Press Release

CONTACT:     Luu Thi Ngoc Anh, Tel. (04) 775-3685 (communication.env@fpt.vn)

ENV helps ‘Bring Peace to Vietnam’s Bears’
in Ho Chi Minh city

From the 17th to 25th of November, 2007, Education for Nature – Vietnam (ENV) will hold the ‘Bring Peace to Vietnam’s Bears’ Festival at Sai Gon Zoo in Ho Chi Minh city. Based on the success of the inaugural bear exhibition last year in Hanoi, the festival aims to raise public awareness about the plight of Vietnam’s bears, threatened by hunting and widespread exploitation to meet consumer demand for bear bile.

The festival will feature:

• An exhibition of winning artwork chosen from more than 96,000 entries in the 2006 ‘Bring Peace to Vietnam’s Bears’ competition, expressing the ideas, concerns, and hopes of people across the country

• Famous celebrities signing bear posters at weekends (17, 18, 24, and 25 November), urging festival visitors to protect bears and other wildlife

• A range of fun activities for children and adults, highlighting just how and why we should work together to protect Vietnam’s bears
  
  
• GreenForest’s comic hero, Ranger Bear, will be at the festival to greet children, sign autographs, and pose for photos 
  
  
• Local actors and ENV staff will perform “Especially for Bears”, a humorous skit about Ranger Bear visiting a restaurant that sells bear bile
  
  
• Rangers will demonstrate the ‘bear chipping’ process
  
  
• Visitors can visualize the cruel life of bears in captivity by entering the ‘Bear Torture Chamber’
  
  
• Lots of information about bears, and why they are special and need protection
  
  
• Kids’ jigsaw and coloring corner
  
  
• Exciting prizes to be won including two Powershot A550 cameras from Canon, eight 1GB USB sticks from FPT Elead, and 20 special ENV giftpacks.

The demand for bear bile poses a critical threat to Vietnam’s bears. Bears are hunted in the wild and sold live to commercial farms, where they are exploited for their bile to meet consumer demand. In addition, bears are also hunted for their meat and body parts, kept as pets, or displayed at business establishments to attract tourists and customers.  It is estimated that there are more than 4,000 bears kept in captivity across the country, most of which are Asiatic black bears.

Through the ‘Bring Peace to Vietnam’s Bears’ Festival, ENV hopes to raise public awareness about the need to protect bears and encourage public action in helping bring an end to the bear bile trade by saying “NO!” to consumption of bear bile. 

ENV wishes to thank the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) and Ayre Foundation for supporting efforts to protect Vietnam’s bears, Sai Gon Zoo for working in cooperation to carry out this event, and Canon and FPT Elead for kindly donating prizes.

About Education for Nature - Vietnam

Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV) was established in 2000 as Vietnam’s first non-governmental organization focused on conservation of nature and wildlife through education.  Our mission is to foster greater understanding amongst the public about the need to protect Vietnam’s rich natural heritage and the living world around us.  Through our creative and innovative approach to addressing key conservation and environmental issues, we aim to influence attitudes and behavior, and encourage greater public participation in this important and challenging task.

ENV’s efforts to stop wildlife crime

ENV is widely recognized as a leader in NGO efforts to address the challenging issue of combating the illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam.  In addition to targeted awareness activities and campaigns on television, public radio, and in newspapers, ENV works closely with journalists to increase the coverage and frequency of reporting on wildlife trade issues. ENV also produces a range of educational materials including films, posters, school curricula, and special publications encouraging public participation in stopping the illegal wildlife trade.