Wildlife Conservation Project
"Love for the Green Forest"

Current Situation

Today, although human awareness of wildlife protection has greatly improved, illegal hunting still exists. According to a survey on the consumption of wild animal meat conducted by WWF-Vietnam in 2021, about 90% of wild animals are illegally hunted. They are consumed through urban restaurants and bars, with the average consumer consuming wild animal meat up to seven times per year. Vietnam is one of the Asian countries that consume the most wild animal meat and other wildlife products. This continuous demand leads to a serious decline in wild animal populations in nature in Vietnam.

Figure 1: Wildlife traps threaten various animal species – Source: Dr. Raju Kasambe via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) 

Along with the rapid development of human society comes excessive exploitation of the natural environment. Many factories, enterprises, and cultivated lands are built from watershed forests and protected forests, greatly affecting the ecosystem and natural conditions in the area. Every year during the flood season, the situation of floods, flash floods, and landslides due to excessive forest exploitation has been destroying the habitats of many species of creatures and animals, directly threatening human lives. Additionally, many other consequences from human activities affect the ecosystem, such as soil, water, and air pollution, and global warming.

Figure 2: Animal habitat destroyed by forest fires.

Efforts to Call for Wildlife Protection

In response to this situation, many organizations and projects, both large and small, are striving daily to raise human awareness about wildlife protection, especially for rare animals in the red book that are at risk of extinction. Some organizations in Vietnam include “WWF-Vietnam – Restoring nature for the benefit of both people and wildlife,” “TRAFFIC in Vietnam – Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network,” and “SVW – SAVE VIETNAM’S WILDLIFE – Wildlife Conservation Center in Vietnam.” There are also community projects, from non-profit initiatives to corporate projects such as “Cocoon – Ending Elephant Riding Together” and the non-profit series “Natural Selection” with small articles showcasing the beauty of animals and nature accompanied by warnings. Notably, during the 31st SEA Games (in 2021), the image of the Saola at the SEA Games served as a call to protect the environment, condemn deforestation and illegal trapping, and urge more investment to protect the remaining Saola individuals on Earth.

Figure 3: Google cooperates with WWF to carry out the campaign “Retain Sao La’s Footprints” – Source: WWF.

Figure 4: TRAFFIC organization coordinates with the Endangered Wildlife Protection Project in the field of traditional medicine – Source: TRAFFIC.

Figure 5: Efforts to protect wildlife of Pu Mat National Park in collaboration with Save Vietnam’s Wildlife – Source: Save Vietnam’s Wildlife

Figure 6: A call to protect wildlife at an event of interest to the whole world – Sea Game

Figure 7: Cocoon’s elephant protection project – Source: Cocoon.

With the concerns of a young person still in school, I think that merely observing and silently praising large projects is not enough. Based on my current conditions, I – Võ Ngọc Vân Tường – currently a student in the Printing Technology Engineering program, have combined with a course at the University of Technical Education Ho Chi Minh City to carry out my own project: “Love for the Green Forest.”

Project Goals

The initial goal set for this project is to convey an aspect of the happy lives of some animals recorded in the Vietnam Red Book. With the hope that people can empathize with these happy images, they will then love and preserve that happiness for the animals.

Implementation Ideas

I selected several animals and began conceptualizing, finding settings, sketching, and completing paintings of moments where they live happily and peacefully in nature. With the hope that the message I convey will gradually become part of everyone’s awareness when they see it, I chose to use the paintings I created to make a set of office products, the items closest to us today, so that users can see them every day. This will gradually evoke the love within each of us, a small green seed that will help us consider our actions carefully before doing anything that could harm them.

Initial Results

During the two months of implementation, our team received support and advice from Ms. Vũ Trần Mai Trâm on the painting and aesthetics of the product set, and from Ms. Trần Thanh Hà and Mr. Lê Công Danh on technical issues and related printing matters. Fortunately, my project caught the attention of a company – Anh Khoa Brothers Co., Ltd. – which sponsored me to complete this project within the scope of the course.

Figure 8: Product set “Love in the Green Forest”.

With this beginning, I do not want it to stop at just a course project. Therefore, in discussions with the company, we decided to expand and continue this project to create more value for the Vietnamese community, especially to help young people better understand the importance of the ecosystem, in which these animals play a very important role. Anh Khoa’s Brother is committed to continuing support for this project and has many ideas for the future to spread more awareness about wildlife conservation.

Future Goals

As a future member of the printing industry, I hope that my project can collaborate with more printing companies in Vietnam to further raise awareness about environmental protection. I believe that not only governmental agencies and environmental organizations need to be conscious of protecting the environment, but every individual living on this Earth must take action. Therefore, besides the main goals of your business or organization, it is not far-fetched to undertake and spread environmental protection projects through your extensive network.

By sponsoring the “Love for the Green Forest” project, Anh Khoa’s Brother Company demonstrates its commitment to wildlife conservation and environmental protection. We hope that through collaborative efforts, we can inspire more individuals and organizations to join us in preserving the natural beauty and biodiversity of our planet.