Vietnam’s ecosystem was seriouslythreatened by the widespread consumption of wild meat and trafficking ofwildlife, experts said that at a recent conference.
Urgent action was needed on several fronts to prevent the destructionof the nation’s wildlife and their habitat, they said.
They called for strengthened, more effective public awarenesscampaigns against hunting and trafficking in wild animals and for theinclusion of this subject in the school curriculum, especially in ruralareas.
Tom Osbon of the Vietnam-based Wildlife Management Office stressedthe need to legalise multi-sectoral co-operation in preventing,discovering and punishing forest violations in order to protect wildanimals effectively.
“It’s also very important to establish special inspectors inlocalities which record a high number of violations,” he added.
Dr Scott Roberton, head of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), saidthat hunting wild animals for meat and trafficking had been happening inmany countries, especially developing countries.
In Vietnam, hunting and trade animals had been alarming, he said.
A WCS study conducted at 200 restaurants in the central region foundthey consumed nearly 2 million wild animals per year. Among them, stagand wild boar accounted for around 70 percent of the consumed meat,followed by turtle, snake, fox and porcupine.
The study estimated the demand of wild animal consumption nationwideat nearly 4,500 tonnes per year.
The Forest Protection Department discovered 1,042 violations of wildanimal protection laws last year, a decrease of 400 cases over 2008, theconference heard.
Dr. Nguyen Viet Dung, deputy head of the Centre for People and NatureReconciliation, said that the real number was much higher.
Roberton added that Vietnam was also an important link in theinternational wild animal trafficking chain.
Last year, authorities found more than six tonnes of elephant tuskstrafficked from Africa to Hai Phong City.
And, in 2008, more than 20 tonnes of pangolins (anteaters) and theirscales were seized in Vietnam as they were being trafficked to China.
The Mong Cai Border Gate was one of places where wild animaltrafficking is frequent.
Over the last two years, authorities have discovered 57 cases oftrafficking in wild animals involving more than 7,612 individualsincluding monkeys and Tibetan bears and elephant tusks./.
Urgent action was needed on several fronts to prevent the destructionof the nation’s wildlife and their habitat, they said.
They called for strengthened, more effective public awarenesscampaigns against hunting and trafficking in wild animals and for theinclusion of this subject in the school curriculum, especially in ruralareas.
Tom Osbon of the Vietnam-based Wildlife Management Office stressedthe need to legalise multi-sectoral co-operation in preventing,discovering and punishing forest violations in order to protect wildanimals effectively.
“It’s also very important to establish special inspectors inlocalities which record a high number of violations,” he added.
Dr Scott Roberton, head of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), saidthat hunting wild animals for meat and trafficking had been happening inmany countries, especially developing countries.
In Vietnam, hunting and trade animals had been alarming, he said.
A WCS study conducted at 200 restaurants in the central region foundthey consumed nearly 2 million wild animals per year. Among them, stagand wild boar accounted for around 70 percent of the consumed meat,followed by turtle, snake, fox and porcupine.
The study estimated the demand of wild animal consumption nationwideat nearly 4,500 tonnes per year.
The Forest Protection Department discovered 1,042 violations of wildanimal protection laws last year, a decrease of 400 cases over 2008, theconference heard.
Dr. Nguyen Viet Dung, deputy head of the Centre for People and NatureReconciliation, said that the real number was much higher.
Roberton added that Vietnam was also an important link in theinternational wild animal trafficking chain.
Last year, authorities found more than six tonnes of elephant tuskstrafficked from Africa to Hai Phong City.
And, in 2008, more than 20 tonnes of pangolins (anteaters) and theirscales were seized in Vietnam as they were being trafficked to China.
The Mong Cai Border Gate was one of places where wild animaltrafficking is frequent.
Over the last two years, authorities have discovered 57 cases oftrafficking in wild animals involving more than 7,612 individualsincluding monkeys and Tibetan bears and elephant tusks./.
