Thailand launched a campaign to stop the demand for ivory products
BANGKOK: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) and WildAid launched a campaign to reduce the use and purchase of jewelry and accessories based on elephant ivory.
The “Only Elephants Wear Ivory Best” campaign features Thai actress and supermodel Cindy Sirinya Bishop, as well as famous Thai astrologer and feng shui master Tossaporn Sritula (Master Chang), in an effort to end the demand for elephant ivory products and prevent consumers from buying the products during front.
The campaign also featured two 32-second videos starring the two ambassadors.
USAID Regional Development Mission Program Development Specialist for Asia, Dr Suphasuk Pradubsuk said the United States (US) government remains committed to a productive partnership with Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Plant and Wildlife Conservation to end illegal wildlife trade and protect the environment and human health by reducing the demand for the product.
She said USAID Wildlife Asia’s “Beautiful without ivory” campaign succeeded in changing the attitude of the target group in a short period of time.
“We hope the ‘Only Elephants Wear Ivory Best’ campaign will continue this trend,” said Dr Suphasuk in a statement.
According to the USAID 2020 study, the ‘Beautiful without ivory’ campaign helped reduce buyer demand by 50 percent and social acceptance to buy and use the product also decreased by up to 50 percent compared to the same study conducted by USAID in 2018.
The perception that ‘ivory is beautiful’ dropped from 67 percent in 2018 to almost 48 percent in 2020.
The ‘Only Elephants Wear Ivory Best’ campaign also aims to eradicate the main driver of the use of elephant ivory products in Thailand – the belief that the products in question bring luck to life and promise happiness.
Meanwhile, DNP Director General Rutchada Suriyakul Na Ayutya said DNP has been working closely with USAID and WildAid to help reduce the demand for illegal elephant ivory products since 2018.
“Reducing the demand for illegal wildlife products is among other strategies to stop illegal trade, in line with the guidelines of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
“We truly believe that with law enforcement in addition to campaigns like ‘Only Elephants Wear Ivory Best’, we can create new values in society to stop the use of the products involved, as well as contribute to significantly reducing the demand for ivory-based products,” he said. .
USAID, WildAid and DNP will promote campaign videos and key visuals through Facebook, as well as other social media channels to maximize audience reach.
source – BERNAMA
