In an attempt to tackle illegal trade and curb elephant poaching, the Malawi government publicly burned 781 pieces of ivory weighing 2.6 tons. Officials say the smuggled ivory had been confiscated in the northern town of Mzuzu near Tanzania.

Due to cross-boarder disputes over whether the elephant tusks should be saved as legal evidence against poachers, Tanzania had succeeded in delaying the burning since September.

Destroying the pile of ivory - valued at nearly $3 million - follows a court ruling made earlier this month in Malawi, ordering the tusks be burned.

"This is a milestone for Malawi. We will not allow the country to be exploited as a market of this illegal trade," Bright Kumchedwa, director of Malawi's parks and wildlife department, said. "We want demonstrate to the world that the country is committed to eradicating wildlife crime."

The ivory stockpile was set ablaze outside a nature sanctuary in the small northern city of Mzuzu, 300 miles from Malawi's capital of Lilongwe.

Last year, two Malawian siblings were fined $5,500 for their part in trafficking the tusks, which were intercepted by Malawian customs officials in 2013.

Malawi is believed to be a key transit route and distribution hub for illegal ivory, partly because it is located between Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia - three African countries that took the worst hit from poaching.

Malawi is also considered a weak link in the fight against illegal ivory trade due to poor wildlife legislation and law enforcement.

Tanzania had won a three-month court order to postpone the burning, but did not apply for a further delay, Kumchedwa added. Malawi has another 4.4 tons of stockpiled ivory that will be burned in the future.

Last year in March, Kenya burned 16.5 tons of ivory, marking the largest-ever stockpile burnt in Africa.

Conservationists warn that China's growing demand for contraband ivory imports, which are turned into jewels and ornaments, has driven the increase of poaching in Africa.

In fact, Malawian wildlife officials estimate that the country's elephant population has halved from a total of 4,000 individuals documented in the 1980s to just 2,000 alive today.

"Today's event sends a clear message - do not target our nation to traffic illicit goods, because we shall turn it to ashes," Kumchedwa said.