The commercial farming and trade of endangered wildlife in Vietnam has the potential to threaten national biodiversity and facilitate the rate of extinction, heard a Hanoi workshop on July 27.
The workshop was held by the Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV), the country’s first non-governmental organisation focused on the conservation of nature and protection of the environment. It followed a round-table meeting held yesterday with representatives from law enforcement agencies, decision makers, and conservationists on the issue.
At the event, experts said that the wildlife trade has posed a serious threat to Vietnam’s biodiversity and directly resulted in the loss of species such as the Javan rhino in 2010, as well as pushing other species such as tigers, elephants, crocodiles, pangolins and rare primates to the brink of extinction. The illegal wildlife trade is primarily driven by demand from consumers in Vietnam and China.
Commercial farming and trade of wildlife is currently a controversial topic. On the one hand, there are voices promoting commercial farming and trade of wildlife, citing the economic benefits to farmers and the value that farming could have in conservation. On the other hand, experts and conservationists, including ENV, who are opposed to the act, argue that in the context of Vietnam it is not a worthwhile cause, and even stimulates demand, making it difficult for law enforcement agencies to act and facilitates wildlife extinction.
Findings obtained from ENV’s wildlife farming investigation from October 2014 to July 2015 at 26 large multi-species wildlife farms across the country demonstrated that wildlife farming in Vietnam is poorly managed with numerous violations recorded at all of the farms surveyed, as all farms admitted to be involved in some degree of illegal wildlife laundering activity. They revealed that captive populations are supplemented by a steady flow of animals into the farms.
According to ENV, there is an inherent conflict between the conservation of endangered species and commercial farming. Conservation seeks to preserve biodiversity for the future benefit of all animals, while commercial farming is purely a means to gain profit. Therefore, commercial farms might not invest in proper breeding methods which ensure that there will be no inbreeding or crossbreeding, a process that can dilute the genetic value of animals kept on farms and which forms the basis of future reintroductions of the species back into the wild. Moreover, most captive animals raised lack skills and abilities to survive in their natural environments after they have been raised in captivity.
Meanwhile, the presence of both legally sourced and illegal wildlife products on the market compromises the ability of law enforcement agencies to effectively enforce the law, leading to confusion and uncertainty, and ultimately creates opportunities for criminals to circumvent the law.
Chief of the Quang Tri Forest Protection Department Khong Trung admitted that it is difficult for law enforcement agencies to distinguish at the consumer end of the market between wildlife products that originated legally on farms and those that were sourced illegally from the wild.
In addition, by allowing legal trade of formally prohibited wildlife products, consumption of these products would likely increase. The likely increase in demand would accelerate the hunting and poaching of endangered species from the wild to meet rising demands.
Dr. Le Xuan Canh, former director of Vietnam’s Institute for Ecology and Biological Resources said that conservation of national biodiversity is a critical task, stressing the need to protect wildlife, particularly those at risk of extinction.
ENV Deputy Director Bui Thi Ha said that while the farming of certain common species may be acceptable based on the ecology of the species, endangered species fully protected under the law should never be commercially farmed. She also added that any activities associated with the commercial trade of these species should be prohibited.
ENV suggested that commercial farming could be acceptable for common wildlife when there is scientific evidence proving that is doesn’t affect the populations of species in the wild. Permits should be only issued to those species which have been carefully assessed on the impact of the farming activities to the existence and development of them in the wild.
Wildlife commercial farming poses threat to national biodiversity: experts
The commercial farming and trade of endangered wildlife in Vietnam has the potential to threaten national biodiversity and facilitate the rate of extinction, heard a Hanoi workshop.
Source: Nhan Dan
