Wildlife

Ivory is found in a cargo container in central Vietnam. VNS Photo Cong Thanh

The report shows an important but not surprising fact that, of the people who had visited an ivory shop suggested to them, 59 per cent of the suggestions came from local tour guides.

The report ‘Beyond the Ivory Ban: Research on Chinese Travelers While Abroad,’ produced by WWF and the research firm GlobeScan, collected results by surveying Chinese travellers on their attitudes towards the ivory trade, as well as their purchasing behaviour while abroad sometime between 2017 and 2019.

More than 3,000 Chinese visitors who had travelled to Cambodia, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, were interviewed. The study found that about one in ten Chinese travellers surveyed (11 per cent) had planned to purchase ivory prior to making their trip. During their trips, a significant percentage of surveyed travellers had somebody recommend visiting an ivory retailer, with almost a quarter of travellers having visited at least one shop that sold ivory.

Nguyen Dao Ngoc Van, Stop the Illegal Wildlife Trade Programme Manager for WWF-Vietnam, said: “The fact that ivory purchases are being facilitated by those working in the travel and tourism industry in destination countries is worrying, but also presents a good opportunity for targeted interventions. If we can change the behaviour of these tourism sector actors, we can greatly reduce the chances that travellers have to purchase ivory while abroad.”

The study also points out that the Lunar New Year and Chinese National Day Golden Week are peak times for tourists to travel abroad. Vietnam is ranked by tourists as one of the most attractive destinations to buy ivory products due to perceived availability, better quality of carving, likelihood of the ivory being real and cheaper price compared to other destinations. These products are purchased mainly as gifts for friends or family members, while some are purchased as gifts for a business relation.

Most tourists were aware that it is illegal to buy, sell or transport ivory products across borders. However, under the guidance of ivory sellers, many try (and succeed) in bringing small, easy to hide ivory products back to China. These easily concealed pieces are difficult to detect, and if they are confiscated, the financial and legal damage is minimal.

When assessing the authenticity of the ivory, nearly half of the tourists surveyed said they relied on verifications provided by sellers to determine whether the product was real.

More than 30 per cent of people who purchased ivory had the products sent by the seller to their address in China by post, while 22 per cent transported it home by land or by plane and 11 per cent by boat.

According to Van, these findings suggest that creative demand reduction efforts and interventions with the private sector are key if we want to keep Chinese travellers from trafficking ivory home.

“If we can discredit ‘real’ ivory credentials or get shipping companies to cooperate with our anti-ivory trade efforts, then we can disrupt the flow of ivory to China,” Van said.

The results from the report are an important basis for Vietnam to develop strategies to reduce demand for ivory and wildlife in tourism in general and among Chinese tourists in particular. The report also proposes ways to reduce the trafficking of ivory and rhino horn by travellers, including addressing the illegal cross-border transport of ivory; detecting and engaging with indirect advertising channels like online travel planning platforms; and continuing to focus demand reduction activities around Chinese Lunar New Year and Golden Week.

It is time for the tourism industry to step up and join conservation organisations in their effort to protect wild species from extinction by fighting tourism driven illegal trade. WWF is ready to provide technical assistance and support to transform the tourism sector into a wildlife-friendly sector that actively protects wildlife as a valuable asset in the development of future tourism and human development.

VNS

As a small girl, Trang Nguyen saw a bear stabbed through the chest with a giant needle at her neighbour’s house in northern Vietnam.

The bear, flat on its back, was being pumped for its bile, a fluid drawn from its gallbladder that has long been used in traditional medicine to treat liver disease.

“I had seen visitors to Hanoi zoo who brought sticks to poke animals and it really made my blood boil,” Trang, the founder of local conservation group WildAct, told AFP .

“But conservation wasn’t something I really wanted to do until I witnessed what happened to this bear.”

It was the first of her many encounters with a global multi-billion-dollar illegal wildlife trade that devastates species the world over, fuels corruption and threatens human health.

The 31-year-old — named by the BBC in 2019 as one of the world’s most inspiring and influential women — has spent much of her time since then trying to end the scourge.

She has gone undercover in South Africa to snare traffickers and secured a PhD in traditional medicine’s impact on wildlife.

Trang has also set up her home country’s first postgraduate course for aspiring conservationists, to help more Vietnamese make it to the top of her field.

In the 1990s, decades of war and isolation meant environmental awareness was a new notion in Vietnam.

