TOK Journal Entry 2: The ivory trade - Writing Wednesday

Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post, 

Today, I wanted to publish another one of my journal entries for TOK. I thought I would make this a fairly regular occurrence since this is something that I have to write every 2 weeks so I might as well share a couple with you. I won't share everything I do since it is all my own work and I would prefer it to stay that way but I figured that I might as well do this since it is kind of fun to post. Here I'm talking about the ivory trade and the unethical practices that go on in many countries across the world and Asia in particular. I talk about how we can change the knowledge and cultural understanding of the next generation of young people so that they consume less into this illegal industry. I hope you enjoy reading it and find it interesting. 

-

A topic that's always been of particular concern to me is the trade of elephant ivory, amongst other animal products that are considered valuable, to many people across different parts of Asia. I was ashamed by the shear amount of elephant ivory and pangolin scales that were seized and recorded last year and to think that so many of these amazing, beautiful animals are sacrificed for the feeble use in traditional medicines and aesthetically pleasing ornaments, really upsets me.  However, what responsibility do we have over these endangered animals and can the knowledge and mindsets of the next generation of young people be changed? 

It was recently recorded by WWF that in July of last year, nearly 9 tons of elephant ivory and 12 tons of pangolin scales were seized by the group in the country of Singapore. It was subsequently announced, after the news of Singapore's ivory market broke out, that the government would endeavour to ban it's domestic ivory trade in the country. Other epicentres in the ivory market such as the USA, UK, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, also announced their appeal to ban this unethical trade. This was a huge step in the right direction to a complete ban in the market. However, it was found that more global action needed to be taken in order to make this practice illegal and to properly enforce these laws among the people of these countries. 

 

This information made me realise that the key to changing an integrated market system isn't by only making laws, but by also educating people on the topic so that the laws can then be enforced. If a country truly doesn't want to promote unethical treatment and practices towards animals, it must be prepared to create a new cultural understanding so that people know the impact of what it is that they are either selling or consuming. 

 

One great example of re-education that I saw recently was that done by the organisation, Elephants for Africa. Their main aim was to educate not only the young people in Africa but also the young people across the world in understanding the impact that they can have as consumers. They made sure that children understood the impact that their actions could have on the environment and they ensured that they understood that ivory and other animal products serve no purpose to humans and that in the end, the elephant or the animal is sacrificed because of it. Although this sounds simple, this sort of work helps enforce this new cultural understanding that it is wrong to kill a beautiful animal like an elephant just because we want to fulfil what we want. This work teaches the next generation that we have a responsibility now to ensure that elephants and other animals don't become extinct just because of our selfish desires. 

I believe that if this sort of work is put in place in countries like Singapore and Vietnam, then maybe knowledge and attitudes in those countries can change. 

What are your thoughts on the ivory trade? How do you think we can resolve this issue? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!

Tap one of the reaction boxes below to let me know what you thought of this post. It would really help me to make some improvements in the future!

Be sure to follow and subscribe so that you don't miss anymore of my brilliant posts and share this article with a friend who might enjoy it too!

See you next time,

Bye,

XOX, Juliette

My social media handles:

My Instagram

My Facebook

My YouTube channel

My second blog:

The Book Hub

Previous post:

This is what a broody chicken looks like 😂 - Lifestyle Monday