Latest News Archives • Save Vietnam's Wildlife

24 December, 2018

“Protect The Wildlife We Love”- Nature Exploring Program for 900 elementary students in Hoa Binh province

To cultivate a love for nature and raise awareness of natural environment/wildlife protection in Vietnam, Save Vietnam’s Wildlife has organized “Protect The Wildlife We Love” (PWWL) for 900 elementary students aged 8 to 10 in Yen Thuy and Lac Son districts, Hoa Binh province.

“Acknowledging the fact that children aged 8 to 10 enjoy exploring their surroundings by themselves, we designed the Discovery Handbook especially for the program. This brings a great opportunity for the children to play a role as a Plants Researcher, an Animal Researcher or a Forest Protection Ranger. Role-playing will make their learning experiences more fun and practical. As a result, the children will memorize the activities and information longer. After the trip, we hope that they can share what they have learned to spread the message about wildlife conservation with their friends, families, schools, and communities.” Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong Nga, School Programs Team Leader of SVW shared.

The first two trips occurred this weekend with the participation of third-grade students of Yen Nghiep Elementary School. Each trip would take up to 25 students, with the support of two teachers.

From December 2018 till the end of the school year 2018-2019, this program will conduct 30 trips for about 900 students grade 3, 4 and 5 from 30 classes of three Elementary Schools Yen Tri, Yen Nghiep and A Ngoc Luong, in Yen Thuy and Lac Son districts, Hoa Binh province.

Minh Duc, a student of class 3A, Yen Nghiep Primary school shared after the trip: “Today I was an Animal Researcher. I learned about a lot of beautiful animal friends living in the forest. We must not take them out of the forest, because the forest is their home.”

Joining PWWL program, children will have a whole morning full of exciting activities such as visiting the ancient tree, exploring the nature, flora and fauna in the Botanical garden at Cuc Phuong National Park (NP), and taking part in group games. In the afternoon, they will visit Carnivore and Pangolin Education Center to learn about the diverse biology of Vietnam. This is a great opportunity for children to observe wildlife with their own eyes, listen to touching animal stories, and understanding the impact of illegal hunting, trading, captive breeding in Vietnam.

Ms. Tran Thi Thu Hien, Teacher of class 3A, Yen Nghiep Primary School said: “The students were really excited to join in the activities. They constantly asked a lot of questions. I am so happy to see the children show their interests and love for nature. I can see it in the way they saw wild animals for the first time and the way they promised to protect wildlife.”

A month ago, on November 22, 2018 in Cuc Phuong NP, SVW successfully organized a conference to introduce “Protect The Wildlife We Love” program for more than 50 delegates, who are representatives of the Department of Education and Training of two districts; School Boards, Teachers and Parents from three primary schools in the area. After completing 30 trips, another conference will be held to summarize and evaluate PWWL program. We hope this program will become an annual extra-curricular activity of Elementary schools.

From 2018-2019 school year, SVW runs two conservation education programs alongside including: “Valuing Nature in Childhood” Program takes place during weekdays, and “Protect The Wildlife We Love” Program takes place at the weekends until the end of the school year (May 2019). SVW welcome media channels, journalists to visit and document the program to help spread the words about these meaningful programs.

The project was funded by Welttierschutzgesellschaft e.V. (Germany), under the collaboration with Cuc Phuong National Park and Hoa Binh Department of Education and Training.

24 December, 2018

Mai In advocacy, Latest News

Continue discussions about economic development and raising awareness on wildlife protection for more than 250 people in the buffer zone of Pu Mat National Park

A series of workshops on ” Discuss about developing economic solutions and raise people’s awareness to protect wildlife in Pu Mat National Park” was held in the three communes, Chi Khe, Chau Khe, and Yen Khe in November, Save Vietnam’s Wildlife in cooperation with Pu Mat National Park continued to hold a two-day workshops on the same topics. These two workshops took place at the People Committee of Luc Da and Mon Son Communes, Con Cuong District on 17 and 18 December.

We welcomed more than 100 delegates and guests from Luc Da commune and 150 people from Mon Son commune, including leaders and staff of the People’s Committee, gatekeepers, and local communities.

