bloc demand, prevent extinction of wildlife

Many tricks of wildlife trafficking

Most recently, on April 23, a subject, a large unit specializing in illegal wildlife trading and transportation (DVHD) in Ho Chi Minh City, was arrested and sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison.

According to Ms. Bui Thi Ha - Deputy Director of ENV, in fact, the use of shells to cover farming facilities to "legalize" illegal wildlife has been a problem for many years. Current management regulations are still inadequate, creating many loopholes for subjects who take advantage of this to smuggle HDVs from nature or from other illegal sources and illegally trade at commercial breeding facilities.

Therefore, ENV proposes that competent State agencies urgently issue a list of wildlife species allowed for commercial breeding, which will be an effective solution that both meets the goal of biodiversity conservation and contributes to orienting wildlife farming activities and ensuring sustainable livelihoods for people.

"The promulgation of a list of wealthy species is allowed for commercial purposes and regularly updating this category will help minimize the illegal business, thereby eliminating the negative effects of this activity for the TVD that is threatened, especially those at risk of extinction. This list also helps to significantly simplify the procedures for both farmers and long -term solutions. Good policies and improving the ability to enforce law to ensure comprehensive management of activities to raise trade trafficking for the sustainable benefit of the people and ensure the future is safe for the species, "Ms. Ha said.

Vietnam is one of the countries with a high level of HDD trading and consumption. The reason is due to the rare psychology, belief in the treatment effects; lack of awareness of legal and health risks; high profits from hunting and trading HDTVs.

For a long time, ingredients derived from HD have been widely used to treat many diseases in traditional medicine. However, the demand for these products is increasing, which is pushing many wildlife species to the risk of extinction.

Increasing the use of medicinal herbs to replace wild animals in traditional medicine

Data on the extinction of wildlife species commonly used in traditional medicine shows that more than 1 million pangolins were killed in the period 2000 - 2014 (TRAFFIC). All 8 pangolin species in the world are currently facing the IUCN risk of extinction. In Asia, pangolins have decreased by more than 80% over the past 20 years due to being hunted for scales and meat. (IUCN)

For tigers, the distribution of this species has shrunk to 93% in just 1 century (IUCN). It is estimated that there are about 7,000 - 8,000 tigers being held at facilities across Asia (TRAFFIC). As of November 2021, there are only about 3,900 wild tigers worldwide, a significant decrease compared to 100,000 individuals a century ago (WWF).

The situation is not improving for pangolins as the IUCN Red Book ranks 3 out of 5 remaining pangolins (black pangolins, Sumatra pangolins and Java pangolins) as endangered (IUCN). Since the early 20th century, the number of wild pangolins worldwide has decreased sharply from 500,000 to less than 28,000 (IRF).

Similarly, more than 12,000 bears are being held in honey farms in Asia (WAP, 2018). As of August 2024, there are still 94 bears being held in 16 private facilities in Hanoi (ENV)...

At the recent Workshop "Traditional Medicine and Wildlife Conservation - A direction from alternative medicinal herbs", Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Phuong Dung - Director of the Vietnam Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy - said: "In fact, the treatment uses of processing from wildlife such as pangolin, tigers, pangolins, bears have not been seen, but there is a potential risk of disease infection from these species. Many studies have proven that HDV species carry many dangerous pathogens that can be transmitted to humans. Using DVHD meat or keeping it in captivity can increase the risk of dangerous disease outbreaks, especially diseases transmitted from animals to humans" - Ms. Phuong Dung shared.

According to Ms. Phuong Dung, to prevent the act of destroying and hunting wildlife species for food and medicine, it is necessary to strengthen law enforcement; encourage the use of herbal ingredients to replace animal products; help people develop sustainable agricultural and livestock models to reduce dependence on wildlife hunting...