Trang recalls her parents telling her: “Only rich people from western countries do that kind of work”.

Now there are more local conservationists, wildlife protection laws have been enacted, if patchily enforced, and the number of bears kept in captivity for bile farming has dropped by 90 percent in the last 15 years, according to Education for Nature Vietnam.

But as the country grew richer, demand for exotic wildlife dishes soared and animal parts sought for their perceived health benefits — such as rhino horn and pangolin scales — became a status symbol for some within the fast-growing middle classes.

Wildlife trafficking hub

Today the country is a key producer, consumer and transit point for trafficked wildlife, says WildAct.

Through courses at Vinh University in central Vietnam and community programmes in wildlife trade hotspots, Trang is trying to empower Vietnamese people to resolve these problems themselves.

In turn, she hopes they will become a louder voice in the global conversation about illegal wildlife trade, and help shape policy.

The responses of some global wildlife organisations to the coronavirus pandemic, widely thought to have begun at a market known to sell wild animals in China’s Wuhan, were hugely unhelpful for campaigners in Asia and Africa, says Trang.

One called for a complete ban on “wet markets”, even though the term is used in Asia and Africa to describe any market where fresh produce is sold, while another termed them “unhygenic”.

“When things like that are said it’s very difficult for conservationists to ask people to participate in our work,” she explains, as they are seen as “prejudiced”.

Trang also wants more women in conservation — a field still dominated by men — and has written a book to inspire young girls.

Loosely based on her personal story, “Saving Sorya” tells the tale of a Vietnamese conservationist who must prepare a rescued baby sun bear for life in the wild.

Already published in Vietnamese, and due out in English this year, the children’s book has a female protagonist — something she insisted on despite being told “no-one was going to read it” if she did.

Going undercover

Trang’s own story is one of remarkable determination.

From the age of eight, she pestered wildlife groups with requests to intern and learnt English by watching the BBC documentary Planet Earth late at night.

She won scholarships to study in Britain, including for a masters degree in conservation leadership at Cambridge University, and founded WildAct in her mid-20s.

Wildlife traffickers are in prison because of her.

“It was very easy for me to pose as a buyer of wildlife products,” she remembers of her time working undercover in South Africa.

Around three rhinos are poached there every day, largely for the Vietnamese and Chinese consumer markets, according to wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic.

But it was there that she learnt that the trade is not “black and white”.

“One guy I was helping get arrested, he wasn’t high up the chain: he was a poor person who got exploited… (and was asked to) to go kill the animal and be the transport.”

After the arrest, “I was actually feeling really sad,” she said.

“I thought: Now no-one is providing for his kids, they are probably going to become a poacher like him and soon it will be their turn to be imprisoned.”

She’ll keep fighting for change, she says, but admits it takes a long time to shift people’s behaviour.

“For some species, things might not move quick enough to save them.”

Thao talks about her desire to protect wild animals and her future plans.

Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Thao.

Can you tell us about yourself and your current job?

My name is Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Thao (Thao Nguyen). I am a wildlife conservationist and wildlife photographer/cinematographer and consultant on environmental and conservation issues.

I work for non-profit conservation organisations such as Born Free Foundation and Remembering Wildlife that represent the interests of humans not yet born and species that cannot talk.

I have spent the last five years with Remembering Wildlife, best known for promoting awareness of nature and wildlife conservation, and also providing on-the-ground work such as ranger support, reserve management, and breeding and care-giving for rhinos, giraffes, lions, orangutans and other endangered animals in Africa and Asia.

Through 2015 up to early 2020, I was closely involved with animal reserves and orphanages in different areas, such as South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Indonesia, and the high Arctic. I was involved in documenting the wildlife and the efforts that go into protecting the natural habitats and animals there.

I have spent long periods of time at Ol Pejeta Conservancy and Care for the Wild International, some of the most well-known conservation organisations at the forefront of environmental protection.

Thao and a colleague take care of a rhino in Africa. Thao has loved to take care of animals since she was a child. — VNS Photo

Why did you decide to work as a wildlife conservationist after studying for another career at university?

Since I was a kid, I’ve always been curious and into nature. I loved watching TV shows back then like Thiên nhiên hoang dã (Wild Nature) or Thế giới động vật (Animal World), and I read a lot about animals. While all of my mates stayed away from insects or other kinds of animals, I found them fascinating, I felt sad reading news about pangolins that were facing extinction, and when reading Doraemon, anger also brought me to tears when I read about bear bile farming.

