By IPS Correspondents
HO CHI MINH CITY, Jul 31 2006 (IPS)

Environmental experts warn that Vietnamese eating habits are responsible for a rapid depletion of the country’s rich biodiversity and that entire ecosystems are being destroyed to tickle the palates of the affluent.

”Wildlife species are particularly at high risk as the overexploitation of rain forests has reduced their natural habitat, while rapid development of urban areas has led to the growing exploitation of natural resources,” says Mai Ai Truc, minister of natural resources and environment.

The effects of chemicals used during past years of war, coupled with the rampant logging, slash-and-burn farming, and land reclamation have actually reduced Vietnam’s forest cover by 70 percent. Only ten percent of what remains makes up wildlife habitats and even that is at risk due to a growing demand for wood.

However, illegal trade and popular consumption of wildlife is reckoned as the leading factor that is causing deterioration in Vietnam’s resources of wildlife, environment experts said. “Nowhere is this trend more evident than in Vietnam, where wildlife populations are dwindling at an alarming rate due to illegal trade and consumption,” Eric Coull of World Wild Fund (WWF) Great Mekong, told IPS.

Nearly 700 species face the threat of extinction nationally, with over 300 species under the shadow of global extinction. This is due to “the current levels of overexploitation for both legal and illegal wildlife trade”, a reason that Coull considered being “the single greatest threat to many species, over and above habitat loss and degradation.”

Within South-east Asia, Vietnam plays an important role in the illegal wildlife trade. With its abundant natural wealth, the country supplies international markets, particularly China, with a variety of wild animals. It also supplies the domestic market where consumption of wildlife as medicines and delicacies has been rising.

Tiger bones, rhino horns and bear gallbladders are famous for their supposed therapeutic or aphrodisiac effects, and people with deep pockets are ready to pay high prices for them. Although no one could guarantee their authenticity, they are sold in abundance at traditional pharmacies in Hanoi and HCM City.

In the highland resort city of Dalat, hawkers commonly approach tourists with offers of amulets made from tiger claws or wild boar hoofs. Squirrels, turtles and monkeys are sold as pets, while stuffed tigers and panthers are sought after as living room decorations. A recent survey conducted by WWF Greater Mekong and TRAFFIC-Indochina turned up evidence that half of Hanoi’s population (of two million inhabitants) consumes wild meat, several times a year.

The two organizations are trying to change that situation by launching awareness campaigns and a recent one called “A Matter of Attitude: Reducing the Consumption of Wildlife Products in Hanoi, Vietnam” was deemed to be a success. TRAFFIC is a joint programme of WWF and IUCN – the World Conservation Union – that monitors wildlife trade worldwide.

After interviewing hundreds of people from 2,000 families living in different districts of Hanoi with different backgrounds and incomes, researchers gleaned a widespread penchant for bush meat. Some respondents even thought dining on exotic meats enhanced social standing.

In several towns and cities, it is common to find restaurants specializing in delicacies prepared from “bush” meat. The trade “pushes many animal species dangerously close to extinction, threatening not only the species and natural resources of the country and its neighbours, but Vietnamese livelihoods as well,” Coull said.

“I understand that the habit of consuming wildlife has been anchored into the Vietnamese culture; such a centuries-old habit is very difficult to change,” said Peter Lysholt Hansen, Danish envoy to Vietnam.

“But strengthening public awareness will be an important step in changing the attitude of wildlife consumers, ending illegal trade, and preserving the natural heritage of Vietnam and neighbouring countries,” the envoy added. The Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) supports the campaign to stop the illegal consumption of wild meat.

Vietnamese scientists are contributing to the efforts by amending the Red Book of Vietnam. They have outlined newly extinct and endangered species to emphasise the need for wildlife preservation and provide a scientific background for the monitoring of wildlife populations.

The new Red Book shows that over the past ten years, 148 species have been added to an already long list of endangered wildlife, within Vietnam’s borders.

Prof. Dang Ngoc Thanh of the Vietnam Science and Technology Academy said: “Looking back on the 1992 edition, wildlife today seems to have undergone a dramatic change for the worse. If the highest threat level back then was ‘acute’, today it is ‘very acute’ and for the first time, the Red Book has accepted the worst case label of ‘extinct’.”

The civet-otter is categorised as ‘extinct’ because it has not been seen since 1926. The new edition of Red Book also categorises two more species – a variety of carp, Procypris merus, and a type of crocodile, Crocodylus porosus – as extinct.

The Sumatran rhino, once dubbed the Jungle King in the Cam Ranh Bay area (central Vietnam) was last sighted in 1967. Scientists, however, still harbour hopes of finding a Sumatran rhino somewhere in the deep.

Forty six species are rated as being in ‘very acute danger’. These include Indochina tigers, dugongs, several types of king cobras and primates, while the number of species rated as in ‘acute danger’ in the last census doubled in the past 10 years.

According to IUCN, 20 percent of the world’s most endangered primates live in Vietnam. The most beautiful and most threatened primates in the world are Douc langurs; and Vietnam still has a small population of Red-shanked and Black-shanked Douc langurs, In 1997, scientists discovered another species called Grey-shanked Douc langurs, becoming one of several new large mammals to be discovered in Vietnam.

Unfortunately, the excitement of their finding was soon eclipsed by concern for their survival. The Douc’s instinctive curiosity and its habit of watching rather than running from danger make it particularly susceptible to poachers.

Efforts at creating awareness have included, in recent months, a writing contest for high-school students organised by WWF Greater Mekong and TRAFFIC-Indochina. Students are asked to write a two-paragraph proposal for a 30-second public service announcement revolving around WWF’s anti-illegal wildlife consumption slogan: “Don’t trade the natural world for human demands.”

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