Education for Nature Vietnam

ACTION AGAINST EXTINCTION
Education for Nature – Vietnam (ENV) is a small Vietnamese non-governmental organization leading the fight against illegal wildlife trade, trafficking, and consumption. For more than 20 years, achievements to end Vietnam’s illegal wildlife trade have been possible thanks to donors who support creative, strategic, and decisive actions that protect wildlife in the short term and long term. Your support is crucial to continuing these efforts and safeguarding a sustainable future for wildlife, both in Vietnam and globally.

Education for Nature – Vietnam (ENV) was established in 2000 as Vietnam’s first non-governmental organization focused on wildlife conservation. ENV has spearheaded efforts to end Vietnam’s illegal wildlife trade by employing out-of-the-box strategies that strengthen wildlife protection legislation and its application, provide support to law enforcement in addressing wildlife crime, and engage the public to reduce consumer demand and mobilize public action to protect wildlife. ENV is committed to securing a better future for wildlife, both in Vietnam and globally.

Since 2007, ENV has focused its activities in three major program areas that comprise ENV’s strategic and integrated approach to combatting illegal wildlife trafficking in Vietnam.

>> Working with policy-makers to strengthen legislation, close loopholes in the law, and promote effective application of laws and policy that protect wildlife.
>> Strengthening law enforcement response to wildlife crime through direct support and assistance to law enforcement agencies in combatting wildlife crime.
>> Reducing consumer demand for wildlife products through investment in a long-term and sustained effort to influence public attitudes and behavior, including mobilizing public participation and action protecting wildlife by reporting wildlife crime.

The net effect of ENV’s strategy thus far has been:

>> Stronger legislation and policies enacted by government directly as a result of ENV inputs.
>> Improved responsiveness of enforcement agencies addressing wildlife crime.
>> Major impacts on trafficking networks resulting from investigations, arrests, prosecutions, and prison sentences given to traffickers targeted by ENV.
>> Increased public engagement in reporting crimes.
>> Reduced consumer demand for wildlife [based on indicators].

OUR HISTORY
In the 1990s, after decades of war and isolation, environmental awareness was still a very new concept in Vietnam. However, a small group of passionate, young Vietnamese people recognized a great need for sustainable, long-term, locally-led environmental education across the country. With this goal, Education for Nature – Vietnam (ENV) was established in 2000.

The idea to create a local NGO focused on the conservation of nature and the environment was born from ENV’s Founder and current Executive Director, Vu Thi Quyen. At the time, she was working for the Cuc Phuong Conservation Project (CPCP) under Fauna & Flora International, delivering Vietnam’s first sustained community based environmental awareness program in the buffer zone of Cuc Phuong National Park.

Recognizing the need to develop and expand a sustainable Vietnamese-led initiative to train educators and protected area staff beyond the life of the FFI project, Quyen came upon the idea of establishing her own organization. And thus, ENV was born.

In the early days, ENV continued the CPCP work of training environmental educators, focusing a majority of its efforts on developing programs at national parks and nature reserves.

However at the same time, Vietnam’s economy was rapidly developing, and this new prosperity also brought increased demand for exotic wildlife dishes and traditional medicines that were formerly beyond the reach of most ordinary citizens. In 2004, in response to rising consumer demand, ENV began shifting its approach towards tackling the difficult issue of the illegal wildlife trade on a national scale.

Since then, ENV’s strategy has developed to include the operation of a toll-free National Wildlife Crime Hotline 1800 1522 to enable public reporting of crimes, extensive public awareness and mobilization campaigns, the development of the Wildlife Crime Unit to support and strengthen law enforcement in wildlife protection, and a policy and legislation program to close legal loopholes and advocate effective government policy.

PUBLIC AWARENESS & EDUCATION
Reducing Consumer Demand and Mobilizing Public Participation in Combatting Wildlife Trade

Since day one, ENV has understood that we cannot win the war on the illegal wildlife trade without strong public support. Accordingly, ENV has carried out massive awareness campaigns aimed at reducing wildlife consumption and mobilizing public action in combatting the illegal wildlife trade.

In addition to hundreds of seminars, public exhibitions, and art and writing contests, ENV has also partnered with hundreds of journalists who help deliver ENV’s wildlife protection messages to millions of Vietnamese people through mass media. Millions more have been reached through over 56 Public Service Announcements (PSAs) in the form of short films produced by ENV, and aired free of charge on up to 60 national and local TV channels. Moreover, ENV’s long-term partnership with Voice of Vietnam (VOV), the most listened to radio station in Vietnam, has allowed for the monthly airing of ENV radio shows and Hotline advertisements to mobile and rural audiences since 2005.

Over the past 15 years, ENV has produced 56 PSA videos targeting consumers of bear bile, tiger bone TCM, rhino horn, and wildlife in general, as well as several pangolin PSAs encouraging the public to report trafficking, and a special marine turtle PSA aired on Con Dao Island encouraging the public not to exploit or consume marine turtle eggs.

Each PSA is aired on up to 60 television stations nationally, reaching millions of viewers. All ENV PSAs have the dual value of promoting demand reduction messaging and advertising the ENV Wildlife Crime Hotline.

In 2023, ENV reached over 9.6 million people through social media ads and posts. Additionally, 50-60 TV stations aired 4 ENV Public Service Announcements, and ENV’s media statements alerting journalists to breaking wildlife trade news resulted in 400 articles written and published on multiple news websites. And finally, 1,460 ads aired on Voice of Vietnam National Radio Station. These ads, articles, and social media posts all communicated important messages to the public including the end of bear farming in Vietnam, the zoonotic risks to public health from wildlife trade and consumption, and that selling, advertising, trading and possessing wildlife illegally is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

How You Can Help
We are a small Vietnamese non-governmental organization leading the fight against illegal wildlife trade, trafficking, and consumption. For more than 20 years, achievements to end Vietnam’s illegal wildlife trade have been possible thanks to donors who support creative, strategic, and decisive actions that protect wildlife in the short term and long term. Your support is crucial to continuing these efforts and safeguarding a sustainable future for wildlife, both in Vietnam and globally.

HAVE AN IMPACT ON WILDLIFE TODAY
Global illegal wildlife trafficking has been pushing thousands of species on the planet to the verge of extinction. Unfortunately, Vietnam is considered a major player in this crisis, serving as a supplier, consumer, and major back door to China and other Asian countries. ENV’s team has been working tirelessly since 2005 to dismantle the trade, saving countless species from extinction. With your support, we will do everything in our power to save wildlife from extinction.

CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS & FUNDRAISING
To protect wildlife across the world from Vietnam’s illegal wildlife trade, we need to work together with schools, businesses, communities, and individuals from around the globe to sufficiently end exploitation of wildlife for demand in Vietnam. Together, we can eliminate wildlife trafficking in Vietnam and safeguard a sustainable future for Earth’s endangered species!

You can protect wildlife through a partnership with ENV, or by organizing fundraising and awareness events to crowdfund for ENV. Below are some ideas for your next wildlife event, and examples of previous fundraisers!

If you’re interested in speaking to us about your event or about a business partnership proposal, please reach out by sending us a message.

CONTACT ENV:

Address:
17T5 Tower, Hoang Dao Thuy Street, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi
Phone/Fax: (+84) 024 628 15424 / (+84) 024 628 15423
Email: internationalcomms@env4wildlife.org