Emirates new A380 livery takes aim at fight against poaching

Author(s)

Arabian Business

Date Published
Visit link for photos and video. 

Dubai’s Emirates Airline has unveiled two A380 superjumbo jets decked out in special livery designed to support United for Wildlife, a global campaign against poaching and the illegal wildlife trade.

The Rt Hon The Lord Hague of Richmond, chair of the United for Wildlife Transport Taskforce said: “We welcome the efforts and commitment made by Emirates airline to combat the illegal wildlife trade. This is more than just an environmental issue. The illegal wildlife trade is now recognised as a serious and organised transnational crime. It drives corruption, is linked to money laundering and can damage economic development in many of the world’s poorest countries and communities. It will take a concerted effort, involving not only effective deterrents against poaching and smuggling, and vigilance in policing and punishing these crimes, but also efforts to increase consumer education to cut demand to protect these animals for the future. ”
Click here for a video of the new lineage
Sir Tim Clark, president Emirates Airline added: “Many animals, in particular African elephants, rhinos, tigers, and pangolins, are under extreme pressure because of an unprecedented spike in the illegal wildlife trade. The world is in a global poaching crisis, and everyone has to do their part to stop this, before it is too late. Emirates believes that the global transport industry, including airlines, can play a significant role to break the supply chain of illegal wildlife trade. And at Emirates, we are committing the resources to do our part.”
In May, Emirates SkyCargo, the world’s third-largest cargo carrier, announced it will stop carrying trophies of elephants, rhinos, lions, and tigers aboard its planes.
It was second international carrier to take wildlife conservation measures into its own hands.
In a statement, the Dubai airline said: “Emirates SkyCargo has an existing embargo on the carriage of products and parts of endangered animals and plants listed under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), including hunting trophies.
“However, as part of our efforts to prevent the illegal trade of hunting trophies of elephant, rhinoceros, lion, and tiger, Emirates SkyCargo has decided that effective 15th May 2015, we will not accept any kind of hunting trophies of these animals for carriage on Emirates services irrespective of CITES appendix.”
A spokesperson from Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad Airways added: “We have a comprehensive policy in place which bans the carriage of hunting trophies using animal products.”
South African Airways on April 25 became the first airline to ban the transport of hunting trophies, a move that prompted Chris Greene, chairman of the American Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee, to start a petition to get US airline Delta Airlines to join the ban.
In April, Dubai Municipality destroyed six tonnes of ivory seized from smugglers, according to an official.
The ivory, which was in all shapes and sizes, consisted of elephant tusks, polished, rough, or bracelets.
It was confiscated by Dubai officials over a number of years and was worth “millions of dirhams”, according to Aisha Al Muhairi, head of the municipality’s marine, environment and wildlife section.
In 2013, Dubai police launched a new campaign to combat the smuggling of elephant ivory tusks, part of an ongoing bid by Dubai authorities to clamp down on the illegal shipment of elephant tusks from Africa to the Far East.
Although international trade in ivory tusks was banned in 1989, ivory remains in high demand in the Far East leading to the continued slaughter of elephants in the Africa region.
By some estimates, up to 750,000 elephants were killed for their tusks in the 1980s leaving a population of 600,000 at the dawn of the 1990s decade when the ban was brought into effect.