I have never explored what the Clinton foundations do, but a feature in today’s Guardian (the online Green Light material, focused on environmental issues) has a story titled "Clinton’s little known crusade to save African elephants.” I found it intriguing and it really is a story that should be more widely known.
According to the Guardian, as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton brought global illegal wildlife trafficking to world attention. The trade is quite large, although estimates vary. Wikipedia cites estimates of the illegal trade in wildlife from $10 billion to $20 billion per year.
The Clinton Global Initiative in 2013 organized a program to fight the poaching of African elephants. Hillary and Chelsea are particularly interested in elephants. Here’s a piece from the CGI website (by Chelsea Clinton) on elephants .
African forest elephants are difficult to monitor, but the savannah elephants are experiencing a severe decline, according to The Great Elephant Census, from 2007 to 2014 the savannah elephant population numbers declined by a third, with declines of about 8% per year.
It is widely assumed that killing elephants for their ivory helps fund terrorist groups such as Al-Shabaab and even ISIS. This story of ivory funded terrorism is probably a myth, according to a 2015 New York Times story (note: you can access up to 10 stories per month from the NYT on line). That story says that the terror funding is a myth but that ivory poaching is a well-organized and well-connected criminal enterprise. The estimates of what ivory is worth vary sharply, but a figure of around $2,000 per kilo is common. Other animals are seriously endangered by poaching, including rhinoceros (for its horn). Other elements in this disgusting category of crime are the exotic pet trade and the trade in animal body parts for traditional medicines (largely but not exclusively in China).
There is also legal trade in wildlife. It will come as no surprise that in 2012 Donald Jr. and Eric Trump went on safari in Zimbabwe, and Junior shot an elephant.
So the greenies among us (I include myself) have yet another good reason for voting for Hillary Clinton. We should relish her November 8th massacre of the metaphorical elephants, but more importantly, relish her interest in stopping the insidious trade in wildlife.