Nearly 90 CEOs, private entrepreneurs and representatives from State-owned enterprises and multinational corporations attended a workshop on the protection of Vietnam’s wildlife in the northern province of Vinh Phuc between Dec. 10-11. The workshop was jointly held by the international wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Party Central Committee for Communications and Education (CCCE). Thomas Osborn, TRAFFIC’s Greater Mekong Program coordinator, confirmed that unsustainable wildlife trade is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity in Vietnam and the region in general.
“Our research suggests that businesses form one of the largest groups of consumers of wildlife products in Hanoi, so raising their awareness of the issues and developing strategies to cut down their use is an important initiative to conserve the region’s valuable wildlife resources,” he said.
A survey conducted by TRAFFIC in 2005 showed that the business community was one of the groups to consume wildlife and has since become the focus of a campaign funded by the Danish Embassy to change attitudes and behavior regarding the consumption of wildlife.
VCCI Vice President Doan Duy Khuong added that wildlife protection also creates sustainable businesses in the long run.
The TRAFFIC survey also showed that the trade of wild plants and animals for food, medicines and luxury goods has caused a significant fall in the number of Vietnam’s wildlife as well as throughout Southeast Asia . Many unique and species unique to the region are now seriously at risk.
A recent joint report released by TRAFFIC and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) underlined that the global trafficking of rhinoceros horns from Africa to Asia is rising alarmingly, with Vietnam highly implicated as their destination.
