USAID Calls on Vietnamese to Reduce Wildlife Meat Demand
The USAID Biodiversity Conservation, under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has launched a campaign to call on Vietnamese government agencies and citizens to reduce demand for wildlife meat, in order to strengthen actions for wildlife conservation, local media said.
The campaign is promoting its messages through social media platforms and public engagement activities across Vietnam. Miss Universe Vietnam 2017 H’hen Nie and famous dancer Quang Dang will take part in the event as campaign messengers in a music video on wildlife protection.
USAID stands with the Vietnamese government and all nationals in the collective effort to conserve the country’s wildlife and natural habitats, said Director of USAID Vietnam’s Office of Climate Change, Energy, and Environment Annie Wallace, encouraging Vietnamese to become stewards of nature and wildlife and help reduce demand for the consumption of wildlife.
A survey on wild meat consumption conducted by the World Wide Fund for Nature in Vietnam (WWF Vietnam) in 2021 showed that 90% of wild animals hunted illegally end up mainly in urban restaurants and the average consumption per consumer of wildlife meat is seven times per year. The persistent demand for wildlife meat and other products reportedly led to a severe decline in the populations of wildlife in Vietnam’s natural habitats including wild cattle and species of muntjac deer only found in the Central Annamites.