On August 5, news from Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee said that it had assigned the Provincial Police to review and compile a list of accounts, associations, groups, and forums in cyberspace showing signs of taking advantage of them to trade wildlife and exploit and destroy aquatic resources for handling according to regulations.
The Provincial Police presides over the review, verification, and listing of subjects, accounts, associations, groups, and forums that take advantage of cyberspace to trade wildlife, hunt, trap or exterminate aquatic resources, thereby strictly handling them according to the provisions of law.
In addition, the police force is assigned to strengthen the monitoring of the trading of wild animals, wild birds, exotic animals and products from wild animals on social networks, e-commerce platforms and messaging applications to promptly detect, prevent and handle violations.
The Provincial Police coordinated with the Department of Agriculture and Environment and the Provincial Buddhist Sangha to propagate the practice of releasing animals in accordance with regulations.
At the same time, receiving and processing reports from religious establishments and people through the hotline to investigate and dismantle lines taking advantage of the name of release to illegally trade wild animals.
The Provincial People's Committee also assigned the Department of Agriculture and Environment to preside over and coordinate with the Provincial Police and commune-level People's Committees to review and statistically identify key subjects, areas, and hotspots at risk of violations.
For Sub-Department of Customs of Region XIII, the Provincial People's Committee requests the unit to promptly provide information on the import and export activities of endangered wild animals under the CITES Appendix when violations are detected; coordinate to inspect and handle acts of smuggling, illegal transportation of wild animals, migratory birds and aquatic resources across borders.
Notably, the Chairman of the Commune-level People's Committee must be responsible to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee if they loosen management, lack inspection and supervision, leading to or recurring violations of wildlife protection, biodiversity conservation and aquatic resources protection in the area.
Many people expressed agreement with the province's strengthening of reviews and handling of accounts that take advantage of social networks to trade wildlife.
Mr. Duc Kien - residing in Nam Nha Trang ward said that currently, many transactions take place in cyberspace, so if not strictly controlled, it will be very difficult to detect.
Tightening management not only contributes to protecting wildlife species and preserving biodiversity, but also raises people's awareness of not contributing to illegal acts. I also hope that functional agencies will strictly handle cases of intentional violations to create deterrence," said Mr. Duc Kien.
