In response to devastating poaching levels in the 1980s, the international ban on elephant ivory trade went into effect after the 1989 CITES Appendix I listing of African elephants.

This landmark decision led to a dramatic reduction in elephant poaching across much of Africa as ivory prices plummeted.

A key factor in the CITES decision was the release of the EIA reportA System of Extinction: The African Elephant Disaster, which scrutinised markets in Asia, investigated rampant poaching in African countries and exposed some of the international criminals who oversaw the bloody trade.

With elephants once again being hammered by poaching as ivory demand soars, and as EIA anticipates its 30th anniversary later this year, filmmaker and EIA volunteer Danielle Kummer dipped into our extensive film archive to revisit the key investigations which made such an impact: