Holidays and celebrations are a time to remember and focus on what is important in these uncertain times and what to be grateful for – love, family, friendships and the beautiful natural world around us. It takes all of us working together on shared goals to advance the protection of elephants, a keystone species, integral to the health and well-being of communities and the larger ecosystem. Thank you for your enduring support. Together we can continue to make life better for elephants and all wildlife!
We have some LOVE to share with you:
Small Wins for Elephants:
There were two positive outcomes at the 78th meeting of the Standing Committee (SC78) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) on the issue of domestic ivory markets. The Standing Committee agreed to renew important decisions directing Parties with legal domestic ivory markets to report on measures taken to ensure they are not contributing to poaching or illegal trade. Japan has still not closed its legal trade. Read more here.
EU, ICCWC, and Civil Society Join Forces to Combat Wildlife Crime
Global International Wildlife crime represents one of the greatest threats to the protection of the world’s endangered and at risk species. In a win for wildlife protection, a new coalition partnership between GUARD Wildlife (Global United Action to Reduce and Dismantle Organized Wildlife Crime) the EU, and ICCWC, aims to conserve endangered species and biodiversity for future generations. GUARD Wildlife will enhance coordinated responses to combat wildlife crime at the national, regional and international levels and reduce illicit trafficking in wildlife and wildlife products in source, transit and destination countries. Read morehere.
The Fran Duthie African Elephant Scholarship Update
Established in 2022 the Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance to Kenyans pursuing conservation. We are pleased to share an update of our most recent students who have benefited from this capacity building scholarship. If you’re interested in learning more about how you can support the scholarship fund in 2025, please contact us or make a donation today to show your LOVE!
Elephanatics Education! Getting the Word Out!
Education is one of Elephanatics foundational pillars. Teaching and engaging youth is helping to raise a new generation of students who understand the value of biodiversity and of course, the vital importance of elephants. A big thanks to a homeschool teacher in the US who sent us photos of her students who created their own original t-shirt designs and stickers after teaching our ‘Trunks of Hope: T-Shirt design Mission for Elephant Conservation’ lesson plan! Check out our lesson plans!
We would like to show our LOVE and THANKS to one of our volunteers who wrote an article on the work Elephanatics does as an organization. We appreciate your time and efforts, Charlotte!
Volunteer are always needed. Please contact us if you are interested in helping elephants!
Elephanatics is very pleased to share the most recent updates from the four recipients of the Fran Duthie Scholarship administered by our partner organization, Mara Elephant Project, in Kenya.
Learn about the exciting work these students are undertaking in conservation related fields. By securing an education for the next generation in wildlife conservation, we are helping to secure a healthy future for our planet as well. We wish them continued success with their programs!
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can support the scholarship fund in 2025, please email us or make a donation today.
“I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round…as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time.”
All year long elephant conservation organizations work compassionately and conscientiously to make the world a better place for elephants – proving that, with consistent efforts, the essence of the holiday spirit is manifested through their accomplishments. The whole planet reaps the benefit of natures tending and the charitable giving of those who have supported these efforts. For this, we are extremely grateful and thankful to all of you who have been part of our success in reaching our goals to broaden our outreach in education and advocacy awareness campaigns for elephants during the year.
Throughout 2024 there has been several positive conservation efforts made globally by organizations to increase protection for elephants. Some include:
Strengthened Anti-Poaching efforts
Habitat Protection and Restoration efforts
Collaboration with other conservation organizations
Community building efforts
Research and Monitoring
Technology and Innovation – to include the use of drones as a major asset to help protect and monitor elephants
Education outreach
Policy advocacy
Elephanatics has been proactive at building out our education efforts by collaborating with our partner organization, Mara Elephant Project, in Kenya. We are very excited about this partnership! We offer a variety of FREE educational resources for teachers, educators and students to utilize. Education is key to understanding the problems elephants encounter on a daily basis from poaching, human-elephant conflict and habitat loss, to creating co-existence strategies to counter these issues. The benefits of collaborating with an organization that deals with these concerns is paramount to building capacity and resilience against further threats to elephants and all wildlife. We also continue to support organizations and policymakers that aim to strengthen the international legal framework to prevent and combat wildlife trafficking.
