One of the Poorest Countries in the World Is About to Burn $7.6M Worth of Ivory

​The southeast African country of Malawi plans to burn its four ton stockpile of ivory later this week in an effort to undercut the value of the ivory trade and reaffirm the country's commitment to conservation. Though the price of ivory fluctuates,​ recent reports indicate this stockpile is worth as much as $7.6 million.

Destroying ivory has become a common move for countries across the globe—Hong Kong destroyed its illegal stock​pile last year, the US crushe​d its ivory in 2013, and Ethiopia just bur​ned 6.1 tons last week—that has multiple benefits, according to Susan Lieberman, the vice president of international policy for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

"It's a statement that ivory should have no economic value," Lieberman told me. "It's a statement that says 'this is of no value. We're going to destroy this ivory. It's not something you should buy.'"

But beyond the symbolism, its also a judicious way of dealing with seized ivory, Lieberman explained. Ivory is expensive to store and secure because it's targeted by criminals. For developing countries like Malawi, which is one of the p​oorest nations in the world, the best way to keep ivory from leaking back onto the black market is to get rid of it entirely.

Lieberman told me Malawi hasn't been hit as hard by poachers as some other countries, but it still has had an impact. The Nyasa Times, an online newspaper in Malawi, reported las​t year that the country's elephant population has been halved by poachers over the last few decades. Lieberman said even as more countries in Africa crack down on illegal ivory, the market shifts to wherever it can to stay alive.

If we hope to end the ivory trade for good, all countries from the US to China need to be doing more, Lieberman said. Though there's been progress over the last few years, its been a slow fight to stop criminals from trading ivory and stop consumers from purchasing it.

"There's been progress but the situation is still dire. There's still a crisis," Lieberman said, adding about 100,000 elephants are poached in the last three-year period. "There's progress but the criminals are also making progress. They're more organized."

Destroying ivory stockpiles is a useful step but more needs to be done, Lieberman said. She singled out China in particular, which allows the sale of ivory products from before 1989, when it was banned internationally. Many suspec​t this legal trade is covering up a market for new, illegal ivory. Though the government of China announced this year it would ban all ivory imports for a one-year period, WCS​ has called&utmv=-&utmk=109490181) for the country to completely close its domestic market.

Beyond China, all countries could be doing more to kill the ivory trade, Lieberman said, from coming down harder on organized crime to providing funding to governments that can't afford to fight poaching on their own.

"Rangers often don't have equipment or training or nearly the weapons or the capacity that the bad guys do," she said. "We want to put these ivory traffickers completely out of business."