Actress Lupita Nyong'o applauds Kenya for the upcoming historic ivory burn
Kenya will be burning the largest ivory stockpile in Africa’s history on Saturday with world
political leaders, global business leaders, philanthropists, top UN officials, diplomats and
celebrities expected to grace the occasion at the Nairobi National Park.
The historic ‘bonfire’ will see 5 percent of world’s ivory get burned to ashes in a protest
against poaching and increased global trade of ivory that has seen wildlife with the precious
tusks face extinction. As the government of Kenya and interested parties gather to light up
the biggest ivory stockpile that has the world’s attention, leading anti-poaching ambassador
Lupita Nyongo has expressed her support of the ivory burning and further congratulated the
Kenyan government for the bold move.
“This is a very important step we are taking as a country to show our support for elephant
conservation, the burning of the ivory stockpile. I am so proud of us, I thank everybody who
made this possible and I wish you all the best as we mark the way forward for the future”
said Lupita Nyongo, actress and Global Ambassador for WildAid.
Although Lupita will be missing the much anticipated historic burning due to her work, the
Kenyan actress has already made much impact in the conservation world with her eagerness
and passion in anti-poaching campaigns that she has been involved in so far.
“I learned that with the current rate of killing, we may lose elephants in western central
Africa in the next decade. What they need now, is all our support around the world from
those in the United States and Asia not buying Ivory, to Kenyans joining together in
supporting anti-poaching by reporting wildlife crime. When you report the buying and
selling of ivory, you help to keep these families together.” Lupita said in a press conference.
The 33 years old speaks for more than 96 percent of Kenyans who believe that wildlife is
important for national identity, heritage and for the economy. Recent reports have shown a
decline in elephant and Rhino poaching due to combating wildlife crime and extending
protection for wildlife among other reasons, but more so because of increased awareness.
So this is also a very important part of Lupita’s work now, calling for more focus on
protecting the wildlife: “Imagine your whole family killed in front of you. you will be
traumatised for life. So are these elephants. Please report wildlife crime because poaching
steals from us all.”
Poaching is an ever present threat as long as the markets for ivory and animal products
continue to exist. Kenya’s sea port and airports remain trafficking hotspots for wildlife
products trade globally, an issue than needs to be addressed if the battle against poaching
need to be won.
