PROGRAM UPDATES
Environment:
● A Grantee of the USAID Saving Species Activity from Vietnam Wins Goldman Environmental Prize: The world-renowned Goldman Environmental Prize honors individuals who demonstrate significant efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment through local community efforts. This year’s prize for the Asia region has been awarded to Mr. Thai Van Nguyen, the founder of Save Vietnam’s Wildlife, a Vietnamese non-profit organization that works to save animals from illegal trade, protect the recognised wildlife strongholds and monitor released individual and wild populations in Vietnam. It rescued 1,540 pangolins from the illegal wildlife trade between 2014 and 2020. Nguyen also established Vietnam’s first anti-poaching unit, which, since 2018, has destroyed 9,701 animal traps, dismantled 775 illegal camps, confiscated 78 guns, and arrested 558 people for poaching, leading to a significant decline in illegal activities in Pu Mat National Park (in Vietnam’s central province of Nghe An). USAID is strongly committed to countering wildlife trafficking efforts in Vietnam and provides assistance on strengthening law enforcement and reducing consumer demand for illegal wildlife and wildlife products. In 2019, USAID Saving Species provided a grant to Save Vietnam’s Wildlife to support their pangolin rescue and release work with the use of drone technology to monitor recovered pangolins, greatly enhancing their ability to track these animals after their release back into the wild. The grant also supported law enforcement training on combating illegal wildlife trafficking. USAID is proud to have supported Save Vietnam’s Wildlife and this prestigious prize is well-deserved recognition for the organization’s outstanding counter wildlife trafficking and rescue work.
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Download: USAID Vietnam Weekly Report, 18.06.2021