Recognise donkey skin trade as environmental crime, Brooke urges UN
Stand against the donkey skin trade
On 1-12 December 2025, United Nations member states are gathering in Nairobi for the 7th Environmental Assembly – focused on “Advancing sustainable solutions for a resilient planet”. Brooke is on the ground to remind delegates about the vital role working animals play in sustainable development and the environment.
The time to act is now. Six million donkeys are slaughtered each year for their skin, nearly one-tenth of the population. If the trade goes unchecked, Africa could lose 50% of its donkey population by 2040.
This unsustainable and exploitative trade in donkey skins is driven by demand for ejiao, a gelatine used in supplements and beauty products. Donkeys are stolen from rural communities, trafficked across borders and inhumanely slaughtered.
This affects the livelihoods of some of the most vulnerable communities in the world. And it also affects the environment.
- The trade in donkey skins contributes to pollution, habitat degradation and deforestation near slaughter sites. Increasingly, donkeys are slaughtered and skinned in the bush, with carcasses left behind to pollute soil and water.
- The illegal donkey skin trade increasingly mirrors the illegal wildlife trade - including cross-border smuggling routes, organised criminal actors and wildlife products wrapped in donkey skins.
- Pathogens are moved across borders alongside the skins, creating biosecurity risk of transmitting zoonotic diseases to people.
The Brooke team are on the ground in Nairobi advocating with member states to have donkey skins trade included in the UNEA resolution on environmental crimes. In 2024, thanks to Brooke’s advocacy, the African Union adopted a moratorium halting the trade in donkey skins across the continent.
It is now time to scale up and end the trade globally. UNEA’s recognition of this trade as an environmental crime is a crucial step towards this goal.