Mon Son and Luc Da are poor communes, the living standards are low, transport is difficult and the rate of poor households is high. The people’s livelihoods are mainly based on agriculture, forestry development, services, and livestock. The locals are also facing many difficulties in forest management and protection, mainly due to the complexity of the terrain, extreme weather, not synchronized inter-sectoral coordination, tough local economy, incorrect regulation in handling of violations.

Ms. Luong Thi Hien, Vice Chairwomen of Luc Da Commune People’s Committee said: “We will actively direct the functional departments to propagate, prevent and limit the damage to the lowest level of illegal logging and wildlife trade in the area, following the direction of the Chairman of Con Cuong District People’s Committee in the coming time.”

The workshop provided with detailed information on the current status of wildlife trade and wildlife hunting, raising public awareness about why wildlife protection is needed and the provisions of the law on wildlife protection. An important part of the workshop was the discussion on the constraints faced by local people in developing household and local economies, thereby finding the suitable livelihoods solution and minimizing forest resource exploitation.

We will continuously organize these workshops at some communes of Tuong Duong and Anh Son Districts in the upcoming time.

19 December, 2018

Mai In advocacy, Latest News

“Strengthening inter-sectoral cooperation in promoting enforcement of wildlife protection in Pu Mat National Park” Workshop

From 18 to 20 Octorber 2018 , Save Vietnam’s Wildlife in collaboration with Pu Mat National Park and District’s People Committee successfully organized three workshops titled “Strengthening inter-sectoral cooperation in promoting enforcement of wildlife protection in Pu Mat National Park” in 3 districts of Tuong Duong, Anh Son and Con Cuong in Nghe An province.

A one-day workshop was held in three districts majorly surrounded by Pu Mat forest, in which Con Cuong district has the largest forest area. The workshop received enthusiastic participation from 300 delegates, especially deputy secretaries and vice presidents of the districts: Mr. Kha Van Ot – Vice Chairman of Tuong Duong District; Mr. Vi Duc Hoai – Deputy secretary of Con Cuong district; Mr. Lo Van Thao – Vice Chairman of Con Cuong district; Mr. Nguyen Van Son – Deputy Secretary of Anh Son District; Mr. Dang Dinh Luan – Chief of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Anh Son District; Mr. Trần Xuân Cường – Director of Pu Mat National Park, Mr. Nguyen Van Thai – Executive Director of Save Vietnam’s Wildlife, and leaders of the local authority of communes in the buffer zone.

The morning session’s presentations have delivered to the delegates and guests some background information on the current state of wildlife, the threats they are facing, law enforcement efforts and reasons why we have to protect wildlife. Key highlights of the presentations include:

Pu Mat National Park’s biodiversity is crucial to many endangered wildlife species who should be prioritized for conservation. (Mr. Nguyen Sy Quoc, Science Officer Pu Mat National Park)

However, the situation of snaring, hunting, drying of bamboo shoots, bee-burning, camping, and illegal wildlife trade are currently threatening the habitat of many endangered animals in Pu Mat forest. (Mr. Le Van Dung, Field Research Manager and Daniel Willcox, Science Advisor, SVW).

Social studies have shown that people living in Pu Mat National Park are supposedly dependent on forest resources. According to their opinions, other solutions for their alternative livelihoods should be considered and developed, as well as different campaigns to raise awareness about wildlife and wildlife protection law. (Le Thi Hai Yen, SVW Community-based Coordinator).

Not only does wildlife hunting affect our ecology, health, and economics, but also the culture of the community. The protection of Pu Mat Forest should start from the workshop’s delegates, along with children of Pumat themselves, whose actions must come from one’s conscience and morality. (Mr. Nguyen Van Thai – Executive Director of SVW).

The morning session left many participants speechless with touching stories about the rescued animals’ long journey to return their home. (Ho Thi Kim Lan, SVW Education Outreach Manager).

In the afternoon, the participants discussed solutions to effectively handled illegal wildlife hunting and trafficking activities, promote sustainable economic development and educate people about wildlife protection.

The delegates came to conclusion about key responsibilities in the coming time:

Inter-sectoral cooperation should include the development of an inter-sectoral system, the establishment of a joint patrol group, an inspection plan for restaurants and individuals engaged in illegal wildlife trafficking; as well as strict enforcement of these activities.
Carry out education outreach programs for local communities about wildlife and wildlife protection; boycott restaurants selling wildlife, encourage people to expose and report any illegal activities.
Continue to develop economic development programs, work with local communities to select sustainable model solutions suitable for the local situation, and limit the exploitation of forest resources in Pu Mat National Park.

