Sculpture to rise in QC vs illegal ivory trade

MANILA, Philippines - A life-size elephant sculpture made of crushed ivory tusks will be built in the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center (NAPWC) in Quezon City as a symbol of the Philippines’ support for the global fight against the illegal ivory trade.

Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) director Theresa Mundita Lim said the design for the sculpture was made by award-winning architecture student Janus Andrade Nuñez of the University of the Philippines, and a P750,000 budget has been earmarked for the project.

In June 2013, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), using a road roller, destroyed at least five tons of smuggled elephant tusks worth P420 million. The materials will be used in making the elephant sculpture.

“This will somehow institutionalize efforts by the BMB and the DENR in the campaign against this illegal ivory trade. We want to show here that we are strongly supporting other countries having similar advocacy,” Lim said.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje led the groundbreaking of the site of the elephant sculpture during the recent World Wildlife Day celebration held at the NAPWC.

Paje said the move is a reaffirmation of the country’s commitment to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna or CITES.

CITES is an international treaty forged in 1973 to regulate commercial trade in certain wildlife species, including the critically endangered elephants.

“This act is a strong statement to the rest of the world that the Philippines is serious and will not tolerate illegal wildlife trade,” Paje said.