Our wish for you this holiday season is to find peace in the least expected places, use that peace to bring calm to others, and to forge ahead into 2025 with renewed ambitions and hopes.
We have some wonderful ideas on how to give back and support wildlife conservation too!
This #BlackFriday and #GivingTuesday Elephanatics is acknowledging the outstanding work efforts of the Mara Elephant Project in the Maasai Mara, Kenya. They have been a long-standing partner of Elephanatics and are top leaders in elephant conservation in Africa. We are grateful for their protection of wildlife through innovative techniques and technologies advancement to their dynamic co-existence strategies used to create economically resilient communities by cultivating and growing elephant friendly crops! We are proud to support and donate to their organization!
Starting November 29, Black Friday, thanks to the generosity of a donor, Mara Elephant Project is matching all donations up to $50,000 through to #GivingTuesday, December 3rd. The actions that MEP are taking now are paving pathways for future generations of elephants and communities that call the Mara home. Don’t miss the opportunity to help African communities retain their natural heritage by supporting their work. You can purchase their handmade items in link below: https://linktr.ee/maraelephantproject?utm_source=linktree_admin_share
Double your impact by donating to Mara Elephant Project today to secure a future for elephants. You can also donate to Elephanatics as all our donations go directly to the Mara Elephant Project.
We thank you for your continued love of elephants and that you appreciate the amount of time, money, and effort it takes to protect these magnificent animals. We wish you a very happy, and healthy, holiday season ahead!
Today is a perfect day to stop and reflect and give thanks to Elephanatics great Team!
Together we have made a significant impact on the preservation of #elephants and #wildlife through a concerted team effort. Thank you for your continued ‘elephantastic’ work and commitment to our natural world.
The sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is taking place in Cali in Columbia, from 21 October to 1 November 2024. Canada’s Kunming-Montreal Declaration aims to set ambitious goals to halt the loss of biodiversity, promote sustainable development, and enhance global environment efforts by 2030. Elephanatics has written letters and sent emails to the Ministers of Environment and Climate Change and MP’s across Canada asking that they support the merits of a global agreement in the form of an additional protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Crime (UNTOC) to strengthen the international legal framework to tackle illegal wildlife trade. Because the illegal wildlife trade is so interconnected with biodiversity loss, a global agreement is the next logical step to take.
We hope you consider writing your MP to support our ask. Find a pre-written letter here (featured Item)
Find your MP here
See our communication below:
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The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, P.C., M.P., Minister of Environment and Climate Change, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
via email: Steven.Guilbeault@parl.gc.ca
cc:
Hon. Mélanie Joly, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs melanie.joly@parl.gc.ca
Hon. Arif Virani, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada arif.virani@parl.gc.ca
September 18, 2024
Dear Minister Guilbeault,
Please see attached letter sent to you March 7, 2024, in reference to strengthening the international legal framework to tackle the illegal wildlife trade by considering the merits of a global agreement in the form of an additional protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Crime (UNTOC). Despite the scale and impact of IWT – one of the largest illegal markets in the world – a global agreement covering this topic still does not exist.
The sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is taking place in Cali in Columbia, from 21 October to 1 November 2024. Canada’s Kunming-Montreal Declaration aims to set ambitious goals to halt the loss of biodiversity, promote sustainable development, and enhance global environment efforts by 2030. Because the illegal wildlife trade is a direct threat to biodiversity the inclusion of a new protocol under UNTOC in the form of a global agreement needs to be considered seriously as part of the Kunming-Montreal framework to curb biodiversity loss. A protocol under UNTOC would show a strong commitment in working with partners to help curb the illegal wildlife trade and would also help bring other countries up to Canadian standards for wildlife trade.
