Trang chủOn December 31, 2024, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment issued Official Letter No. 9298/BTNMT-BTĐD to ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government agencies, and People’s Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities regarding the promotion of law enforcement, dissemination, and promotion of biodiversity conservation and wildlife protection with the following content:
Directing media agencies to increase reporting and broadcasting of messages, reports, and news bulletins promoting laws on biodiversity conservation, control of invasive alien species, protection of endangered, rare, and precious wildlife; conservation of wild and migratory birds in Vietnam; requiring officials, civil servants, workers, and citizens not to participate in hunting, catching, buying, selling, transporting, slaughtering, consuming, storing, or advertising wild animals and migratory birds illegally; Do not breed, cultivate, buy, sell, or release invasive alien species; do not purchase individual birds for release, as this is an act of aiding and abetting illegal hunting and trapping of wild birds.
Instruct law enforcement agencies: forest rangers, fisheries inspectors, market management, customs, border guards, coast guard, and police to strengthen inter-agency coordination, conduct regular inspections and checks of restaurants, wildlife breeding and trading establishments, wild bird markets, key goods transportation routes, and ringleaders involved in hunting, catching, trading, transporting, and consuming wild animals and migratory birds; prevent illegal hunting, catching, trading, transporting, and consuming and strictly punish violations of laws on the protection of wild animals, plants, and migratory birds in Vietnam; implement measures to prevent diseases originating from wild animals and migratory birds.
Strengthen inspection and control of activities related to breeding, cultivating, trading, and releasing invasive alien species into the natural environment, and strictly handle violations.
However, according to reports from the press, especially in the report on the “Chuyển động 24h” program broadcast on Vietnam Television (VTV1) on February 9, 2025 (https://vtv.vn/video/chuyen-dong-24h-toi-09-02-2025-719464.htm), there is currently a situation where people are buying, selling, and releasing Red-eared Turtles at the Huong Pagoda Festival in Hanoi. The Red-eared Turtle is an invasive alien species listed in the List of Invasive Alien Species issued with Circular No. 35/2018/TT-BTNMT dated December 28, 2018, of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, which stipulates the criteria for identifying and issuing the List of Invasive Alien Species.
Therefore, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment requests the Hanoi People’s Committee to strengthen the direction of relevant functional units to promote inspection, supervision, and dissemination of information on the harmful effects of invasive alien species and laws on biodiversity conservation, while strictly handling, in accordance with the law, cases of trading and releasing invasive alien species into the natural environment.