A webinar was held in Da Nang on September 30 to seek ways to put an end to wildlife trafficking and consumption, gathering more than 100 delegates, including local officials, and domestic and foreign experts.

Nguyen Thi Kim Ha, Vice Director of the Environmental Protection Division of the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said that the seminar aims to find ways to encourage people not to trade and consume wildlife, while pushing localities to effectively implement policies to prevent and fight illegal trafficking and consumption of wildlife.

According to the organising board, in the past 50 years, the vertebrate population has declined by 68 percent. In Viet Nam, many wildlife species have faced the risk of extinction due to illegal wildlife trade and consumption.

In this context, the Vietnamese Government has made great efforts in wildlife protection, including the promulgation of the new Penal Code with stricter punishments on possessing and trading in wildlife and wildlife products.

In Da Nang, various decisions have been given with the aim of protecting and developing the forests and biodiversity and the wildlife, and encourage the community’s involvement in the work.

Vo Van Minh, from Da Nang University, underlined the significance of education and communications activities on environmental and wildlife protection.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Hoai Khuong, from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Viet Nam, said that the WWF Vietnam is working with different partners to seek new solutions for the preservation activities in the country, focusing on communication measures to reduce the demand for wildlife in Viet Nam.

Tran Huu Vy, Director of the GreenViet Biodiversity Conservation Centre, stressed the need for joint efforts of the community in wildlife protection, which also means protecting the biodiversity and the earth as a whole.

Within the framework of the webinar, an online photo exhibition has been held to introduce about 100 photos and video clips on wildlife. The exhibition is open to the public at http://baovedongvathoangda.org until October 8.

Source: VNA