Nguyen Dinh Xuan, Director of the Lo Go Xa Mat National Park in the south-western border province of Tay Ninh, received a prize for bear protection from the city of Bern, Switzerland in Hanoi on April 20.
Nguyen Thi Van Anh, coordinator of the Programme on Wildlife Protection under the Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV), said Xuan has made tireless efforts in calling for due punishment of illegal bear tourism in Ha Long, in the northern province of Quang Ninh.
He has contacted authorities in the Republic of Korea to ask for coordination in educating RoK tourists on the law on bear protection in Vietnam in an effort to prevent them from violating the law during their travel in the Southeast Asian country.
Xuan has worked with mass media agencies to raise public awareness, both at home and abroad, on the conservation of bears and other rare wildlife species. He has regularly sent petitions to National Assembly deputies and other Vietnamese authorities to ask for help in solving the problem.
Bern city has a long history of relations with bears. The animal not only symbolise the city on its flag and coat of arms, but the name of the city itself means ‘bear.’
Bern mayor Alexander Tschaeppaer said the city saw it necessary to recognise Xuan’s contributions to bear protection in Vietnam through this prize and expected that bear conservation in the tropical country would receive more and stronger assistance from the international community.
Statistics released by the Vietnam Forest Rangers Department showed that there are some 4,000 bears currently being kept in cages, with the majority having been caught in the wild. Vietnamese people’s strong belief in the bear’s gall as a medical treatment against numerous diseases has caused a major threat to the rare animal.
Xuan underscored that caged bears are not only unable to reproduce, but they face a high risk of disease and higher mortality rates.
He warned that the capture of bears for their gall bladders has threatened the animal to extinction in Vietnam and prompted rampant hunting in neighbouring countries.
Gall extraction violates both Vietnamese law and the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).
ENV is a non-Governmental organisation, established in 2000 to promote environmental education in Vietnam./.
Nguyen Thi Van Anh, coordinator of the Programme on Wildlife Protection under the Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV), said Xuan has made tireless efforts in calling for due punishment of illegal bear tourism in Ha Long, in the northern province of Quang Ninh.
He has contacted authorities in the Republic of Korea to ask for coordination in educating RoK tourists on the law on bear protection in Vietnam in an effort to prevent them from violating the law during their travel in the Southeast Asian country.
Xuan has worked with mass media agencies to raise public awareness, both at home and abroad, on the conservation of bears and other rare wildlife species. He has regularly sent petitions to National Assembly deputies and other Vietnamese authorities to ask for help in solving the problem.
Bern city has a long history of relations with bears. The animal not only symbolise the city on its flag and coat of arms, but the name of the city itself means ‘bear.’
Bern mayor Alexander Tschaeppaer said the city saw it necessary to recognise Xuan’s contributions to bear protection in Vietnam through this prize and expected that bear conservation in the tropical country would receive more and stronger assistance from the international community.
Statistics released by the Vietnam Forest Rangers Department showed that there are some 4,000 bears currently being kept in cages, with the majority having been caught in the wild. Vietnamese people’s strong belief in the bear’s gall as a medical treatment against numerous diseases has caused a major threat to the rare animal.
Xuan underscored that caged bears are not only unable to reproduce, but they face a high risk of disease and higher mortality rates.
He warned that the capture of bears for their gall bladders has threatened the animal to extinction in Vietnam and prompted rampant hunting in neighbouring countries.
Gall extraction violates both Vietnamese law and the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).
ENV is a non-Governmental organisation, established in 2000 to promote environmental education in Vietnam./.
