Press Release

Press Release

Decision by Yahoo! Japan to End Ivory Sales Celebrated by Elephant Advocates
300 300 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

Geneva, Switzerland Elephant advocates are celebrating reports that Yahoo! Japan, the world’s largest internet ivory retailer, has decided to end sales of elephant ivory on its platforms by November 1st, 2019. The decision was based on evidence that ivory purchased on Yahoo! was being exported illegally to China, according to inside sources. It comes on the last day of the global wildlife trade conference in Geneva where Japan’s domestic ivory market has been in the spotlight with a growing chorus of countries calling for its immediate closure. “This is great news for elephants,” said Danielle Grabiel, Wildlife Team Lead for the Washington, DC and London, UK based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). “Yahoo has recognized what the Government of Japan still denies: Japan’s…

read more
Press Release: One Year Out from 2020 Tokyo Games, NGOs Appeal to Tokyo Governor to End Ivory Trade
556 549 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

July 25, 2019: TOKYO Tokyo, Japan – One year before the start of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games, international and Japanese conservation organizations are appealing to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike to ban the sale of ivory in the city. Japan boasts the world’s largest legal domestic ivory market; its ongoing support for an industry that fuels the poaching of an estimated 20,000 African elephants each year threatens to tarnish the reputation of Tokyo and the 2020 Games. The Environmental Investigation Agency US, Humane Society International, WildAid, Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund and Tears of the African Elephant urge the Governor to support international efforts to conserve and protect Africa’s rapidly declining elephant population by closing the ivory market in Tokyo…

read more
REPORTS: “Compelled to Close: Top 5 Reasons for Closing Japan’s Domestic Ivory Market
648 661 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

May 31, 2019   TOKYO – Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund (JTEF) released its new report: “Compelled to Close: Top 5 Reasons for Closing Japan’s Domestic Ivory Market” before the opening 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP18) to Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).   The closure of world’s domestic ivory markets including Japan will be discussed at CITES CoP18 meeting. The government of Japan is planning to end a campaign promoting ivory registration at the end of May and introduce a stricter regulation on ivory registration procedure from the beginning of July, intending to get the recognition of international community on maintaining its ivory market.   The new report…

read more
PRESS RELEASE: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio asks Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike to support a ban on Japan’s ivory trade
913 892 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

May 17, 2019 WASHINGTON—As athletes and organizers prepare for the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is asking Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike to support efforts to end the ivory trade in Japan, the largest ivory market in the world. Mayor de Blasio is among a growing group of world leaders and elected officials urging Japan to ban all ivory sales to combat the illegal ivory trade in advance of the 2020 Summer Games. In a letter sent to Governor Koike last week, Mayor de Blasio wrote: “Sustainability is a key theme of next year’s games as reflected in the guiding principle: ‘Be better together – for the planet and the people.’….With millions of people…

read more
REPORTS: What is the “holistic approach” to address increasing tourism/visitors pressure in Iriomote Island?
1024 1020 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

November 30, 2017 – Tokyo On 17 October, 2017, the IUCN experts arrived in Iriomote Island to conduct an on-the-spot review on the nomination of Iriomote Island for inscription in the World Heritage List. On 19 October, the Government of Japan hosted a meeting between IUCN experts and local stakeholders of Iriomote Island as a part of the on-site review by IUCN. At the meeting, the experts then noted their comments as tentative evaluations, including the outcome of the on-the-spot review. The most important points of their comments are as follows; Firstly, in the context of inscription on the World Heritage List the most outstanding issue for Iriomote Island is the potential for adverse effects from tourism/visitors pressure on the…

read more
REPORTS: “How ivory traders are capitalising on the failures in policy and governance, and corruption within institutions-”
792 834 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

November 17, 2017 Tokyo-based Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund published today a report titled: “Why Should the Japanese Domestic Ivory Market Be Closed? -How ivory traders are capitalising on the failures in policy and governance, and corruption within institutions-” (194 pages total). PRESS RELEASE This report illustrates all aspects of Japan’s ivory trade through all information about the market available and comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of Japan’s ivory trade controls. It is comprised of 8 chapters as follows;  SUMMARY of the REPORT Chapter 1: Application of the CITES Resolution on closure of domestic ivory market to Japan Chapter 2: Online Trade of Ivory in Japan Chapter 3: Import/export of ivory between Japan and the other countries including China, and regulation on Import/export in Japan…

read more
REPORTS: Submit JTEF report to the IUCN experts mandated to evaluate the proposed World Natural Heritage Site for sound conservation of Iriomote cat
788 711 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

September 30, 2017 – Tokyo The objective of this report is to provide information and comment with regard to the nomination of Iriomote Island for inscription on the World Heritage List from the aspect of conservation of critically endangered Iriomote cat (Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis), which are considered to be taken into account at the verification of the “Nomination of Amami-Oshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, the northern part of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island for inscription on the World Heritage List” by International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on behalf of the World Heritage Committee. JTEF has no objection to recognize an Outstanding Universal Value (“OUV” hereinafter) of the entire natural property in Iriomote Island, in particular, the sole wild habitat…

read more