Intelligence Community Targets Wildlife Trafficking
This drawing is one of thousands created by schoolchildren asking elected leaders to save Elephants and vote for an ivory ban. -Huffington Post
In 2014, The Toledo Zoo encouraged children to paint photos of Elephants showing their support for conservation, and Ivory Free Ohio is asking you to do the same. We need to educate the younger generations and make sure that Elephants and Rhinos have a bright future for years to come. Here is how you and your family can help save these iconic, keystone species from extinction:
Photo Credit; WWF
Dear Cleveland Orchestra,
My name is Christina LaMonica and I am the Founder and President of Ivory Free Ohio, a grassroots organization dedicated to ending the sale and trade of all Ivory, Rhino Horn, and Trophy Hunting products. We have never met in person, but we have communicated over the telephone and through emails regarding the push to have these products banned in the state of Ohio. As you may know I approached my District Senator in June, 2015. I wanted to educate him about the devastating effects of the illegal Ivory trade, while encouraging him to create Legislation that would protect our national security and help save Africa’s keystone species from extinction.
By; Christina LaMonica
Ivory Free Ohio Founder; Christina LaMonica, delivers White House Speech. Photo Courtesy; Phil McAuliffe
I had the wonderful opportunity of unveiling “Ivory Free Ohio” to a National and International audience at the Third Annual International March for Elephants and Rhinos in Washington, D.C. The March was sponsored by Elephants D.C. and iWorry, an organization launched by Actress Kristin Davis; Patron and Ambassador to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi, Kenya.
I was invited as a guest speaker, together with; New Jersey Assemblyman; Raj Mukherji, who succeeded in an outright ban of Ivory and Rhino Horn products in his state with Senator Raymond J. Lesniak. Pennsylvania Representative; Madeleine Dean who introduced HB 1537, and Premier Conseiller; Rod Rembendambya on behalf of His Excellency Michael Moussa-Adamo with the Embassy of Gabon in Washington, D.C., just to name a few.
As Founder of Ivory Free Ohio: a grassroots initiative committed to ending the trade of Ivory, Rhino Horn, and Trophy Hunting Products, my speech was framed around cultivating the courage to create change within our communities, educating ourselves and others on environmental policy, and bridging the gap of communication with State and Federal Legislators on how the trade of these products funds terrorism, threatens our national security, and our keystone species.
Photo Courtesy of WWF
A Call to Action Outlawing Ivory and Rhino Horn in the State of Ohio
The purpose of this petition is to enact legislation banning the import, in-state, and Internet sale and distribution of raw and worked ivory and Rhinoceros horn products in the state of Ohio.
In 2014, President Barack Obama issued an executive order banning the import and export of ivory, yet the United States remains the largest consumer after China as the order fails to include; the import, in-state, Internet, and diplomatic loopholes. (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 2014)
Trafficking of illegal ivory is a transnational organized crime run by terrorists and radicalists whom threaten our national security, our wildlife, and our people. (IFAW, 2013) “There is no legislation in Ohio and this is what I am working to change.”
