Third international wildlife trade conference opens in Hanoi
The third International Wildlife Trade Conference opened in Hanoi on November 17 with the participation of 47 countries, the European Union, 7 international organisations and over 40 inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations. Vietnam’s Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh; Laos’ Deputy Prime Minister Sonxay Siphandone; the UK’s Duke of Cambridge, Prince William Arthur Philip Louis; and Deputy Secretary General of the UN Yury Fedotov were prominent guests at the event. Addressing the conference, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh emphasized that Vietnam has attached importance to preserving bio-diversity and protecting wildlife, particularly endangered species. The country set up its first nature reserves in the 1960s, and now owns a system of national parks, nature reserves and reserves dedicated to specific endangered species, with a total area of more than 2.2 million hectares. The Vice President highlighted the fact that during the globalization process, the illegal trade of wildlife is no longer limited to any single country, but has expanded to global scale. The trade involves international crime syndicates, thus threatening the existence of many rare species, causing insecurity and social disorder, undermining efforts towards sustainable development and the UN’s Millennium Goals on environmental protection and human development.
