Press Release
Mobile Awareness campaign to help stamp out wildlife crime
April 28 , 2007
Education for Nature – Vietnam (ENV) has taken its wildlife awareness campaign to the road, launching its new Mobile Wildlife Awareness Unit to raise awareness amongst the
public about the threats facing Vietnam’s wildlife as a result of illegal hunting and trade. The ENV mobile
team will tour throughout the country in a new van, promoting wildlife protection, and hosting a range of
events and awareness activities in urban centers, at universities, in National Parks, and at other venues.
In addition to the team’s awareness mission, the mobile campaign will actively encourage the public to
become involved in stopping wildlife crime.
In March and April, the mobile team carried out two pilot programs in Bac Giang and Ha Tay Provinces to
test a new awareness program for university students, and to practice holding various events over the
course of a single week in the field.
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| “Especially for Bears” performance – An excited owner
welcomes Ranger Bear to her restaurant |
Targeting University Students
During the pilot missions, ENV hosted wildlife
trade awareness seminars at Bac Giang and Xuan
Mai Forestry Colleges for nearly 400 students and
teachers. Each session involved presentations by
ENV on the wildlife trade situation in Vietnam,
followed by a lively debate between students groups, arguing either for or against the right to
consume wildlife products.
Student volunteers then performed “Especially for
Bears”, a comedy skit developed by ENV in 2006
about bear bile consumption in a Hanoi restaurant.
The bear performance was followed by a showing
of the WWF bear bile awareness film (2007), and
brief attitude surveys of the student audience.
More than 150 students signed up to become members of the Wildlife Volunteers Network, a growing
national network of volunteers helping to stamp out wildlife crime, through monitoring of business
establishments and reporting of wildlife crimes to the ENV Wildlife Crime Unit.
Working in Communities Bordering Parks and Nature Reserves
During the two pilot missions, community awareness activities were carried out in schools and villages
bordering Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve and Ba Vi National Park. Students in middle schools participated
in a wildlife trade lesson plan (part of the
community-based awareness curriculum established by ENV in 2002). One of the main features of the
lesson plan is a film produced by ENV that features a young student’s perspective of
the wildlife trade, depicting his efforts to get involved and stop a local wildlife trader.
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| Local residents participate in a participatory learning
exercise in a village bordering Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve
in Bac Giang Province |
Students from Bac Giang Forestry College sign up to
become members of ENV’s National Wildlife Volunteer
Network |
The mobile team also carried out a day-long training course on environmental communication for Ba Vi
National Park rangers and staff, followed by day spent working with park staff to carry out a Participatory Learning Appraisal in a local village.
Actively Working to Stop the Illegal Trade of Wildlife
During the mission to Ha Tay, the mobile team also conducted a wildlife trade survey in the popular
wildlife restaurant districts of Ha Tay, in cooperation with ENV’s Wildlife Crime Monitoring Unit. Of the 38
restaurants surveyed, 37 were documented advertising or selling wildlife. As a result of the survey, the
new National Mobile Enforcement Unit and local authorities raided one restaurant and confiscated a live leopard cat which had
been reported by one of the survey teams. ENV continues to track progress on a number of other
important cases that came out of the survey.
These two pilot missions were the first in a series of activities that the Mobile Wildlife Awareness Unit
plans to carry out in 2007. In June, the new van will be taken on tour by the mobile team, and additional
field events and activities designed and tested.
Working closely with partners within ENV’s national environmental education network, and members of
the new Wildlife Volunteers Network, ENV hopes to generate greater interest and participation in efforts
throughout the country to bring an end to the illegal trade of wildlife.
ENV wishes to thank the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) for their generous support
for this innovative program.
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. 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.
Publication of Green Forest magazine and other educational resources
ENV produces Green Forest, a children's magazine that is distributed nationally through the Environmental Education Family Network. Two issues of Green Forest are produced each year. Each issue focuses on an environmental topic and includes student contributions from around the country. In addition to the magazine, ENV produces a range of other educational resources that support awareness programs and activities, including environmental education curriculum, plays and puppet shows, illustrated stories, films, and posters.
For more information, please contact:
Nguyen Phuong Dung, Tele. (04) 775-3685 (Dung.env@fpt.vn)
Le Hong Viet (communication.env@fpt.vn)
Visit our website:
www.envietnam.org (English)
www.thiennhien.org (Vietnamese language)
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