Alex Rhodes: we must stop the ivory trade now

Stop Ivory CEO spoke yesterday on the historic burn that will follow the Giants Club Summit, and urged the world to get behind the #jointheherd campaign started by wildlife charity WildAid

More than 200 political leaders, conservationists and businesspeople from Africa and around the world have gathered in the foothills of Mount Kenya to find ways of protecting Africa’s elephants and battling the poachers who have left them facing extinction.

At the two-day summit, which will be followed by the largest ivory burn of all time, African heads of state will join other politicians, the UN, wildlife groups, scientists, and businesses as they seek ways to finance and conduct the battle against the poachers, and conserve the elephant population.

The Giants Club was founded by the Presidents of Kenya, Gabon, Uganda and Botswana, and Evening Standard proprietor Evgeny Lebedev, the patron of Space for Giants and the Giants Club. It was created to unite African governments, businesses and conservationists to find a solution to the poaching crisis and assist in the implementation of the Elephant Protection Initiative.