Raising awareness of wildlife protection for Nghe An people

Program Series"Say no to illegal use of wildlife"is an important activity to propagate not to hunt, capture, buy, sell, transport, slaughter, advertise, consume, or store wild, endangered, and rare animals and plants in the province.

According to statistics, there are about 3,019 species in the Western Nghe An Biosphere Reserve.higher plants and nearly 1,000 speciesanimals living. From 2017 to 2022, on average, 10 cases of wildlife trafficking were seized by the Forest Rangers each year, with approximately 28,550 animals illegally traded and transported.

Representatives of Nghe An Forest Protection Department presented on the situation of illegal animal trade and use and prevention solutions in Nghe An in recent times. Photo: Tien Dong

Currently, in Nghe An there are 12,597 individuals of 95 species.wildlifeare being kept in captivity in 386 facilities. Of these, Group Ib species(is a group of endangered forest animals that are strictly prohibited from exploitation and use for commercial purposes and species listed in CITES Appendix I naturally distributed in Vietnam)There are 339 individuals at 11 breeding facilities; Group IIb (is a group of forest animals that are not yet threatened with extinction but are at risk of being threatened if not strictly managed, exploitation and use for commercial purposes are restricted, and species listed in CITES Appendix II have a natural distribution in Vietnam)There are 6,153 individuals, at 295 breeding facilities and 8,095 normal animals, at 345 breeding facilities. However, the common characteristics of wildlife breeding facilities are small-scale, with cages built in gardens and close to houses for convenient care, making the risk of disease transmission from wild animals to humans very high.

17 illegally kept tigers in Yen Thanh district were seized by authorities in 2017. Photo: BNA Document

Recently, although the illegal wildlife keeping in Nghe An province is not widespread, it still occurs, such as hunting and catching birds and animals in the forests in mountainous districts. In particular, in 2017, authorities discovered the keeping of 17 tigers in Yen Thanh district...

Subjects and evidence in a wildlife trafficking case were arrested in Con Cuong district. Photo: BNA Document

At the conference, participating organizations and units also proposed a number of solutions to minimize wildlife trafficking. In particular, the authorities need to organize many interdisciplinary inspection teams to inspect and screen entities with signs of illegal wildlife captivity. Strictly handle organizations and individuals who illegally captivity wild, endangered, and rare animals, especially in markets, restaurants, and places with signs of illegal wildlife trading and use.

Editor Diep Chi, currently working at Vietnam Television, hopes that every citizen will speak up and say no to the illegal use of wild animals. Photo: Tien Dong

In particular, it is necessary to strengthen propaganda work and sign commitments to protect wildlife in communes and towns, focusing on key communes and hamlets. Because, once the source of "demand" is eliminated, then the trade and slaughter of wildlife will also be limited...