How can the WWF contribute to protecting wildlife and ecosystems in Vietnam?

The WWF is active in central and southern Vietnam, where the most diverse and biologically significant national parks are located. National parks and nature reserves are under the government's jurisdiction, so we support provincial and district government staff in protected area management. Capacity building is the key. A well managed area will engage all efforts to protect wildlife and plants, while integrating livelihood development of the local population. It's a challenge, as higher officials often do not understand the principles of ecology and are assigned to the national parks for short time periods. Effective law enforcement is another major issue, which can only be accomplished by supporting the technical staff and the park rangers.

 

How are local communities responding to the WWF's efforts?

In protected areas about 30% of the work is dedicated to working with local communities, that being developing alternative and more ecological agricultural techniques such as shaded agricultural plantations. We educate the communities about the importance of the protected areas and preserving the species rather than exploiting them for profit. Integrating the communities into the park management and supplying them employment opportunities, for example as community park rangers, have shown very positive results.

 

Tell me more about government and community park rangers.

There are about 10 000 park rangers scattered across the national parks in Vietnam. Different types of employment exist, with different backgrounds and training. The so-called professional rangers are direct government officials. They had to pass exams to get this position, but they receive good training and equipment. They are a semi-armed force, carrying fire weapons and handcuffs to arrest offenders. The provincial level rangers should theoretically also receive training, but not all of them do. So the WWF offers training opportunities, an opportunity to also teach the men how to monitor wildlife. The community rangers or forest guards are not government staff, but they have been proven to be effective for community outreach and integrating the communities into the park management. In some cases these men were hunters before, who now understand the importance of protecting wildlife. However, they do not carry weapons and cannot give fines. Therefore they patrol together with the professional rangers.

Usually the rangers go on patrol for five days, sleeping in the protected area. They use the spatial monitoring and reporting tool SMART, to record everything they find on patrol, i.e. poachers and wildlife, and they track the patrol route.

But being a ranger is not easy. They are exposed to the weather conditions, need to confront poachers in an area where help is far away and the terrain is rugged, and could be attacked by those wild animals which they are set out to protect.

 

Why is poaching still such a large problem if the existing laws protect wildlife?

The demand for wildlife is extremely high! Animal parts are still used in traditional Asian medicine and the direct consumption of wildlife is a popular specialty. It has become a status of wealth and power to consume wildlife, and some restaurants are making good money by offering these so-called specialties. Wildlife is considered to be much healthier than the consumption of domesticated animals, as modern agriculture uses chemicals and antibiotics, so consumers are willing to pay high prices.

The people realize that its illegal to consume wildlife, but as long as the law is not enforced, they have little incentive to stop. The same goes for the poachers. They earn their living by laying snares and searching for animals in protected areas. Until law enforcement does not improve and the demand remains high, illegal hunting will prevail until there's nothing left to hunt.

 

If poaching is largely demand driven, how could the demand and consumption be reduced?

A behavior change needs to occur, a new approach the WWF is taking right now. But changing peoples behavior will not happen from one day to the next. Law enforcement needs to improve now! In Europe people also like to consume deer or wild boar, but people largely abide to the law and respect the hunting season. A similar system has to be set up in Vietnam. If the probability is high for a consumer to get caught, then a change in behavior will take place. Overall, effective wildlife protection funnels down to anti-poaching efforts coupled with strong law enforcement and reducing the overall demand.

 

Sounds like a mammoth task to me and one that is surely closely linked to development.

Yes. Development plays a key factor, especially for the villagers still engaged in hunting. At the moment, these poachers make their living from hunting animals and sustain their livelihoods in that way. Rangers and officials face the dilemma of taking this source of income away from the villagers. Alternatives to sustain their livelihood, such as becoming a ranger or selling high-value agricultural goods, are therefore essential in order to crack down on poaching.

 

What do you hope for in the future?

Our work is already showing positive results, but we hope to strengthen our contacts with park officials and villagers to jointly protect our natural heritage. We are heading in the right direction, but there is still a lot of work ahead of us.

 

Thank you very much!

 

Note: This interview text is a compilation of individual interviews with Viet Hoang, Alegria Olmeda and Nguyen Dao Ngoc Van (all WWF Vietnam staff). We want to thank all three of them for supporting our journey and taking their time to sit down and share their stories and thoughts with us.