Ha Noi, December 27-29, 2023, Wildlife Conservation Society - Viet Nam Office (WCS Viet Nam) in collaboration with Viet Nam National University of Forestry (VNUF) organized a training course on “Preventing and handling of violations of wildlife protection regulations'' for 30 students of the VNUF’s Faculty of Forest and Environment Resources Management, and Faculty of Economics and Business Administrative.
Participants in the training, Ha Noi, December 2023
This two-day training course was delivered and facilitated by experienced lecturers in Law and Zoology of VNUF and WCS Viet Nam staff.
During the two-day training course, participants were updated about the current situation of the violations and crimes related to wildlife protection in Viet Nam, the risks of zoonotic disease transmission between wildlife and humans, as well as equipped with relevant international and Vietnamese legal provisions on wildlife protection, the role and participation of the wildlife-related state management authorities and law enforcement agencies, including forest rangers, in counter-wildlife trafficking activities. By applying the trained knowledge, the participants were guided to practice the species identification skills with some commonly traded and consumed wildlife species/products by using wildlife identification tool developed by WCS Viet Nam, and the skills for developing case files and handling wildlife-related violations.
Students practice using wildlife violation identification handbook, Ha Noi, December 2023
In addition, the participants were also introduced about a preventative policing approach for wildlife crime and practiced to apply the approach in identifying effective intervention measures to prevent violations or mitigate the consequences of violations on wildlife and society.
In the final day of the training course, the participants had the opportunity to learn about the current situation of violations of wildlife protection regulations and in-situ conservation activities in the Cat Ba national park in Hai Phong city. They also discussed with a representative of the national park on the efforts of the forest ranger in wildlife protection in this area.
This activity was implemented within the framework of the collaborative plan on “Integrating the skills for detecting and handling of violations in the forestry sector into the training program” signed by WCS Viet Nam and VNUF in June 2023 to contribute to enhancing the efforts of countering wildlife trafficking.
The training course was implemented in the framework of the projects “Exploring drivers of wild meat consumption and interventions in Viet Nam” funded by the UK Government through the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund; “Disrupting the illegal wildlife supply chain in Asia through strengthening partnerships between the government and civil society to increase the effectiveness of Government action” - Partners Against Wildlife Crime funded by the European Commission in Vietnam (EU) and “Combating Wildlife Trafficking in Viet Nam” funded by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), United States Department of State.