Cat Ba, April 12-16,2024, Wildlife Conservation Society, Viet Nam Office (WCS Viet Nam) collaborated with the Faculty of Forest Resources and Environmental Management, Viet Nam National University of Forestry (VNUF) and Center for Environmental Education & Forest Environmental Services of Cat Ba National Park to organize a field learning program - Stage 4 of “the forest ranger practicum program: realizing your know-how".
Students practice forest patrol with forest rangers, Hai Phong, April 2024
The program was organized for the first time with the goal of creating a learning playground with practical experience for students and orienting their careers to become a forest ranger. Participating in the program were 16 students who successfully passed the selection and interview rounds, and sessions to update legal knowledge on wildlife protection, identification of some commonly hunted and traded wildlife in Viet Nam.
During 05 days in Cat Ba, with the guidance of representatives of WCS Viet Nam, Center for Environmental Education and Forest Environmental Services (Cat Ba National Park), and Inter-district Forest Ranger Division (Hai Phong Forest Protection Department), students were able to learn about fauna and flora conservation work at Cat Ba National Park, development of a forest patrol plan and information collection, supportive equipment/tools used for forest patrol, procedures for reintroducing, rescuing, and handling confiscated wildlife. In addition, the students also had the chance to experience the work of forest rangers such as forest patrolling, removing traps, and practicing making records of handling wildlife-related administrative violations.
Students develop a forest patrol plan, Hai Phong, April 2024
These will be valuable experiences for students to have a deeper understanding of the responsibilities, knowledge, and required skills to become a forest ranger. After this stage, the students will be guided to develop an action plan to spread knowledge and skills gained from the program to broader students and lecturers of the VNUF.
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” between 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 “Combating Wildlife Trafficking in Viet Nam” funded by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), United States Department of State.