Wildlife conservation NGOs call for end to wild birds trade
According to International and Vietnamese NGOs, wild and migratory birds have long been hunted, and illegally traded widely and openly on a large scale in many places throughout Việt Nam, especially in some hot-spots around protected areas and biosphere reserves such as Xuân Thủy, Cát Bà, Tràm Chim, Cà Mau National Parks and in big cities such as Hà Nội, HCM City and Long An (Thạnh Hóa market).
It said many rare, precious and protected bird species of Viet Nam and the world are captured, slaughtered, stored and sold in the restaurant chain named ‘Birds grow bigger’, and in shops selling wild birds, challenging law enforcement agencies.
Recently, the problem has been exposed in many investigative press reports, attracting public attention who requested an i妹妹ediate end to these destructive activities.
Việt Nam is also home to more than 九00 out of 一0,000 bird species in the world (accounting for 九 per cent), widely distributed throughout the country. Unfortunately, according to the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR), Việt Nam has 一 一 Critically Endangered bird species, 一 九 Endangered, 二 八 Vulnerable and 五0 Near-Threatened species. With the current situation of hunting, trapping, catching and consuming wild and migratory birds, the number on those lists will increase rapidly.
The NGOs said they highly appreciate the number of laws and regulations on the protection of wildlife issued by Việt Nam’s Government. However, the lack of specific regulations on the protection of migratory and wild birds has weakened the enforcement by relevant authorities. Especially, a number of wild birds and most of the migratory bird species are not listed as endangered, rare and precious species under Decree 0 六/ 二0 一 九/ND-CP, Decree 六 四/ 二0 一 九/ND-CP amending Article 七 of Decree 一 六0/ 二0 一 三/ND-CP, so the law enforcement agencies have no legal basis to handle the cases or allow for very light punishment.
To maintain populations of wild and migratory birds, conserve biodiversity, ensure functional ecosystems and prevent disease outbreaks, they request the Vietnamese Government to take a comprehensive approach with a series of specific measures as follows:
Strengthen monitoring of the implementation of Directive 二 九/CT-TTg dated 二 三 July, 二0 二0 of the Prime Minister on a number of urgent solutions for wildlife management: requesting Ministries, agencies and localities to lead, supervise, evaluate, promptly reward good examples and apply stringent discipline for agencies that do not strictly follow the Directive.
People's Co妹妹ittees at all levels should be made responsible for protecting wild and migratory birds; Amend, supplement and issue new laws and specific regulations for protection of wild and migratory birds, especially birds that have the roles of pollination and insect pest control in agriculture, as well as strengthening punishments on related violations; Issue legal documents to prohibit advertising, selling, buying, using traps to catch and kill wild and migratory birds and other destructive specialised handmade tools; Issue legal documents to ban the eating, killing, storing, transporting, selling and buying of wild and migratory birds, their meat and body parts; Develop a national action plan to protect and enable recovery of wild and migratory birds; and participate in the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).
The group of NGOs said it believes that the Government's strong decisions to protect wild and migratory birds are actions of practical significance for Việt Nam to achieve the goal of reversing the trend of biodiversity loss worldwide towards 二0 三0, and prevent the risks of diseases caused by trade and consumption of wild and migratory birds. — VNS
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