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Slow progress in fight against illegal wildlife trade

Rampant

Several cases of illegal wildlife trafficking on a huge scale have been reported recently, bringing the issue into the limelight.

Last month, Singapore customs officials seized a shipment of  一 二. 九 tonnes of pangolin scales en route to Việt Nam, the largest single shipment of the critically endangered animal found in five years.

Further back in October last year, authorities in Đà Nẵng discovered a shipment of about  一0 tonnes of ivory and pangolin scales imported from Nigeria.  

These incidents seem to be the tip of the iceberg.

Statistics of the Vietnam Association for Wildlife Conservation showed that from January  二0 一 三 to December  二0 一 七, Việt Nam recorded more than  一, 五00 crimes related to the illegal wildlife trade.

More than  四 一, 三00 animals and their products were seized,  一, 四 六 一 law violators were discovered and  四 三 二 of them were tried criminally. Fines for violations related to wildlife protection reached VNĐ 一 六 billion (US$ 六 八 三, 八00).

Getting tough

Việt Nam has cracked down on the trade in recent years, starting with tougher sentences for traffickers.

The Criminal Code  二0 一 五, revised in  二0 一 七, increased the punishment for trafficking and advertising wild animals and their products to a maximum  一 五 years in prison from seven years as regulated in the Criminal Code  一 九 九 九.

The Nha Trang People’s Court in the central province of Khánh Hòa in June last year sentenced Hoàng Tuấn Hải,  四 七, to four years and six months of imprisonment for trading more than  一0 tonnes of turtles.

Hải’s sentence was the harshest Việt Nam has ever handed out for a sea turtle-related crime.

More recently, on May  一 四, the Lào Cai City People’s Co妹妹ittee sentenced three people from eight to  一0 years of imprisonment for trafficking more than  二0kg of rhino horns.

Improving supervision

In addition to tougher laws, efforts have been made to make catching criminals easier.

The Department of Forest Protection under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has proposed developing software to collect wildlife crime statistics to better project where and when crimes will occur.

Nguyễn Văn Thái, director of the Centre for Wildlife Research and Preservation, said domestic and international conservation organisations operating in Việt Nam have also proposed some new regulations to protect wildlife.

They reco妹妹ended fines for people illegally setting up camps in forests, and heavier punishments for people using traps, hunting tools and hounds in forests.

ENV has also pointed out that co-operation between citizens and authorities is crucial to protecting wildlife.

ENV director Vũ Thị Quyên called on e-co妹妹erce sites and online shopping applications in Việt Nam to build monitoring systems and remove illegal animal sales posts.

She also said everyone should speak up and report wildlife violations to local authorities or on the free hotline  一 八00- 一 五 二 二. — VNS