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May 2024

News and Resources

REPORT: Three years after inscription of Iriomote Island on the World Heritage List
660 661 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

JTEF Yamaneko Patrol published a report to assess the development of the management and protection of Iriomote Island, a World Heritage site, which were made by the State Party, give insights on an emerging issue, and provide recommendations and submitted it to IUCN that is responsible for monitoring World Natural Heritage sites on behalf of the World Heritage Committee (WHC). Unfortunately, JTEF & Yamaneko Patrol identified stagnant visitation controls and creation of new tourism business opportunity inside the World Heritage properties. Around three years have passed since July 26, 2021, when WHC adopted a decision that inscribes Iriomote Island and other areas in Japan on the World Heritage List, requesting the State Party to take immediate steps to improve the…

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BLOG: Japan is Revising its Law on Ivory Trade – Time to Finally Close the Market
299 298 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

On the streets of Tokyo, if you’re looking for elephant ivory products, particularly hanko (name seals), you can pop into a shop and purchase ivory legally and easily. In recent years most ivory consumer countries have closed their domestic markets for ivory. However, one major outlier still remains open for business: Japan. For years, the EIA and JTEF have drawn attention to Japan’s role in the global ivory trade – the very existence of Japan’s ivory market undermines international efforts to protect elephants from the trade in ivory. Elephants are still being poached in Africa, which means that demand for their ivory tusks persists. In April 2024 Vietnam intercepted 1.6 tonnes of elephant ivory smuggled from Nigeria, following the March…

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