Many of the most important conversations we have in our lives take place in the family home. The home is where we learn from our parents and grandparents, teach our own children, and share our stories and hopes for the future. It is where many of our ideas and values are first kindled. In that spirit, there is one subject I believe we have to discuss, around our family tables and across the generations. It concerns the future, and I know the Chinese are a far-sighted people. It concerns particularly the environment, and I know that protecting China’s rich and beautiful natural heritage is important to all Chinese families. It is the mass destruction and trafficking of iconic endangered species. And it is time to talk about the growing human demand for illegal wildlife products that drive the trade and makes it profitable.
Today, we face an unprecedented surge in the brutal slaughter of iconic animals by poachers. In South Africa, for example, one rhino was killed every month until 2005. But last year, three rhinos were killed every single day. In the 33 years since I was born, we have lost around 70% of Africa’s elephant population. Of those that are left, 20,000 are being killed every year. That is 54 elephants killed every single day. At this rate, children born this year, like my daughter Charlotte, will see the last wild elephants and rhinos die before their 25th birthdays.
Those who suffer the most from this loss are some of the poorest people on our planet. They are the families who feel powerless as wildlife around them disappear, who face being trapped in poverty forever, without the income that should be brought in by tourism, a cornerstone of the economy in many developing nations. They are the children whose parents risk their lives in the fight against poachers. In the last few days, three rangers and one member of the armed forces were killed by poachers in one incident in Central Africa, leaving behind 14 children between them. It is these children’s future that is blighted so tragically by the illegal wildlife trade, and it is their birthright that is stolen.
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