Help End the Illegal Wildlife Trade in Vietnam

Dear Friends,

Thus far in 2021, our team in Vietnam has made huge strides in the movement to end Vietnam's illegal wildlife trade by working with authorities to address wildlife crime and further educating the public to protect wildlife. Today, we'd like to share a few of the achievements that have been possible in the past six months thanks to you and your support!

From the beginning of January 2021 to the end of June 2021, ENV's Wildlife Crime Unit documented 1,645 wildlife crime cases. As a testiment to increasing public support in protecting wildlife by reporting wildlife crime to ENV, ENV's Wildlife Crime Hotline received 1,109 hotline reports in the first six months of 2021. From these reports, our team was able to successfuly resolve 902 wildlife crimes, an 81.3% success rate in addressing wildlife crime reported to ENV! These success cases have resulted in more than 440 live wild animals confiscated and transferred to rescue centers or released back into the wild. Rescued wildlife during this period include bears, pangolins, lorises, otters, sea turtles, gibbons, birds of prey, macaques, snakes, freshwater turtles and tortoises, and even a spotted linsang, among others.  

One of the most notable wildlife crime cases recently was the largest takedown of a pangolin scale trafficking network in Vietnam! From January to March 2021, ENV investigated the network, working with local authorities to carry out a sting operation which saw the arrest of 4 pangolin scale traffickers and the confiscation of 984 kg of African pangolin scales. Sadly, this seizure is equal to 3,936 pangolins, however, ENV's Policy & Legislation Team will continue to follow the prosecution of the case to ensure appropriate prison sentences are handed out. 

Speaking of, ENV's Policy & Legislation Team has secured many successful legal interventions in the first half of 2021. During this time, ENV has intervened in 29 wildlife criminal cases that went to court, and from those legal interventions, 18 wildlife trafficking criminals have received a prison sentence. Making sure laws are upheld and wildlife crime is taken seriously is an important part of deterring future wildlife crime in Vietnam. 

Two landmark cases that have set important precendents for wildlife protect in Vietnam are detailed below.

In June 2021, ENV's team ensured the first-ever prison sentence in Vietnam for possession of African pangolin scales. Since 2018, ENV has been working with the court to ensure this case went to trial, overcoming multiple obstacles such as lack of legal protection for non-native species, and needing an official valuation of the pangolin scales which proved difficult due to the scales being black-market goods. Through persistence and determination of the ENV team, the trafficker was finally sentenced to 5 years and 3 months in prison for possession of 780 kg of African pangolin scales.

Another prosecution success includes the longest prison sentences ever in Vietnam's history for marine turtle trafficking, 12 and 10 years in prison for 2 traffickers arrested with 39 critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle "trophies" after ENV investigated the case for 7 years and finally set up a successful sting operation.

For more news on the legal team's progress to secure effective responses from the criminal justice system in dealing with wildlife crime, you're invited to read the latest Wildlife Criminal Prosecution Review.

In further news, the progress to end bear bile farming in Vietnam has made headway, with 7 more bears transferred to rescue centers in recent months and 10 more scheduled for the upcoming weeks. In fact, from January to June 2021, there have been 28 Asiatic black bears confiscated and transferred from bear bile farms to sanctuaries! Furthermore, in June, Lang Son province became the 40th bear-farm free province in Vietnam! Currently, ENV continues to work with authorities to get the remaining ~327 bile bears rescued from bile farms and safely relocated to bear sanctuaries. 

And finally, ENV's Public Awareness Team has released 3 Public Service Announcements (PSA) in 2021 to reduce demand for wildlife products in Vietnam. These PSAs are broadcast on up to 60 TV stations across the country, further publicized through journalism, and virally distributed through social media to reach millions with the message that wildlife must be protected and wildlife crime must be reported. The first PSA of 2021 was titled "Safer with Science" and was aimed at steering the public away from wildlife remedies, and to choose modern medicine instead. The PSA was very popular amongst the Vietnamese public as it used comedy to reach the audience. The second PSA was titled "Bear Karma" and personified the experience bears endure when being exploited for their bile. By utilizing the concept of karma, which is a deep rooted belief in Vietnam, we aimed to reach more people in a way they can understand and empathize with the message. And finally, the third PSA that was just released this month, "When Rhinos Lose Their Face, Consumers Lose Face Too," emphasizes how respect is earned through honorable acts, not by trying to impress others with rhino horn.

The Public Awareness Team also continued to run daily ads on Vietnam's most listened to radio station, Voice of Vietnam (VOV), and aired monthly shows on VOV about different wildlife trade topics such as the movement to end bear bile farming, exotic species in Vietnam's wildlife trade, and one of ENV's newest wildlife trade reports, Consumer Wildlife Crime Reduction Campaign 2019 – 2020.

Friends, this critical work to protect wildlife across the globe from Vietnam's illegal wildlife trade could not be possible without you and your continued support. Thank you, from all of us at ENV, for protecting wildlife and ensuring long-term change is possible.