A total ban on ivory would be disastrous for elephants. Better to legalise it | Simon Jenkins

Allowing African farmers to profit from ivory in a carefully controlled market would give them an incentive to conserve wildlife

The iron law of the market is that you do not stifle demand by trying to stifle supply. It applies to drugs. It applies to alcohol. It applies to sex. It applies to ivory. For a generation, an international bureaucracy of UN officials and NGOs has been trying to stamp out ivory supply in Africa, much as it has been trying to stamp out cocaine supply in Latin America....