“Together we stand up for Pu Mat forest” – as in the workshop’s ultimate goal to cultivate conservation efforts and actions in each person.

At the end of the workshop, leaders from the District People’s Committee agreed to sign the workshop’s minutes and propose measures to be implemented in the future.

7 December, 2018

Mai In Latest News

Discussing solutions for economic development and raising awareness of wildlife protection in Pu Mat National Park

From 13 to 16 November 2018, Save Vietnam’s Wildlife (SVW) in collaboration with Pu Mat National Park (NP) Save Vietnam’s Wildlife (SVW) successfully organized the workshop “Discussing Solutions for Economic Development and Raising Awareness of Wildlife Protection in Pu Mat National Park”. More than 300 delegates, including the leaders and staff of the People’s Committee of Yen Khe, Chi Khe, and Chau Khe Commune, village staff and local communities participated in the workshop.
The workshop took place in one day. The morning session delivered to the delegates some background information about the state of wildlife, the threats that they are facing, the importance of wildlife protection, as well as law enforcement efforts in Pu Mat NP. In the afternoon, delegates and guests discussed three main topics, to find livelihood development solutions for local communities, raise awareness about protecting forest resources, and promote the role of influential people in the community.

Mr. Tran Xuan Cuong, Director of Pu Mat NP said that “Social studies have shown that local communities are more and more dependent on forest resources. We realized that not only law enforcement strengthening but also livelihood development will help local people settle down and limit their exploiting of forest resources. This workshop was a great opportunity to listen to local people’s opinions and difficulties, hence to find the most practical solutions towards our common goal. We would try to mobilize all resources, looking for practical solutions, support and implement suggestions from local communities”
Mr. Nguyen Van Thai, Director of SVW said: “Hunting and using wildlife seriously affected our ecosystem in general, the biodiversity in Pu Mat NP in particular. Furthermore, this also left a negative impact on local people’s health, their socio-economic and cultural legacy. Every action to protect the Pu Mat NP needs to come from each participant and local people’s conscience. With the support and determination of the local government, Pu Mat NP, and the unity of the community, we believed it is totally possible to rehabilitate wildlife populations in the NP and develop sustainable livelihood solutions for local people. Take ecotourism for an example that would contribute to solving economic problems for communities living in the buffer zone.”
Considering feedback from delegates and guests, Mr. Kha Van Thuong, Vice Chairman of Chau Khe Commune People’s Committee, insisted: “In order to improve the economy of local communities, it was necessary to develop promising economic models like the cultivation of suitable crops or breeding livestock, poultry that could bring high economic efficiency. If we want to achieve the highest economic goals, relevant agencies and departments should support upgrading of infrastructure for agriculture such as water and electricity, transportation, product quality, technology, capital, and product output.”

The workshop also calls for actions from all delegates and guests, encourages them to inform about the activities of forest exploitation, hunting, trading, captive breeding and wildlife trade through the hotline 0966 000 353. At the same time, we introduced the Facebook fan page “Cùng tôi bảo vệ rừng Pù Mát” (Together We save Pu Mat Forest) to raise awareness and support local law enforcement.

Three workshops at commune level in Con Cuong district were followed up by the success of the workshops at district level “Strengthening inter-sectoral cooperation in promoting enforcement of wildlife protection in Pu Mat National Park” in Tuong Duong, Anh Son, and Con Cuong districts in September 2018. Three workshops at commune level at Tuong Duong and Anh Son will take place in the coming time.

7 December, 2018

Mai In Latest News, OttersCampaign, rescue centre

Our biggest otter rescue

OUR BIGGEST OTTER RESCUE

On November 16^th, 2018, thanks to the hard work and dedication of Nam Dinh City Police Department, Save Vietnam’s Wildlife in collaboration with Cuc Phuong National Park rescued 10 otters, identified as Asian Small-clawed Otter (Aonyx cinereus). Police Department of Nam Dinh City seized these individuals on November 15^th, as they were transported through Tran Phu and Hoang Hoa Tham crossroads. The source and origins of these individuals are unknown. Nam Dinh Police is still investigating the case.

