Ho Chi Minh City, 18 December 2010 – The final round of the Green Talk – the English Eloquence contest on environment protection was successfully conducted by WAR, UNESCO’s Center for Culture, Education and Training, Business World Magazine, Viet Light Media, and Phia Nam Media.

The Green Talk Contest aims to raise awareness of the public, especially youngsters, about the environment and also encourages young people to creatively and actively participate in environmental protection. This is also an avenue for youngsters to improve their English skills while contributing to environmental protection.

The contest included three rounds in which the contestants aged from 16 to 30 years old, proposed education and communication initiatives to protect the environment in a practical manner. After the first round, from 15 Nov to 5 Dec 2010, the 20 best initiatives were selected for the second round. The authors of the 20 best initiatives were awarded with a study tour to the Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station on 12 Dec 2010. In the second round, the contestants presented their initiatives to a judge board in English. The five best initiatives were selected for the third and final round.

In this final round, the authors of the five best initiatives presented their initiatives in the form of an action plan to a judge board that included business men who might be interested in the initiatives and provide support to implement them.

About 300 people participated in this final round including University leaders, business men, university students, and the media.

The first prized was award to Truong Thi Vy and Pham Thi Ngoc Tu from University of Sciences with the idea to communicate and persuade people to reuse coffee grounds as a short of fertilizer.  Vy and Tu enjoy a trip to Singapore to learn about environment protection and 5,000,000 VND. The second prize belonged to Nguyen Kieu Linh from University of Sciences for the idea of creating an intelligent shop where old clothes and rags are turned into fashionable clothes and accessories. Linh enjoys a prize of 3,000,000 VND. The third prize was awarded to Nguyen Hoang Vu from University of Commercial with the idea of setting up a Green Library online and offline. Besides, two other candidates were awarded with honorable prizes and the University of Science was awarded for having the largest number of students participated in the contest.

The Green Talk Contest will also be conducted in 2011 in more cities and is expected to have the participation of a much larger number of youngsters.

Ho Chi Minh City, 12 December 2010 – Thirty five university students who are authors of the best 20 initiatives of the round 1 of the Green talk Contest join a study tour at Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station. This study tour that is a reward for the winners helps the students to understand more about the wildlife of Vietnam, the situation of illegal wildlife trade and what a youngster can do to conserve the unique wildlife and the environment.

The students were so exciting to experience a day at Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station where they discover moved stories of different animals. This is the first time for many students to see, feel and learn that the beautiful wildlife of Vietnam is suffering from so many threats. They was quite surprise when learning that buying a wildlife on the streets and then release them to the wild or handle it to some rescue station, such as Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station is not a good thing to do. The students also actively take part in preparing animal food and then feed the wildlife. Most of the students find a day at Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station is very useful and fun. Some of them even ask to be a volunteer of the Station.

Before the study tour, the students have completed round 2 of the Green Talk where they presented their initiatives in English for a judge board. At Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station, result of round 2 was also announced. Accordingly, the five best initiatives will continue to round 3 that will happen on the evening of 18 December 2010.

Green Talk 2010 is an English eloquence contest on environment protection for people aged from 16 to 30 of Ho Chi Minh City. Each candidate or group of candidates submit practical initiatives those calling for participation of the community in environment protection. This campaign is organised by the UNESCO, WAR, Business World Magazine, Viet Light Media, and Phia Nam Media.

From 15 November to 18 December 2010, Wildlife At Risk will cooperate with UNESCO to organise an Eloquence Contest in English for students in Ho Chi Minh City. The Green Talk Contest aims to raise awareness of the public, especially youngsters, about the environment and also encourage young people to creatively and actively participate in environmental protection. This is also an avenue for youngsters to improve their English skills while contributing to environmental protection.  

Contest regulations

Theme
Initiate a practical idea that involves participation of the public in environment protection toward a “green, clean and beautiful” environment”.

Participants
All students aged 16 to 30, in Ho Chi Minh City

Contest rounds and regulations

Round 1: Submit an application form   
Send your application form, consisting of two parts:
Part 1: a short self introduction
Part 2: An English essay of 350 – 500 words that describes your initiatives that aims to solve problems in the environment.
The candidates can submit the application forms as individuals or a team.
Contest Time: 15 November to 5 December 2010

Candidates can send the application form by post or email to following address:
UNESCO-CEP Office
Address: 68 Vo Thi Sau Street, District 1 TP.HCM
Email: contest@greentalk.vn

Results of Round 1: the 20 best initiatives will be collected and announced on the website: www.greentalk.vn

Round 2:  Deliver an eloquent speech in English to defend your ideas
Time: December 10th, 2010
Twenty students/groups with the best initiatives will present their ideas in English to a board of judges.
Results of round 2: the five best initiatives will be chosen to advance to the third round.

Round 3: The final round and the award ceremony
Time: December 18th, 2010
The five final candidates will present and defend their ideas in English to the judge board and potential sponsors. The most feasible ideas will be awarded and have the potential for sponsorship and implementation.

Prizes
Total value of prizes: 50,000,000 VND
The twenty candidates from round 2 will be awarded with a study tour to the Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station.
The most feasible initiatives have the potential to be sponsored and will be introduced widely among the Green Talk community in the country.

