Forest rangers in Lam Dong Province helped stop illegal wildlife trafficking
Education for Nature – Vietnam in co-ordination with the United States Agency for International Development organised the awards.
The winners included two environmental policemen, two journalists and one forest ranger.
Lam Hieu Nghia, from HCM City’s Environmental Police Department, was praised for having detected over 20 violations of environmental protection regulations in 2012, six cases in 2011 and 10 cases in 2010.
Another police, Nguyen Van Duong, Deputy Director of Quang Ninh provincial Environmental Police Department, was honoured for having succeeded in preventing the illegal transportation of tonnes of wildlife from Vietnam to China. Most of such wild animals were rare and endangered.
Another winner was Wildlife Conservation Society in Vietnam member Tran Thanh Binh, Director of Lam Dong provincial Forest Management Branch.
Binh was the leader of three campaigns to track and capture notorious illegal wildlife traders in Lam Dong over the past three years, helping successfully conclude 34 cases, including the seizure and destruction of 550 kilos of wild animals and bring several offenders to the court.
Thanh Nien Newspaper journalist Hoang Hai Van and Vietnamnet online newspaper reporter Nguyen Duy Tuan were honoured for outstanding stories about wildlife protection.
