Britain will impose a ban on ivory sales to help bring an end to the poaching of elephants under plans announced by environment secretary Michael Gove.
The UK is the world’s largest exporter of legal ivory, stimulating demand in countries like Hong Kong and China, despite the elephant population falling by almost a third in the past decade.
“The decline in the elephant population fuelled by poaching for ivory shames our generation,” Gove said. “These plans will put the UK front and centre of global efforts to end the insidious trade in ivory.