However, I did not know what to do, so I just went to study and work as an interior designer. During that time, I joined many volunteer events about animals and the environment, and the more I got involved, the more I realised I wanted to do something more impactful. Then I decided to go back to university to study zoology and conservation.

You worked in Africa a long time. Please tell us about your interesting experiences, if any, during your time there?

Joy and sadness occurred during the time I worked in Africa. Daily interactions with the animals, especially the baby rhinos who lost their mother to the poachers, and then seeing them suffering, healing and being themselves back in the wild, caused mixed feelings. Or when we found out that one of our colleagues who was shot to death by a poacher, or some nights going to sleep but staying half awake to prepare for the worst … All of these experiences are indescribable feelings.

How will your experiences in Africa help you in Vietnam?

I find myself so lucky to have a chance to be in the field, witness what happened to our mother Earth, to our species around the world, learn to live in a remote environment, and deal with pressure and many difficulties in different cultures, languages and danger.

Working closely in the conservation field also helps me understand more why people get involved in wildlife trading and the ways to prevent it. Coming back to Vietnam, I just simply shared stories about my journeys, about the unseen facts of the animals and environment through my workshops to raise awareness. Then I started to collaborate with some companies to bring environmental awareness to the company culture.

I’m also working with Oxalis on conservation of the Ha Tinh Langur project, and adventure trips for people to discover Tu Lan cave and also visit Ha Tinh langurs, one of the endangered species in Vietnam.

Are there difficulties to being a wildlife conservationist in Vietnam? How do you address that?

Being a wildlife conservationist requires a lot of love for wild animals, patience to care for them and speak their language, knowledge to protect them in the right way, bravery to deal with danger… you need enough of those abilities and desires to sacrifice your time and even your life.

In Vietnam we don’t have many foundations yet, and some local people I know do this as volunteers without getting paid, without the protection and support of any foundation behind them. That’s also a reason people don’t see wildlife conservationists in Vietnam because it’s hard to make a living.

In Vietnam, people have not yet paid enough attention to environmental issues. There are probably many other things occupying them, and also there could be very little information about the issue, and even if there is, it’s just on the surface. Environmental issues belong to macro problems, so people hesitate to care about them. I hope that is something we can change in the near future, step by step.

Do you have any plans to raise public awareness of wildlife protection?

I strongly believe education is the key to everything. I can’t say if I can educate and change people, but I will just try to do my best about what I believe in. I’m planning to create a group or organisation as a place for anyone to access environmental knowledge in more casual ways.

Working more deeply with trustworthy companies such as Oxalis to create conservation tours, so that people can both travel and learn about the environment. Some of the profits will go to conservation and community funds to help with animals and the local people in these areas. VNS

Ivory is found in a cargo container in central Việt Nam. VNS Photo Công Thành

HÀ NỘI – A survey of nearly 600 Chinese tourists who visited Việt Nam showed that 17 per cent of them visited ivory shops during their visit and an estimated 2 per cent bought ivory products with an average spend of VNĐ12 million (US$522).

The report shows an important but not surprising fact that, of the people who had visited an ivory shop suggested to them, 59 per cent of the suggestions came from local tour guides.

The report ‘Beyond the Ivory Ban: Research on Chinese Travelers While Abroad,’ produced by WWF and the research firm GlobeScan, collected results by surveying Chinese travellers on their attitudes towards the ivory trade, as well as their purchasing behaviour while abroad sometime between 2017 and 2019.

More than 3,000 Chinese visitors who had travelled to Cambodia, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Việt Nam, were interviewed. The study found that about one in ten Chinese travellers surveyed (11 per cent) had planned to purchase ivory prior to making their trip. During their trips, a significant percentage of surveyed travellers had somebody recommend visiting an ivory retailer, with almost a quarter of travellers having visited at least one shop that sold ivory.

Nguyễn Đào Ngọc Vân, Stop the Illegal Wildlife Trade Programme Manager for WWF-Việt Nam, said: “The fact that ivory purchases are being facilitated by those working in the travel and tourism industry in destination countries is worrying, but also presents a good opportunity for targeted interventions. If we can change the behaviour of these tourism sector actors, we can greatly reduce the chances that travellers have to purchase ivory while abroad.”