TARGET 4: Halt Species Extinction, Protect Genetic Diversity, and Manage Human-Wildlife Conflicts
“Ensure urgent management actions to halt human induced extinction of known threatened species and for the recovery and conservation of species, in particular threatened species, to significantly reduce extinction risk, as well as to maintain and restore the genetic diversity within and between populations of native, wild and domesticated species to maintain their adaptive potential, including through in situ and ex situ conservation and sustainable management practices, and effectively manage human-wildlife interactions to minimize human-wildlife conflict for coexistence.”
(q) “Enhanced collaboration, cooperation and synergies between the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Protocols, other biodiversity-related conventions, other relevant multilateral agreements and international organizations and processes, in line with their respective mandates, including at the global, regional, subregional and national levels, would contribute to and promote the implementation of the Framework in a more efficient and effective manner;”
The illegal wildlife trade imperils biodiversity, contributes to climate change, creates economic instability in communities and is responsible for global pandemics. The way forward is to unify and collaborate with similar organizations and partners to thwart biodiversity loss.
Once again, we ask that you consider a new protocol under the UNTOC in the form of a global agreement to strengthen the international legal framework to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.
The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, P.C., M.P., Minister of Environment and Climate Change, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 via email: Steven.Guilbeault@parl.gc.ca
cc: Hon. Mélanie Joly, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs melanie.joly@parl.gc.ca Hon. Arif Virani, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada arif.virani@parl.gc.ca
March 7, 2024
Dear Minister Guibeault,
A coalition of organizations co-signed a letter written by the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime, addressing the need to strengthen the international legal framework to tackle the illegal wildlife trade (IWT), and was sent to you on 7 September 2023, asking for ways to better understand Canada’s views on how best to tackle wildlife trafficking at the international level. I am following up and have added more points to the initial letter sent by Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime and coalition to further support our request.
Despite the scale and impact of IWT – one of the largest illegal markets in the world – a global agreement covering this topic still does not exist. We are writing to ask you to support this initiative by considering the merits of a global agreement, taking the form of an additional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). As stated in theletter:
“The size and scale of wildlife trafficking is truly a global challenge and one that demands urgent action. The value of illegal trade has been estimated at between $7 and $23 billion per year.” A report by FINTRAC acknowledges, “illegal wildlife trade not only affects Canada, but poses a serious threat internationally”. Canada has signaled that this is a priority issue to address, both at home and abroad, and we were pleased to see that the mandate letter released by the Prime Minister on 16 December 2021, included a commitment for Canada to “work with partners to curb illegal wildlife trade”.
In the same mandate letter, the Canadian Government mandated an end to the elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn trade in Canada. We were very pleased to see these regulations enacted 20 November 2023. It is now time to deliver on the third item in this part of the mandate letter : new actions to combat the illegal wildlife trade.
Additionally, in December 2023, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released an updated report containing the views of 73 States and the European Union on the potential of an additional Protocol to the UNTOC covering wildlife trafficking. UNODC did not produce an analysis of the report, but the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime – at the request of Angola – did and concluded that around 78% of the responding States are either in favour of a Protocol or open to discussing it: PRESS-RELEASE-07-DEC-UN-report-shows-clear-majority-of-States-now-favour-a-new-global-agreement-against-wildlife-trafficking-.pdf (endwildlifecrime.org)
February marked the 10th anniversary of a declaration signed by Canada and 41 other countries at the first London conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade, 2014, to implement actions to:
(1) improve law enforcement, (2) improve legal frameworks against IWT (3) reduce demand for illegal wildlife and (4) support alternative livelihoods.
Beyond Canada’s commitment of a $2 million donation in emergency funding to combat illegal wildlife trade activities in East and Central Africa, and the recent ban of elephant ivory and rhino horn along with the import of hunting trophies containing these parts, have there been further measures Canada has put into place to support the declaration signed at the London Conference?
Canada is putting together its action plan for the Global Biodiversity Framework to show action on Kunming-Montréal convention prior to CoP 16 in the fall. Because the illegal wildlife trade is a direct threat to biodiversity the inclusion of a new protocol under UNTOC would be proactive to add to its strategy on how best to curb biodiversity loss.
