Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta set fire to a huge stockpile of ivory on Saturday to show the country's serious commitment to putting a stop to illegal ivory trade and saving Africa's elephants.

Over 100 tons of ivory and 1.3 tons of rhino horns were piled in pyres at the Nairobi National Park. The ivories, which amount to about 6,700 elephant tusks, represents the entire stocks seized by the Kenyan government.

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"The height of pile of ivory before us marks the strength of our resolve. No one, and I repeat, no one, has any business in trading in ivory, for this trade means death - the death of our elephants and the death of our natural heritage," Kenyatta said. 

Africa's elephants could be on the verge of extinction within decades, experts said.

However, the move was not totally applauded, as some conservationists believed the burning will make the commodity rarer thus increasing its worth and at the same time increasing poaching activities.

Richard Leakey, a conservationist from Kenya, said he was "humbled, sad, and encouraged."

"We shouldn't have to burn 105 tons of ivory and 1.5 tons of rhino horns," he said. "It is a disgraceful shame this continues."

According to experts, a kilogram of ivory could be worth around $1,000. The burning on Saturday lit the most number of ivory in one fire. It represents between 6,000 and 7,000 dead elephants and was estimated to be worth over $105 million (excluding the rhino horns), according to New York Times.

This is not the first time the government has burned truckloads of ivory. In 1989, the government burned a created a huge ivory bonfire. Since then, countries were doing the same, implying that ivories are useless unless they are on elephants.

Illegal ivory hunting spiked between 2009 and 2012, killing nearly 100,000 elephants.

Currently, Africa has about 400,000 to 450,000 elephants left, which is one-third of the 1.2 million during the 1970s. The situation is worse for rhinos with only about 30,000 left across Africa. In Kenya specifically, its black rhinos now count at 650, a significant decline from the 20,000 in the 1970s and 400 in the 1990s.

One rhino specie called the Northern White Rhino is becoming a rare specie, and the last three of its kind are reportedly heavily guarded in Kenya as scientists race through time to look for artificial reproduction procedure.

Kenya's income come usually from tourism, attracting tourists with safaris and premium camps. In 2015, Both China and the United States resolute to totally ban ivory trade, and these have allegedly helped bring ivory prices down, Reuters reported.

TagsKenya, illegal poaching, elephants, ivory, Rhino horns, Africa, wildlife