The message is simple: stop wildlife trafficking.

And to highlight it, the United States will destroy tons of elephant ivory it has seized over the years — and pay out $1 million to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Hours before the destruction of the stockpile in Colorado Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry announced the reward money to help dismantle elephant and rhino trafficking syndicates.

It’s the first time the United States has offered such a reward, he said.

Profits from animal trafficking are between $8 billion to $10 billion a year, most of which are used to fund narcotics and human trafficking, according to Kerry.

Commercial ivory trade was banned in the United States in 1989. The crushing of the six-ton stockpile of elephant ivory near Denver is the first time the U.S. has destroyed such large quantities.

The illegal ivory trade has doubled worldwide since 2007, with the United States the second-largest retail market for illegally acquired ivory after China.

Other nations including the Philippines, Kenya and Gabon have destroyed large quantities of ivory in recent years.