A protocol under UNTOC would also help bring other countries up to Canadian standards for wildlife trade.
As Minister of Environment and Climate Change, you have an important role to play in the future of our planet and the wildlife that we are intrinsically tied to for our own survival. The illegal wildlife trade undermines governance, corrupts and weakens security within a country as well as threatens its economies and biodiversity.It is imperative we end wildlife trafficking to cease the destruction of global biodiversity, help mitigate climate change, avoid future pandemics, and protect communities and economies that are reliant on the use of sustainable natural resources.
Supporting a global agreement in the form of an additional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) would show a strong commitment in working with partners to help curb the illegal wildlife trade.Thank you for your attention to this request.
It’s Back To School and we have some great news for all educators!
Elephanatics and Mara Elephant Project are offering educators a unique opportunity to invite via Zoom a Mara Elephant Project ranger or researcher into your classroom. Students will have the chance to interact with a Kenyan conservationist and learn more about the work they are doing to protect elephants and their habitats in the Greater Mara Ecosystem.
Go to link below to book your spot today and share with fellow friends, teachers and educators!
Greetings fellow elephant lovers! We hope you are enjoying summer and finding time to get outside and explore the many wonders of nature. We have some good news for elephants this report and many ways you can participate to join us in helping them. Thank you for continuing to support elephants!
Celebrating the 13th Annual World Elephant Day |August 12th, 2024
Photo cr. Patricia Sims
Join us in celebrating the 13th annual World Elephant Day (WED), founded by Canadian conservationist and filmmaker, Patricia Sims. WED is globally recognized for elephant conservation organizations to bring awareness to their conservation programs that protect elephants and their habitats – a very important day to fundraise to support respective elephant conservation initiatives.
Patricia’s trip will help to further develop the relationships WED has with these organizations and continue to build upon the growing importance of the annual World Elephant Day campaign to bring global attention to the critical issues that threaten the future survival of elephants by educating the public about the solutions that these organizations are undertaking to help mitigate these threats – and how people can help.
Stay tuned for more information on Patricia’s planned activities in Kenya by following World Elephant Day here.
Meet the New Class of Fran Duthie Scholarship Participants 2024
Inaugurated in 2022, the Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship has supported Janeth Jepkemboi, the inaugural recipient, who is now completing her MSC in Environmental Studies. This year four more eager students are recipients of the award helping to ensure that Kenyan youth are leading conservation efforts in their country. Read more about the recipients and join us in celebrating World Elephant Day by donating to the Fran Duthie Scholarship here.
Elephanatics Continues Its Advocacy Efforts
The recent killing of five big tuskers along the Kenyan Tanzanian border, breaking a 30-year moratorium, has roused global concern. With as few as 50 big tuskers alive in Africa these elephants are critically important for stability in elephant societies, their habitats, and ecosystems. Elephanatics has sent a letter to Minister Stephen Guilbeault asking to use Canada’s international influence, and powers of collaboration to protect these few remaining tuskers. Read letter here.
A coalition of organizations co-signed a letter written by the Global Initiative to End Wildlife Crime, September 2023, addressing the need to strengthen the international legal framework to tackle the illegal wildlife trade (IWT). Elephanatics has since written letters to Members of Parliament across Canada and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Stephen Guilbeault, to follow up on our ask and to encourage MPs to speak with Minister Guilbeault and other members of Parliament to address this issue as a matter of urgency. A global agreement taking the form of an additional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) is urgently required to provide an international legal framework that will address the multi-billion-dollar illegal wildlife trade. Read letter here.
NEW EDUCATION RESOURCE!
Bring a Wildlife Ranger or Researcher into Your Classroom
Elephanatics and Mara Elephant Project are offering educators a unique opportunity to invite via Zoom a Mara Elephant Project ranger or researcher into your classroom. Students will have the chance to interact with a Kenyan conservationist and learn more about the work they are doing to protect elephants and their habitats in the Greater Mara Ecosystem. This is a completely free opportunity to global educators – Book your session here.
