China has taken a huge leap for the preservation of one of the most endangered species of wildlife in the world.

The Environmental Advance

China’s call for a total ban by the end of 2017 has marked a massive precedent in the trade of endangered animals. Gradual pressure and influence from global wildlife preservation agencies as well as environmental protection agencies developed into a revolutionary decision by the Chinese government to ban all trade of ivory with Africa for China. This sets a massive precedent for global trade writ large, as the reduction of this type of trade means African ivory traders have very few options available with this prospect to trade en masse.

With regulations in place, first the factories that process and sell ivory in China will be forced to shut their doors by March 31, per the New York Times. Followed by this closure, the Ministry of Culture of China will work with existing ivory usage in order to maintain the usage of it appropriate and legal.

This serves as a massive blow to current illegal ivory traders in Africa, as China was one of the largest consumers of ivory in the world, and to lose such a massive source of revenue is certainly a great blow to the business. This could potentially lead to a rapid decline of the hunting of elephants in search of ivory, a move that most of the world’s environmentalists were hoping for, as it would be a giant leap forward in the prevention of extinction of one of the world’s most endangered species of organisms.

The Impact and Precedent

This is a great step forward as an endorsement from a production-based world superpower and a rising political superpower in the current world landscape. Such an endorsement could mean a great improvement in terms of the political capital that environmental groups possess in the global political scene. This move could also incentivize other countries to take steps to prevent other harmful practices in order to preserve endangered creatures all throughout the world; a large step for the world overall, but still ambitious in nature.

This could also set a potential precedent for companies that attempt to engage in such practices, as this could potentially disincentivize other countries to engage in businesses that have similar impacts. It would once again benefit the agenda of environmentalists in their mission to improve the quality of our current environment as well as the organisms that reside within, particularly those who have been driven to endangered status.