A ban enacted in 2009 forbidding the trade of rhino horns was lifted recently by South Africa’s High Court. The ban was put in place in an effort to reduce poaching.

Time reports that the ruling follows a long legal battle led by South African game breeders John Hume and Johan Kruger. The final ruling was presented in the Pretoria High Court.

The ban may potentially be lifted globally at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) held in Johannesburg, South Africa, next year.

South Africa is facing a poaching epidemic. Last year, over 1,200 rhinos were killed for their horns. At the rate of births to deaths, the country faces more rhinos killed than born over the next few years. Lifting the ban, and allowing the legal harvest and sale of rhino horns may disrupt the highly profitable black market built around rhino horns.

Izak du Toi, a lawyer for Hume says, “We believe that the South African government is seriously considering making a proposal to CITES to allow national trade in rhino horns.” Toi added that Hume hopes that legalizing the trade will lead to less poaching.

Twenty-one tons of rhino horns, estimated to be worth more than $1.36 billion, is stocked by the South African government.