See more about the contest at: www.greentalk.vn

DISCOVERING THE BOUNTIES OF A JEWELLED ISLE

• Contact details of the Manager, Phu Quoc Project, click Contact Us.  
• Pictures of the Phu Quoc Project, click Gallery PQ Project 
• Books and publications from the Phu Quoc Project, click Library PQ
• Phu Quoc technical reports, click PQ Technical Reports
• How to assist with labour on the Phu Quoc Project, click Volunteers.
• How to sponsor or donate to the Phu Quoc Project, click How to Help

In early May, a Rhino carcass was found in Cat Tien National Park. A bullet was found in the left fore leg, and signs of horn removed were found on the skull. The Rhino must be dead for several months. No body knows why the Rhino died and a big investigation is being conducted to find out the reason. The scientists are analyzing the DNA samples to know more about the dead Rhino. Answer from the DNA analysis might also reveal if that is the last Rhino in Vietnam.

WHAT: Thousands of local people, leaders and university students join together in a public event entitled “Speak up to save the forest”. In this event, they will sing a song comprised of only one word “KHONG”, in English it means “NO”, in order to call for people to “Say NO to illegal forest products”. This chorus will challenge the Vietnam Record for the “Biggest chorus in Vietnam”. Famous artists including singer Y-Moan, singer Siu-Black, singer Luu Thien Huong, rapper Kim JoJo, and MC Quyen Linh will take part in this event. Especially, the chorus will be led by British conduct Graham Sutcliffe MBE – who is a former conductor of the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet.

HCMC, dated 02 April 2010 – Wildlife at Risk (WAR) and Ho Chi Minh City’s Forest Protection Department (FPD-HCMC) organised a contest ceremony entitled “Discovering the Vietnam’s Unique Wildlife” at Ben Thanh Theatre. This ceremony aims to raise awareness and call for commitment from the leaders and students of nature conservation, especially wildlife protection, Fig 4.

From November to December 2009, students aged from 12 to 15 from Duong Dong 1, Cua Can, Ghenh Dau and Bai Bon Secondary Schools of Phu Quoc Island have created more than 1000 paintings in a drawing contest called “Protecting the natural resources of Phu Quoc National Park”. The students were asked to express the beauty of Phu Quoc’s nature, threats to natural resources and actions that students can take to protect Phu Quoc’s habitats and ecosystems.

The big news in this edition of our Quarterly Newsletter is about the huge success of the recent fundraising function in Melbourne on 8 Oct 09.  Some $15,320 gross takings were raised.  All funds netted from the night will go direct to developing the Cat Tien Wildlife Rescue Station.  No money will be spent on travel or administration costs as this was covered by individual sponsors.  Every dollar raised will go direct towards ‘the cause’ of preserving Vietnam’s endangered wildlife.

Oanh is an active 17 year-old-girl from Binh Duong province. She has heard about wildlife protection and nature conservation from different channels but does not really understand it or knows how she feels about it, thus she does not really care.

However, after spending one day at the Cu Chi Wildlife Rescue Station (CCWRS) and participating in the release of four pangolins and one big monitor lizard back to the wild of Lo Go Xa Mat National Park, Tay Ninh Province, she changes her mind.

Her day interacting with WAR staff and forest rangers makes her realize the huge suffering and pain some humans’ cause to wildlife. She also admires the great work WAR staff and rangers are doing daily to look after sick, injured animals. Above all, she is happy knowing that the animals can be rehabilitated and then release back into the forest where they belong. The day has opened her eyes and touched her senses. Now her attitude has changed and she thinks seriously about how she can help to protect Vietnam’s unique wildlife.

This is the content of a program called “Global Citizen” of the national television station: VTV3 that is aired every Sunday at 2 PM. The program tells true stories of different individuals in all aspects of lives. Oanh’s story is also a true story. And we hope that the program will help the large audience to appreciate wildlife in its natural surroundings and how to protect it.

The program about Oanh’s journey will be aired at the end of May 2010.
For more information, please contact Huyen Do Thi Thanh, Wildlife
Education Coordinator at: info@wildlifeatrisk.org

The Forest Protection Department of HCMC (FPD-HCMC) and WAR have cooperated to implement a project to support activities of a Mobile Team consisting of members of the FPD-HCMC.  The Mobile Team started its activities from August 2008.

 Programme Objective

 The programme seeks to eliminate the illegal trade of wildlife on the streets of HCMC and make regular visits restaurants to check if wildlife is being illegally served to customers.

 Programme Activities 

• Conduct daily patrols of the streets of HCMC by motorbike.
• Respond to calls from tourists on illegal wildlife trade made to WAR HQ via the Abuse Hotline.
• Make regular checks of restaurants where it is reported that wildlife is served to customers.
• Cooperate with other FPD offices such as those at the Cu Chi and Can Giao Districts in order to confiscate wildlife from illegal traders, or rescue endangered species that are being kept as pets at private house or restaurants, often in very poor conditions.

Cooperation with the Cu Cu Wildlife Station (CCWRS)

 Where appropriate, wildlife confiscated by the Mobile Team is taken to the CCWRS for husbandry care and possible release back into the wild.

 ‘Quick Click’ Easy Find

 Contact details of the Manager, Mobile Team, click Contact Us

Pictures of the Mobile Team at work, click Gallery MT

How to report abuse of wildlife click, Abuse Hotline

How to sponsor or donate to the Mobile Team click, How to Help