Education for Nature - Vietnam (ENV) was established in 2000 as Vietnam’s first non-governmental organization focused on the conservation of nature and the protection of the environment. ENV combats the illegal wildlife trade and aims to foster greater understanding amongst the Vietnamese public about the need to protect nature and wildlife. ENV employs creative and innovative strategies to influence public attitudes and reduce demand for wildlife trade products. ENV works closely with government partners to strengthen policy and legislation, and directly supports enforcement efforts in the protection of endangered species of regional, national, and global significance.

ENV strategic Programs

Since 2007, ENV has focused its activities on three major program areas that comprise ENV’s integrated strategic approach for addressing illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam. These include:

• Reducing consumer demand for wildlife products through investment in a long-term and sustained effort to influence public attitudes and behavior.
• Strengthening enforcement through direct support and assistance to law enforcement agencies, and mobilizing active public participation in helping combat wildlife crime
• Working with policy-makers to strengthen legislation, close loopholes in the law, and promote sound policy and decision-making relevant to wildlife protection.

Why They Do This

Vietnam is recognized globally for its unique biodiversity. With a relatively small land area stretching over 1,600km from north to south, Vietnam is home to many rare and endangered species, including species that are found nowhere else in the world.

However, rapid economic growth over the past 15 years has resulted in rising consumer demand for expensive foods and medicines made from wildlife that were formerly beyond the reach of most ordinary Vietnamese. Hunting and trade of wildlife has led to the decline of wild populations of many mammal, bird, and reptile species.  In 2010, the Javan rhinoceros was declared extinct in Vietnam.  Now, Indochinese tigers, Asian elephants, the newly-discovered saola, and a number of rare primate species hang on the brink of extinction in Vietnam.

To feed this rising public demand for wildlife, a vast criminal network operates across borders into neighboring countries and beyond, bringing wildlife to Vietnamese consumers from as far away as Africa.

ENV recognizes the urgency of the situation facing Vietnam, and the global responsibility they share to do their part to protect endangered wildlife.  They are driven by the understanding that they must make a meaningful and lasting difference through their work to successfully safeguard the future of not just Vietnam’s wildlife, but global populations of species destined for Vietnamese consumers.