Vietnam wildlife conservation

The detection and settlement of wildlife crimes in Vietnam have recoded strides over the last five years, according to Deputy Director of the Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV) Bui Thi Ha. Rescued bears kept in a semi-natural habitat (Photo: VNA) Talking to the Vietnam News Agency ahead of the World Wildlife Day (March 3), Ha highly valued many organisations’ assistance for authorities in monitoring violations. However, she noted, there remain a number of challenges to the fight against wildlife crimes. The discovery of infringements and seizure of prohibited goods are initial successes, but they are only useful when helping with the investigation into trafficking rings and ringleaders, she said. Ha pointed out that although the legal system on the conservation and sustainable development of wild animals has been gradually completed, wildlife-related violations remain complex in some localities, posing higher extinction risks to many wild species in the nature and negatively affecting ecological balance, human health, and Vietnam’s prestige in the world. In 2020, ENV recorded 2,907 wildlife-related violation cases, almost doubling the figure in 2019. Among them, there were 1,956 advertising cases, 863 caging cases, and 98 transportation ones. Monkeys, bears, tigers, elephants, and pangolins are among the species involved in violations, ENV found. Between 2015 and 2020, the number of uncovered and handled criminal cases related to wildlife rose 44 percent, showing an improvement in the settlement of wildlife crimes since the 2015 Penal Code, revised and supplemented in 2017, took effect on January 1, 2018, Ha said. She added that since 2005, ENV has operated a free hotline for wild animal protection to receive people’s information about illegal wildlife trafficking, hunting, transport, and storage. In the time ahead, the organisation will maintain this hotline and boost communications to raise public awareness of the …

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While the number of COVID-19 cases is increasing globally, rapidly changing on an hourly and daily basis which can be tracked almost in real time, the incidence, infection burden and fatality rates in Vietnam are still low. Vietnam declared COVID-19 a nationwide epidemic on April 1. By October 15, 2020, Vietnam reported 1,122 cases with 35 deaths (WHO 2020). With approximately 97 million inhabitants, the Southeast Asian nation has conducted 12,772 tests/1 million. According to the WHO classification, Vietnam reports transmission from clusters of cases and not by community transmission or sporadic cases. Vietnam lifted its social isolation measures when schools and businesses reopened after International Labour Day, but continued to reduce risk through the mandatory use of face masks. The speed of response was the crucial factor. The Vietnamese government has been instrumental in identifying and demarcating infection clusters and has responded well to the COVID-19 situation and handling of COVID-19 in terms of the WHO test, treat and track approach (T3). For example, COVID-19 reappeared in the city of Da Nang in late July 2020, where the first two deaths of COVID-19 were reported. The entire city was placed under strict lockdown exceeding 45 days. Public transportation was shut down, severely restricting population movements and, thus, stopping the wave of transmissions of COVID-19 in communities. Vietnam has adopted extensive approaches in its intense fight against the pandemic. In particular, it has adopted a fairly good and comprehensive approach from the early stages of the epidemic, as it has begun early identification of contact persons, quarantine measures, timeliness, efficient mobilization of state agencies and a progressive policy of social distancing. Measures to identify those who have been infected or even exposed at airports and quarantine measures have also been efficiently managed to date. The country is very rigorous with its case control …

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The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) stipulates that players cannot be quarantined for more than four days when they visit a country for a match, but in Vietnam the requirement is 14 days. Saigon had expressed a desire to play host, but that honors falls on Singaporean club Lion City Sailors, who have met all the AFC’s requirements. Besides Saigon and Lion City Sailors, Group H also consists of Malaysian club Kedah and a qualifier. The games will be played from June 22 to 28. This is Saigon’s maiden appearance in the event -- they qualified by finishing third in the V. League last year -- but, with weaker opponents in the group, are expected to sail through to the next round. The host of group G, in which Hanoi FC take on Indonesia’s Bali United, Cambodia's Boeung Ket and the play-off winner, has yet to be decided. This is Hanoi’s fifth appearance in the AFC Cup. They finished second in the V. League and won the National Cup last year. Vietnam’s representative in the top-flight AFC Champions League, Viettel FC, will play their group matches in Bangkok from April 21 to May 7. This year, the AFC Cup group stage has been expanded by three teams to 39 with a new Central Asia Zone group. The first and second placed teams in each group will advance to the next round. The champions will be awarded a spot in the preliminary stage of 2022 AFC Champions League. …

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