Wildlife Conservation Vietnam Project #54287

End the Killing of Elephants for VN Ivory Trade

by ENV Wildlife Conservation Trust

Summary

Ivory demand is the leading cause of African elephant poaching, and a large part of it stems from Asia. More specifically, Vietnam plays a major role in the demand and illegal trade of ivory. To end the killing of African elephants, ENV educates the Vietnamese public, targets the illegal ivory trade in Vietnam, and supports the prosecution of Vietnamese ivory traffickers. To strengthen our approach to end Vietnam's ivory trade and protect African elephants, we need international support.

$5,000
total goal

$4,029
remaining

10
donors

0
monthly donors

1
year

Challenge

Every day, 55 African elephants are killed for the ivory trade. While ivory has been illegal in Vietnam for decades, demand persists due to the perceived honor associated with buying or owning ivory. Because of demand in Vietnam and other Asian countries, Vietnamese wildlife traffickers smuggle tons of ivory into Vietnam and use Vietnam as a transit route for smuggling ivory into nearby countries. From 2018, ~19 tonnes of ivory has been seized in Vietnam, depicting only a fraction of the trade.

Solution

To protect elephants, we need to end demand for ivory by educating the public in Vietnam not to buy or have ivory products and to report ivory crime to ENV's Wildlife Crime Hotline. ENV must continue working with law enforcement to address ivory crime reported by the public and volunteers, while taking down online ivory ads and traders, especially in Vietnam's ivory hotspot. ENV is also bolstering our support to Vietnamese courts in the prosecution of ivory traffickers to ensure prison sentences

Long-Term Impact

ENV's strategic approach has transformed wildlife protection in Vietnam for 20 years; now we're harnessing international public support and targeting our efforts to end the demand, trafficking, and trade of ivory in Vietnam. To achieve long-term change, from 2020-2021 ENV has reached millions with awareness messages; tackled >935 ivory cases; removed 86.7% of ivory ads discovered by online investigations; and 17 ivory cases were tried and 26 ivory traffickers were imprisoned due to ENV efforts.