The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, P.C., M.P., Minister of Environment and Climate Change, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 via email: Steven.Guilbeault@parl.gc.ca
cc:
Hon. Mary NG, P.C., M.P., Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development – mary.ng@parl.gc.ca Hon. Mélanie Joly, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs – melanie.joly@parl.gc.ca Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C. M.P., Minister of Energy and natural Resources – jonathan.wilkinson@parl.gc.ca Christopher Thornley, High Commissioner for Canada to the Republic of Kenya – nairobi@international.gc.ca
July 12th, 2024
Dear Minister Guilbeault,
Elephanatics, a Vancouver based elephant advocacy organization and co-leader of the Ivory-Free-Canada campaign, thanks you and your team, again, for implementing regulations to end the trade of elephant ivory and rhino horn in Canada.
As you know, elephants are a highly endangered keystone species that are not only emotionally intelligent but central to maintaining vibrant local biodiversity and ecosystems. While the Canadian ivory ban is essential to their protection, the threats facing elephants are multiple and, unfortunately, ongoing.
Recently, a thirty-year moratorium protecting elephants along the Kenyan and Tanzanian border has ended with the killing of 5 large male tuskers. Elephants along this border travel historic migratory routes which are now endangering them.
These elephants, also known as “Super Tuskers”, are male elephants with at least one tusk weighing 100 pounds (45kg). It is believed that there are as few as 50 left in Africa. They are critically important for stability in elephant societies and their habitats and ecosystems.
Dr Joyce Poole, co-founder and Scientific Director of ElephantVoices, says, “Fifty years of research on Amboseli’s known individuals has shown that males between 35 and 55 years of age are the primary breeders. Hunters who claim that older males are “dead wood” are just plain ignorant of the science. Males who are given the chance to live to an old age produce a disproportionate number of offspring, passing their genes to the next generation. By killing large tusked males hunters are damaging elephant society, negatively impacting Amboseli’s rare gene pool for large tusks and taking a toll on its future tourism potential.”
Canada has played a leading role in the protection of wildlife and biodiversity and at COP15 participants agreed to the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework, a historic global framework to safeguard nature and halt and reverse biodiversity loss, putting nature on a path to recovery by 2050.
COP15 focused on protecting nature and halting biodiversity loss around the world. The Government of Canada’s priority was to ensure the COP15 was a success for nature.
We are asking that Canada use its international influence, powers of collaboration and voice to advocate for the following:
Review and amend current wildlife hunting regulations to protect critically important elephants by restricting hunts in areas where these tusker elephants roam.
Implement a formal buffer zone near the Kenya- Tanzania border safeguarding the transboundary elephant population, recognizing their significant ecological economic and symbolic value.
Enhance conservation efforts and promote ecotourism as sustainable alternatives that can support community development without sacrificing invaluable wildlife.
Elephant Voices, Big Life Foundation and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, released a statement appealing for “an end to elephant trophy hunting in the Enduimet Area of Tanzania”. We add our voice to the growing alarm over the hunting of these few remaining tuskers.
As we enter another summer of record breaking heat , storms, and wildfires, the global commitment to preserving our planet’s magnificent and indispensable ecosystems is more urgent than ever.
As elephants are a highly endangered species, we ask that you act with urgency to address this matter.
📣 Congratulations 📣 to the four new recipients chosen for the Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship! 🎓
If you wish to support the next generation of wildlife conservationists in Kenya visit the Mara Elephant Project donate page and leave a note that it is for the scholarship.
Our future lies in their hands!
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The Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship overseen by Mara Elephant Project launched in 2022 provides financial assistance to Kenyans pursuing conservation or related fields through a technical certificate, undergraduate or postgraduate degree. The inaugural recipient Janeth Jepkemboi is completing her MSc in Environmental Studies after spending time at MEP HQ in the first quarter, and now a new group of students is eager to follow her lead as the next recipients of the scholarship. After a thorough selection process, we are pleased to introduce the four new students receiving the Fran Duthie African Elephant Conservation Scholarship.
