Green Party

Adrian Ramsay, Deputy Leader of the Green Party nationally and Parliamentary Candidate for Norwich South, has welcomed news that the Go Elephants! auction at the Forum in Norwich (Tuesday evening, 23rd September) has raised over £200,000 for the charities Clic Sargent and the Born Free Foundation.

Adrian is backing Born Free’s calls for international action to save wild elephants from slaughter. The herd of painted elephants has brightened up the streets of Norwich this summer, but has also drawn attention to the plight of wild elephants in Africa .

The international ivory trade is becoming big business again, following a decision in July this year – backed by the UK Government – to allow China to import and stockpile 108 tonnes of ivory. The international ivory trade was banned in 1989, but in recent years this ban has been weakened. During a recent meeting in Geneva, the CITES committee (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) voted to allow China to buy ivory from four African nations – South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

More than 20,000 African elephants are already killed each year by illegal poachers. Conservation groups - including the Born Free Foundation and the Environmental Investigations Agency - predict that the number of elephants killed will rise dramatically following the CITES decision. The Green Party supports calls to re-instate an outright ban on the ivory trade.

Councillor Adrian Ramsay said: “It has been great to see so much interest in the Norwich elephants. This has not only been a unique and inspiring community art project in Norwich but it has been a project that will help real elephants in Africa .

“It is appalling that the UK was among the countries that voted, this July, to allow China to import huge stockpiles of ivory. The ivory trade is one of the most cruel and unnecessary businesses, bringing immense suffering to a highly intelligent, sociable and endangered animal. I hope the money raised in Norwich will help the plight of elephants in Africa and will be taken as a message of support from Norwich for the charity’s call for an outright ban on the ivory trade. This ban is crucial to protect these magnificent creatures.”

The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlife charity, working throughout the world to save lives, stop suffering and protect species in the wild. See www.bornfree.org.uk

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