National capacity building for future Vietnamese conservation practitioners

Rationale

Effective conservation interventions in Vietnam are hampered by lack of local capacity for monitoring the trade of endangered wildlife and identifying at risk species. 

This project will no doubt add crucial value to the regional and global efforts in combating illegal trade of wildlife products in the long term, especially when Vietnam is still considered as one of the largest illegal trade hubs, transit and consumer countries.

The project’s long-term goal is to empower local individuals, leaders, organisations and society to respond to the challenges of illegal trade and consumption of wildlife, as well as taking responsibility to conserve the nation's wildlife.

Raising standards of Captive Wildlife Animal's Welfare (CAW) in Vietnam

Organisations involved in combating Vietnam’s large-scale illegal trade in wildlife must routinely house seized or rescued animals, either temporarily or permanently, and the standards of welfare these captive animals experience vary widely. 

Aiming to build the national capacity and raising standards of captive animal welfare in Vietnam, our course “Captive Wildlife Animals’ Welfare” (CAW) was organised in HERE

You can watch the recap video of the fieldwork session at HERE.

Combating Illegal Wildlife Trade (CWT) in Vietnam

The illegal wildlife trade is a threat to the survival of many animals, including humans. In order to improve capacity and create opportunities for young people to participate in nature conservation, we organised a short-term course on Combating Illegal Wildlife Trade (CWT) from 2019 until now. 

Read more Alumni's Feedbacks about the short course HERE

CWT course 2023 application form is open, click HERE

Master program

Our goal is to work with Vietnamese universities and education institutes to develop and run the first ever master’s course in wildlife conservation in Vietnam in the next 10 years. As a first step toward this goal, in 2023, we are working with the University of Science, Vietnam National University in Hanoi to integrate four subjects to their ongoing master program as optional credits. Four subjects will provide learners with knowledge and skills regarding Illegal Wildlife Trade, Capital Animal Welfare, Research and Fieldwork skills, Conservation Communication & Fundraising. Our program targets Vietnamese master’s students and Vietnamese staff from NGOs and conservation organisations working in the field, as key to a nationwide capacity building program against the trade.

This first master-integration course is scheduled to be held in October, 2023, following the NEWS section of the website for upcoming updates. 

Student Conference on Nature Conservation (SCNC)

In April 2022, we hosted a Student Conference on Nature Conservation (SCNC22). This was the first time in Vietnam a conference for students and early-career wildlife conservationists was hosted. Over 70 students, early-career conservationists joined the conference, and experts from wildlife conservation sectors participated as guest-speakers to inspire and motivate students to participate in wildlife conservation. 

The conference was a success, with 08 awards given to oral and poster presentations. This conference is an excellent opportunity, not only for students, but also for organisations to meet and identify potential employees that can contribute to their conservation effort.

We are CALLING FOR PAPER for SCNC 2023, click HERE

Watch the SCNC 2022 recap video HERE 

List of research topics presented at SCNC 2022 HERE

Project partner:

The courses were delivered in a hybrid mode in collaboration with Vietnam universities, institutes with guest-speakers are professors who covered conservation laws and policies aspects; together with other wildlife experts from international NGOs, local NGOs, embassies within and outside the country. 

University and Institute

• Vietnam National University School of Law (VNU);

• Vinh University;

• Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA);

• People's Police Academy;

• Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR)

INGOs

• Asian Turtle Program (ATP); 

• Animals Asia Foundation (AAF);

• Free the Bears (FTB);

• Fauna and Flora International (FFI) - Vietnam and Cambodia;

• Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - Vietnam and Cambodia;

• TRAFFIC; 

• PanNature;

• International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN);

• San Diego Zoo. 

Local NGOs

• Save Vietnam Wildlife (SVW);

• GreenViet;

• FourPaws Vietnam;

• CHANGE;

• Endangered Primate Rescue Centre (EPRC);

• Centre of Nature Conservation and Development (CCD); 

• Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Endangered Species (CBES).

Embassy

• British Embassy

• Embassy of Spain