The World
Wildlife Fund and wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC is teaching students
about the illegal wildlife trade at 12 junior high schools in the central
province of Thua Thien-Hue.
The program
is designed to help stop the illegal trade of wildlife in Vietnam.
The project
will work in secondary schools as organizers consider the teenage years the best
point at which to reach students about the necessity of protecting wildlife.
The students are already equipped with basic knowledge about nature in several
regular classes at school.
The extra classes under the
program provide additional knowledge about endangered species, the current
status-quo of wildlife trafficking and the
Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), on which Vietnam is a
signatory.
Thua
Thien-Hue Education and Training Department and the province Forest Management
Department will help organize the courses.
Van Ngoc
Thinh, local director of the project, said that though Thua Thien-Hue is not a
hotspot for wildlife illegal trade, it still offered a route for the illegal
trade between Laos and Cambodia to Vietnam. China is the final destination for
most of the illegally caught and killed animals.
“Education
(about wildlife protection) here has a very important meaning as it will
directly intervene in the wildlife illegal transport and trade,” he said.
The program
was tried at Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Junior High on Saturday.