The study also points out that the Lunar New Year and Chinese National Day Golden Week are peak times for tourists to travel abroad. Việt Nam is ranked by tourists as one of the most attractive destinations to buy ivory products due to perceived availability, better quality of carving, likelihood of the ivory being real and cheaper price compared to other destinations. These products are purchased mainly as gifts for friends or family members, while some are purchased as gifts for a business relation.

Most tourists were aware that it is illegal to buy, sell or transport ivory products across borders. However, under the guidance of ivory sellers, many try (and succeed) in bringing small, easy to hide ivory products back to China. These easily concealed pieces are difficult to detect, and if they are confiscated, the financial and legal damage is minimal.

When assessing the authenticity of the ivory, nearly half of the tourists surveyed said they relied on verifications provided by sellers to determine whether the product was real.

More than 30 per cent of people who purchased ivory had the products sent by the seller to their address in China by post, while 22 per cent transported it home by land or by plane and 11 per cent by boat.

According to Vân, these findings suggest that creative demand reduction efforts and interventions with the private sector are key if we want to keep Chinese travellers from trafficking ivory home.

“If we can discredit ‘real’ ivory credentials or get shipping companies to cooperate with our anti-ivory trade efforts, then we can disrupt the flow of ivory to China,” Vân said.

The results from the report are an important basis for Việt Nam to develop strategies to reduce demand for ivory and wildlife in tourism in general and among Chinese tourists in particular. The report also proposes ways to reduce the trafficking of ivory and rhino horn by travellers, including addressing the illegal cross-border transport of ivory; detecting and engaging with indirect advertising channels like online travel planning platforms; and continuing to focus demand reduction activities around Chinese Lunar New Year and Golden Week.

It is time for the tourism industry to step up and join conservation organisations in their effort to protect wild species from extinction by fighting tourism driven illegal trade. WWF is ready to provide technical assistance and support to transform the tourism sector into a wildlife-friendly sector that actively protects wildlife as a valuable asset in the development of future tourism and human development. VNS

She granted an interview to the Thoi Nay (Today) publication of Nhan Dan (The People) Newspaper to talk more about the book and her enthusiasm for her work.

Question: Can you share us about your first day working in wildlife conservation?

I was admitted as a volunteer at TRAFFIC Organisation during the summer when I was a tenth grader. I worked there for two years, and was the youngest volunteer as the others were all university students. I then worked as a volunteer for other organisations.

You have joined trips to hotspots of the illegal wildlife trade at home and abroad. Have you ever been threatened and tracked due to your involvement in this work?

Yes, of course. I encountered poachers in a natural reserve while doing research work with an anti-poaching special task force. I also confronted smuggling gangs while conducting secret investigations to collect information for the environmental police.

However, I want to emphasise that it is not true to say working in wildlife conservation means facing harsh working conditions and dangers, because the practice includes many different aspects, such as research on species, population and ecosystems, or conservational education. It can be dangerous however as I said while doing undercover investigation on illegal wildlife trade.

The cover of Trang Nguyen’s book entitled ‘Chang Hoa Da – Gau’ (Chang is Wild about Bears).

You have released books featuring your working experience, including ‘Tro Ve Noi Hoang Da’ (Return to the wilderness) and ‘Chang Hoa Da – Gau ’ (Chang is Wild about Bears). What are your expectations about the books?

In addition to conveying obvious messages on wildlife and nature conservation, I want to tell children and parents that girls can have great dreams to become scientists, astronauts, engineers, match professors, wildlife conservationists, and historical figures. And they have the power to make their dreams come true. Adults should not fix them into a popular form but let them grow naturally and pursue what they dream about.

Can you reveal anything to us about your next books?

My next book is about elephants, I have completed the text and the illustrations are being done by painter Jeet Zdung. The book is scheduled to be completed by June this year.

In addition, my other book entitled ‘ 100 small things I have done for the Earth’ was planned to be released in early May but the announcement ceremony was delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Thank you so much for your sharing!

Trang Nguyen finished her PhD in Biodiversity Management at the University of Kent, England. She is the founder and executive director of WildAct, an NGO launched in 2018 with a focus on monitoring illegal wildlife trade markets and provides conservation education programmes for Vietnamese youth.

In 2018, at the age of 28, she won the nature conservation prize – the Future for Nature Award, and the Eco-warrior from Elle Style Awards. The same year, she was also nominated for the Women of the Future Awards Southeast Asia for her contribution to global wildlife conservation.