Ivory awareness drive at Abu Dhabi Airport

An awareness campaign to combat ivory trafficking was launched on Saturday at Abu Dhabi International Airport’s transit area.

The campaign organised by UAE Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW), Abu Dhabi International Airport Custom - the General Directorate of Customs, Abu Dhabi Airports and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), runs until August 13, and is expected to reach out to more than 300,000 passengers.

Confiscated ivory items will also be displayed to educate passengers about ivory trade and encourage them to reject wildlife products.

Six volunteers from Abu Dhabi, employees from MoEW and IFAW will participate in the campaign to interact with passengers, raise awareness and collect data for evaluation purpose.

Poaching is spreading primarily as a result of a rising demand for illegal ivory in the rapidly growing economies of Far East countries. Ivory has soared in value as an investment vehicle and is coveted as ‘white gold’.

Aisha Al-Abdouli, Director of Awareness and Education Department at the Ministry of Environment and Water, said, "The Ministry is keen to launch purposeful awareness campaigns to increase education on biodiversity, including habitat of indigenous species and protected areas. This comes within the framework of implementation of the national strategy to raise public environmental awareness and education, which has been certified this year and serve as the strategic objective of strengthening the community’s commitment to achieve sustainability and preserve the environment. Throughout the campaign, samples of ivory that were confiscated previously will be displayed to educate travellers about the importance of wildlife and the risks the elephants are facing. In addition, educational leaflets prepared by the Ministry in cooperation with the IFAW will be distributed."

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