Mr. Tran Quang Phuong, Manager of Carnivore and Pangolin Conservation Program, said, “After receiving the news from the police, our Rapid Response Team immediately brought our veterinary first-aid kit and rescue boxes to the scene. Never have we rescued so many otters before!”

A total of 10 individuals of otter were safely transferred to our rescue center. According to the initial health-check, these otters appeared to be in stable condition and not injured. They will be thoroughly and further cared for in our quarantine enclosures.

Asian Small-clawed Otter is included in the Red Book of Vietnam, as stipulated in Appendix 1 of Decree 160/2013 / NĐ-CP dated 12/11/2013, considered as one of extremely rare and should be prioritized for protection species in Vietnam and the world. However, their populations in Vietnam are dramatically declining due to illegal hunting, pet trading, fur consumption, habitat loss, and pollution. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen law enforcement to prevent wildlife hunting and trading, implement effective conservation programs to protect these endangered species from extinction.

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7 December, 2018

Mai In Latest News

The arrest of a wildlife trader on social network

At 14:00 pm on 15 November 2018, Rangers in Pu Mat National Park arrested a suspect for illegal wildlife trade in Chi Khe commune, Con Cuong district, Nghe An. The examination’s results showed that she is carrying a red junglefowl, two common palm civets weighing 4.3 kg, and 1.9 kg of wild boar. The red junglefowl and common palm civets died at the scene. She was supposed to sell these to a male customer. Taken advantage of the crowded situation, the man had escaped.

After the arrest, the Rangers took the woman to Pu Mat National Park and identified her as H. living in Con Cuong district, Nghe An. She was transporting to a man in Con Cuong Town who intended these as gifts for his friend in Vinh. We also discovered that H. and her customer have been in contact with each other via Facebook. Accessing H.’s Facebook page, displayed as “H. K.”, who is a seasoned seller of wildlife meat (wild boar, weasel), dried animals (Sumatran serow, Tokay gecko), wild forest orchid. H. also publicized her personal phone number on Facebook.

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Recently, Pu Mat National Park in collaboration with the Save Vietnam’s Wildlife (SVW) has successfully organized three workshops on “Strengthening inter-sectoral cooperation in promoting law enforcement of wildlife protection” in Tuong Duong, Con Cuong and Anh Son districts. Following the success of these district-level workshops, Pu Mat National Park and SVW will also organize other workshops with the local community of communes and villages in the buffer zone, in order to educate them about wildlife protection law and discuss measures to protect wildlife.

Mr. Tran Xuan Cuong, Director of Pu Mat National Park, said: “We have set up a hotline number” 0966000353 ” to encourage everyone to inform any violations of wildlife protection law. Thanks to the efforts of this advocacy in the local community, people like Ms.H. have been reported.” According to Save Vietnam’s Wildlife and Pu Mat National Park, for more effective implementation of law enforcement in wildlife protection, it is necessary to stress the crucial role of the involvement and cooperation of everyone. Therefore, Pu Mat NP encourages people to share information and report any illegal activities against wildlife protection law via our hotline: 0966000353. In addition, we already established our campaign’s Facebook page “Protect together Pu Mat forest” (https://www.facebook.com/RungPuMat/) to constantly update on our wildlife protection efforts, raise awareness about the forest protection law and wildlife knowledge, and call for action from villagers, encourage people to report violations in 3 districts of Anh Son, Con Cuong and Tuong Duong in Nghe An province.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thai, Director of Save Vietnam’s Wildlife said, “The case of H. is not only a lesson for those who defy the law, still continue their illegal hunting, trading and consuming wildlife products, but also a positive sign of the effectiveness of local law enforcement. Our organization will continue to promote the cooperation between local authorities and Pu Mat National Park, standing side by side towards our common goal of efficiently protecting Pu Mat forest and wildlife.”

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10 May, 2018

Admin In Latest News, pangolin, Rapid Response Team

15 Sunda Pangolins rescued closed to the border with Laos

SVW’s Rapid Response Team just rescued 15 Sunda Pangolins close to the border with Laos!

Hai, SVW’s veterinarian, was at home and saw on the news that 15 pangolins were confiscated near the border with Laos. The army partols the border between Laos and Vietnam and they had seen four people carrying backpacks across the border. When the poachers realised they were spotted, they left the backpacks behind and ran into the forest to hide.

