivory products they surveyed.
孙权辉说，在禁令后，非法象牙贸易已经转移到二线城市，那里的执法力度较弱，人们对动物保护的意识也很低。报告称，大多数非法象牙制品的确集中在二线城市。研究人员在14个二线城市发现了1742个非法象牙制品，占调查非法象牙制品的76%。
Sun suggested that the forestry police should join hands with the local industry and commerce departments to enhance their surveillance of local antique markets.
孙权辉建议，林业警方应与当地工商部门联手，加强对当地古玩市场的监管。
He also noted that relevant departments should develop border cooperation with neighboring countries, especially after the ivory trade is completely banned.
他还指出，有关部门应加强与周边国家的边境合作，特别是在象牙贸易完全被禁之后。
The WWF and TRAFFIC said they found that some ivory were smuggled directly into China from Africa, and some transited via Vietnam to South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Sun also urged the government to introduce a detailed regulation on dealing with inventories of these ivory products after China bans the trading of these products at the end of this year.
世界自然基金会和野生动植物贸易调查委员会表示，他们发现一些象牙是从非洲直接走私到中国的，一些象牙经由越南转移到中国南部的广西壮族自治区。孙权辉还敦促中国政府在今年年底禁止这些产品的交易后，对这些象牙制品的库存进行详细的监管。
