Strengthening the role of the press in combating wildlife crime

According to Mr. Le Trong Dam, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper, within the framework of the Endangered Wildlife Protection Project funded by USAID, Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper, the Forestry Project Management Board, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and TRAFFIC International signed a cooperation agreement to implement activities.

Delegates discussed and shared about the issue of increasing the participation of reporters and journalists in preventing wildlife trafficking.

One of the key contents of the Project is to consolidate, expand and develop the network of investigative reporters on wildlife crime, promoting efforts of the state and private sectors in the fight against wildlife trafficking to detect and report on wildlife crime.

Wildlife organizations and experts will support training for reporters and journalists participating in the Network on knowledge and experience in investigating illegal hunting, trading, transporting and using of wildlife, especially endangered wildlife. This will help raise awareness and strengthen the capacity of journalists and reporters on the legal framework and policies on wildlife conservation.

In particular, the Network will be the connecting agency, coordinating with journalists and reporters in investigating, writing and posting articles, television reports, special topics, and publications in the fight against illegal wildlife trafficking, transportation, and use. In addition, the Project will also honor organizations and individuals with achievements in attracting public attention to cases related to wildlife crimes through annual journalism awards.

The Network's activities will effectively support the communication campaign "Say no to illegal trade and consumption of wildlife and wildlife products throughout society in Vietnam" - Mr. Dam said.

Dr. Vuong Tien Manh, Deputy Director of CITES Vietnam, shares about the current situation of illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam.

Sharing about the current situation of wildlife trafficking in Vietnam, Dr. Vuong Tien Manh, Deputy Director of CITES Vietnam, said that in the period of 2019 - 2021, the agencies have tried nearly 400 cases of violations of regulations on wildlife protection under Article 244 of the Penal Code, with over 500 defendants prosecuted. Regarding rhino horns alone, from August 2019 to the end of 2021, the Customs force has seized and confiscated over 353kg of illegally imported rhino horns.

Regarding the current difficulties in prevention work, according to Mr. Manh, it is that the profits in wildlife trafficking are too high, while the approaches to the problem are different between management and enforcement agencies, organizations, and institutions that are not comprehensive. Vietnam is located on the international wildlife transportation and transit route, so the activities of cross-border criminal organizations appear.

The proliferation of illegal wildlife trade on social networks is also complicated. In addition, the priority level of controlling illegal wildlife trade in some agencies and localities is not high; the capacity to apply technology and share information among many officers enforcing laws on wildlife protection is still limited...

Mr. Bui Dang Phong, Deputy Director of the Office of the Endangered Wildlife Protection Project - WWF shares about the Endangered Wildlife Protection Project

Sharing the same view, Mr. Bui Dang Phong, Deputy Director of the Office of the Project on Endangered Wildlife Protection - WWF, said that in recent years, the number of evidence of wildlife trafficking cases has decreased significantly. Besides the effectiveness of law enforcement and propaganda, the main reason is that the number of species in the wild has seriously decreased and is no longer present in large numbers.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thuy Quynh, Director of Communications at WWF, the press has played a strong role in monitoring and promoting social transformation. In the fight against wildlife trafficking, a typical example is the series of articles "Raiding warehouses for the execution of wild birds" by Dan Viet newspaper. After the series of articles, the authorities took action. The Government also issued Directive No. 04/CT-TTg dated May 17, 2022 on a number of urgent tasks and solutions to conserve wild and migratory birds in Vietnam.

Suggesting some obscure topics, the WWF representative pointed out that the press needs to portray the problem of illegal wildlife trade, focusing on large-scale trafficking rings rather than just atypical cases such as small restaurants and small hunting grounds. The press needs to focus more on explaining what factors influence illegal wildlife trade, especially from the perspective of consumer demand for wildlife products. Articles should note that this is a cross-border, cross-continental issue to help readers better understand the seriousness of the problem.

There is still a lack of articles in the press about the subjects and wildlife trafficking networks, clarifying the motivations that push them to participate and the motivations that help them stop participating. Increasing this topic will help the authorities handle it more effectively. In addition, there should be more articles reviewing and summarizing the handling of crimes related to wildlife, good examples and loopholes in regulations and laws on this issue.

“For press activities to have influence, reporters and journalists need to consider the frequency of news articles, the scale of the series of articles and aim for measurable social impacts, such as: authorities taking action, the press speaking out in unison, subjects and networks being arrested and dismantled...” - Ms. Nguyen Thuy Quynh emphasized.

At the workshop, representatives of management agencies, wildlife conservation organizations, reporters and journalists from press agencies discussed difficulties in operations and the need for support in skills in investigating wildlife trafficking activities; issues that need to be raised in the activities of the Reporters Network to improve the effectiveness of propaganda and information in the coming time.

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