Hai called SVW’s director Thai, who contacted the ranger station. This was the first time that this ranger station confiscated pangolins, so it was a bit challenging to convince them to cooperate with us. The rangers tried to do the best thing for the pangolins, so after Thai contacted the head of the FPD, the rangers knew that they could trust us to come and look after the pangolins. Upon arrival, SVW’s Rapid Response Team freed the pangolins from the bags, provided them with emergency care and gave them food and water. The poachers were never caught, so we will never know for sure, but we think that the pangolins were captured in Laos. They look very healthy and weren’t force fed by traders to increase their weight, like we usually see.

It took a while before the rangers organised and signed all the paperwork, but after four long days of taking care of the pangolins at the confiscation site, Save Vietnam’s Wildlife was finally able to take the 15 pangolins back to our wildlife rescue center. The pangolins arrived this morning, looking healthy and now the process of rehabilitation can start. We are hopeful that all of these pangolins can be released back to the wild after their quarantine period. We will keep you updated on their progress!

22 March, 2018

Admin In education, Latest News, Wildlife Education for Children

A new bus!

A new bus for our Wildlife Education Program for schoolchildren

New generation who care and take actions to save Vietnam’s wildlife is one of important goal of Save Vietnam’s Wildlife. It is great time to see the kids really enjoy their first experience to discover the forest, natural, wildlife and fall in love with them.

This school year, 1406 school kids from 17 schools have already had opportunity to join our Wildlife Education Program for Schools. We are so happy to have our long-term partner WTG and others who continue to support the program.

Today, it is the extra special to us when VinGroup donated a bus for our School Wildlife Education Program. It will bring opportunity to many other kids to have opportunity to go to forest, to discover the wildlife and to learn in our education centre.

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6 November, 2017

Phap In education, Latest News, Success story, Wildlife Education for Children

Schools and families tied up to bring 3,200 kids to VNCP

Today, the “Valuing Nature in Childhood Program” (VNCP) run by Save Vietnam’s Wildlife has officially start the second season for school year 2017 – 2018. This year, with the expected number of kids reaching to 3,200 – 2,000 more comparing to last year – schools and parents decided to partially contribute to the program’s expense. This is an important milestone marking the commitment between schools and families in wildlife conservation and educations, bringing nature closer to kids.

The aim of VNCP is to offer children a better chance to explore nature and wildlife animals, shape a right attitude and awareness of environment protection and forest resources from young ages. With the similar agenda to last year, the kids will join a full day at Cuc Phuong Nation Park and SVW’s education center.

According to the last season report, the program design fits complexly with a five-year-old kid’s current stage of development. Children’s recognition rate of five specific wildlife species has improved significantly after joining the program, especially birurong, pangolin and leopard cat peak at 79%, 93% and 98% rate respectively. Moreover, the kids were also able to remember the striking feature of each species, and start to aware of the danger of illegal hunting and trading or using wildlife products.

“The result from last school year project has reinforce the importance and urgency of wildlife education in connecting children and nature, animals right from the first years of their life. We always welcome any kind of support from schools and parents in Nho Quan district in this new season for VNCP. We also wish to expand the program to all Vietnamese children, giving them a golden experience of learning and exploring wildlife conservation.” shared Mr. Nguyen Van Thai, Director of SVW.

Before starting the new season, in august 2017, SVW also held a workshop summarizing the project with nearly 200 educators, teachers and parents from 28 kindergartens. 100% of the express the satisfaction with the project, wishing more similar actives for their children in the near future.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thanh Hai, Vice president of Dong Phong kindergarten, one of 14 schools joining VNCP in 2016 – 2017 school year, told us: “I find this is an amazing and manful preprogram for our students. The kids shared a chance not only to play but also to learn about nature in a unique way, and develop their own love with the trees, the animals. I hope for more program like this for students in all ages.”

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hong, mother of a kid in Van Phuong kindergarten also shared her thought: “After the trip, my kid showed some unexpected positive changes: he is now more aware of lite creatures around him, repeatedly tell stories about pangolins and also remind us not to dump the trashes in nature or stop killing his animal friends.”

SVW is actively looking for sponsor as well as donations from schools, parents and organization in order to expand the size of VNCP, bring the program to kids all over the country.

With 116 trips for 3,200 kids to be run from now to the end of May, 2018, SVW welcome any media channels to document and spread the words about the project.