The Vietnam Environment Administration’s Biodiversity Conservation Agency cooperated with the Freeland Foundation to introduce the WildScan application on mobile phones that helps identify wildlife species. The application aims at supporting law enforcement agencies to control the illegal consumption of wildlife species.

The mobile application includes a large library containing high resolution images and important information of more than 300 wildlife species and its products that often illegally trade in the Southeast Asian region as well as providing instructions on how to care for animals. In addition, the application also consists of a simple reporting system. This software is designed to support law enforcement agencies to accurately identify, notify violations and handle animals and animal products caught in the illegal wildlife trade without reference books.

Vietnam Environment Administration Deputy General Director Nguyen The Dong said, “We are delighted to support the launch of the WildScan application on mobile phones in Vietnam. This is a new approach aiming at not only supporting law enforcement agencies but also helping the community identify and notify acts of illegal wildlife trade. We hope this application will be a useful tool to help protect wildlife species.”

The launch of the WildScan application on mobile phones in Vietnam was included in a series of activities to celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity (May 22) co-organized by the Biodiversity Conservation Agency and the Freeland Foundation in the framework of the Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking (ARREST) program. These activities were organized to raise the community awareness about the negative consequences of illegal wildlife and flora trade and unsustainable consumption of endangered wildlife species.

A series of activities to celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity also included the Wildlife Friendly Skies program that contributes to raise awareness about wildlife protection for aviation officials. The training program provided useful information to help aviation officials identify and respond to violations relating to wildlife protection at Noi Bai International Airport.

The first Wildlife Friendly Skies training program was held in January 2015 by the Biodiversity Conservation Agency in cooperation with the Northern Airport Authority dedicated to more than 150 airport service agents, customs officials, freighters, quarantine staff and other departments relating to inspection and identification of wildlife species. Lecturers of the training program were law enforcement officials and wildlife experts. They were given actual cases to illustrate the scope and seriousness of wildlife smuggling and help identify wildlife and its products, as well as let officials know about smugglers and their tricks.