*This article first appeared on www.ebayinc.com/stories

10 years ago this month, eBay introduced a global ban on ivory sales on our platform. Today, eBay joins with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) to mark this anniversary and highlight our ongoing efforts to combat illegal wildlife trafficking online. Over these past 10 years, eBay has formed valuable partnerships with NGOs such as IFAW, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and TRAFFIC to help train our staff on how to recognize illegal wildlife listings, encourage the adoption of a standardized wildlife policy framework among several e-commerce and social media companies, and join with the broader tech industry to form the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online. This work has helped to contribute to concrete results. Over the past two years, we have blocked or removed over 100K listings for items prohibited under our Animal and Wildlife Products Policy.

Demand reduction is another key component to addressing illegal wildlife trafficking. As one of the founding partners of the Wildlife Trafficking Alliance, we support their efforts to educate consumers about the threat posed to many species populations through illegal wildlife trade. eBay has also taken a leadership role on the international stage to highlight the importance of this issue, including participation on a panel at the most recent Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London, which was attended by an array of global leaders from both the public and private sector. Lastly, eBay continues to engage with government officials around the world to advocate for more comprehensive bans on the sale of products from endangered species, such as ivory.

While we have made great strides in the last 10 years, more work needs to be done by all stakeholders to preserve the populations of endangered and threatened species for future generations. At eBay, we look forward to continuing to play an important role in that effort.