NO LAWS MAY NOT QUELL APPETITE FOR RARE WILDLIFE

By Timothy Karr

IN January 1994, environmentalists worldwide praised Vietnam
for signing the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES), calling the move a positive step
in the battle against Vietnam's trade in rare wildlife.

Now, six months later, their optimism is being put to the
test.

"CITES has made a positive impact on the attitudes of
authorities especially at the Ministry of Forestry," David
Hulse of the Worldwide Fund for Nature told Vietnam
Investment Review. The Forest Protection Department is
taking this very seriously. It [CITES] only became effective
on April 20. Steps are being made now to get the legislation
out on the books but it is still too early on to gauge the
effects," he said.

"Legislation is one thing and implementation and enforcement
another," Hulse added.

According to recent data collected by the Institute of
Ecology and Living Creatures Resource under the Ministry of
Science, Technology and Environment, the number of animals
traded in Vietnam has climbed to 70 species, of which 60
belong to the group of "rare and precious animals" listed in
a 17 January 1992 government decree as banned from
exploitation and trade. As a CITES signatory, Vietnam agreed
to join the 122 other member nations to fight the
international trade in plants and animals now facing
extinction . "This means they will take measures to stop the
international trading of wildlife now seen for sale in every
major city and port of Vietnam," said Michael Brewin,
Vietnam field director for Frontier, a British based
environmental group in Vietnam to conduct field surveys of
wildlife.

"In a region like Sa Pa [Lao Cai Province], the hill tribes
are shooting and trapping everything," said Brewin. They are
more concerned with earning a living, he said. "In Sa Pa
[government legislation] doesn't really work."

Animals now threatened with extinction in Vietnam include
Malayan bears, flying squirrels, clouded leopards, grey
gibbons, crab eating macaques and other endangered primates,
and pelicans and other rare birds which are being sold
primarily to tourists and traders from Singapore, Thailand,
Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and South Korea.

There seems to be a fairly  substantial domestic market for
stuffed small carnivores as well," said Brewin. "You see
Vietnamese tourists buying these."

Medicinal products from these animals are sold on Lan Ong
Street, in Hanoi or on Trieu Quang Phuc street in Ho Chi
Minh City. Hong Kong has emerged a major customer for
Vietnamese monkeys. In 1992, 200 macaques were exported to
Hong Kong by the April 18 Company of Nha Trang Kong at US$50
to $60 per monkey. Most of these animals were taken from a
nearby island which is routinely raided for its abundant
supply of primates.

[The Company maintains animals on several islands an feeds
them by provisioning. The company says it does not sell
wild-caught animals. Ed.]

Hong Kong and Taiwan are big importers of Vietnamese bird
nests, used in soups. Every year, the Nha Trang Nests
Company earns US$2 million from their exports, according to
a recent report in the Vietnamese press. Steve Broad,
Director of Traffic Southeast Asia, said that since 1991 and
1992 Singaporean traders have bought a considerable quantity
of birds from Vietnam for sale as pets or re-export to other
nations. Only recently, a dealer in Singapore bought one
million Red Avadavats and 500 Tsiltacula Alexandri
(moustached parakeets).

"While these birds are not now listed as rare and precious,
given the size of the hunt for them, their habitats are now
in peril and their colonies will sharply reduce soon," he
told Vietnam Investment Review in a phone interview.

Traffic Southeast Asia has been involved with Vietnam for
two years. "Over that period there have been significant
improvements but joining CITES was a very important step,"
Broad said. In March, Traffic sponsored a seminar in Vietnam
which discussed CITES and suggested measures to enforce
controls on the trade. "The Ministry of Forestry is now
imposing specific actions" Broad said. "They have cut down
some of the worst aspects of the trade hut there is still a
lot to do."

The other big issue, according to Broad and Brewin, is
Vietnam's internal market for endangered species. "CITES as
a convention against international trade cannot influence
what Vietnam does within its own borders." Broad said.

"Any foreign tourist can buy wildlife products here and take
them back to their own country if their goods are not
confiscated at customs." Vietnam is prized for its unique
biological diversity with over 19,000 species of animals
listed as inhabiting its varied coastal and mountain
ecological zones.

At the CITES Conference this November, Vietnam will
introduce two new species to Appendix One, a list of the
worlds most endangered species."

In 1992, World Wildlife Fund surveyors in the Vu Quang
forest of Central Vietnam discovered the remains of the
_Pseudoryx nghehinhnsis_, or Vu Quang Ox, a species of
animal previously unknown to science. Subsequent surveys
revealed the existence of a second unlisted species, the
Giant Muntjac, or barking deer.

While no living specimens of the two species have been
found, the importance of the discovery helped persuade
Vietnamese officials to expand the Vu Quang forest reserve
from 16,000 to 60,000 hectares and to shut down

The move has been hailed along with other recent government
gestures as a positive step to protect Vietnam's threatened
species. "From a legal point of view they are doing
everything they can," Hulse said, "but we're still in the
early stages."

Vietnam Investment Review 27 June-3 July 1994 p.24