U.S.-VIETNAM RELATIONS EXPAND TO WILDLIFE PROTECTION AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HO CHI MINH CITY 001099 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, USAID/ANE, EEB/TPP/BTA/ANA, OES/STC, OES/ENRC (SCASWELL AND HSUMMERS) INTERIOR FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (KWASHBURN AND KSENHADJI) JUSTICE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES (JWEBB) USDOC FOR 4431/MAC/AP/OPB/VLC/HPPHO USTR FOR BISBEE TREASURY FOR CHUN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD EAGR EIND SENV SOCI PGOV PREL VM SUBJECT: U.S.-VIETNAM RELATIONS EXPAND TO WILDLIFE PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REF: A. HANOI 1370 B. HCMC 156 C. HANOI 1402 D. 07 HANOI 1763 HO CHI MIN 00001099 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Wildlife trafficking, the fate of Vietnam's premier national park and sustainable development comprised the agenda of Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment and Science (OES) Claudia A. McMurray's November 18-22 visit to southern Vietnam. Officials responsible for combating wildlife trafficking in Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding provinces told Assistant Secretary McMurray that a lack of training, corruption and low public awareness hindered enforcement, and acknowledged international wildlife NGOs as vital partners in anti-wildlife trafficking efforts. Cat Tien National Park officials described the international assistance and public private partnerships enlisted to control the logging, poaching, and economic development that threatens the park's unique biodiversity. Lam Dong provincial officials praised a United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported project that trains residents of the national park's buffer zone to grow, harvest, and then work bamboo into furniture and handicrafts for export, reducing both poverty and illegal exploitation of the park's resources. In all her meetings, Assistant Secretary McMurray affirmed the USG's commitment to combat wildlife trafficking and to strengthen bilateral cooperation to reduce both the demand and supply of illegal wildlife products. (Assistant Secretary McMurray's participation in the commencement of the Delta Research and Global Observation Network (DRAGON) climate change Institute at Can Tho University on November 20 is reported in ref A.) End Summary. Wildlife on the menu instead of in Customs Bureau database -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In a faded French colonial building on the city's waterfront, Assistant Secretary McMurray, accompanied by Ambassador Michael Michalak and Consul General Ken Fairfax told HCMC Customs Bureau officials that the United States was the second largest (after China) consumer of illegal wildlife products and that traffickers who exported such products to the United States broke both U.S. and Vietnamese laws. The Bureau chief explained that they lack photos or field guides of protected wildlife, making seizure of such contraband extremely difficult for the Bureau's 1900 personnel. Training of line agents and compilation of an illustrated database of illegally trade species are top priorities. Wryly commenting on both the high number of wild game restaurants in the city as well as their clientele, he noted that government officials had no problems identifying trafficked wildlife, because "all they had to do was look down at their plates." Officials Team up with local NGO to Protect Wildlife -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) HCMC Forest Protection Department (FPD) officials, responsible for area forests and wildlife, described their limited enforcement powers to Assistant Secretary McMurray and highlighted their collaboration with local NGO Wildlife at Risk (WAR) as their most successful wildlife protection effort (ref B). The NGO tags (with microchips) and monitors HCMC's over 400 privately held bears to limit their exploitation for bile or other 'bear products', a program the national FPD is taking nation wide. (Comment: However, ref C describes FPD's recent reluctance to confiscate illegally held bears in northern Vietnam.) They likewise noted a need for more training for FPD rangers and increased public outreach to stem demand for illegal wildlife products ¶4. (SBU) Assistant Secretary McMurray agreed on the value of public private partnerships (PPPs) and described the U.S.-initiated Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT) which brings together like-minded governments and NGOs in the international fight against wildlife trafficking. She also described a recent OES-sponsored anti-wildlife trafficking public service announcement featuring film celebrity Harrison Ford, which she offered to share with HCMC officials. A Haven of Biodiversity at Risk -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Only four hours by car, but a world away from the HO CHI MIN 00001099 002.2 OF 003 polluted congestion of HCMC, Cat Tien National Park (NP) is home to some of Vietnam's rarest wildlife, including Siamese crocodiles and the world's last five Vietnamese rhinos. But with Vietnam's inflation driving up prices by 30 percent over last year, and a poached sambar deer fetching over $100 in wild game markets, officials described a park under pressure from impoverished residents in surrounding communities. The park's 120 FPD rangers combat illegal logging, grazing, and poaching, in the process destroying three to four thousand illegal wildlife traps and snares in a typical month. Ironically, provincial economic development projects intended to facilitate mainstream employment often locate roads, dams and power lines in and around the park in ways that harm biodiversity by bisecting and flooding wildlife habitat and altering wetland hydrology. While an improved website and better facilities attract increasing numbers of foreign tourists to the park, outreach efforts to local schoolchildren, vital to the park's long term future, falter for lack of funds. ¶6. (SBU) Recently returned from a U.S. Forest Service Protected Area Management Seminar at Yellowstone National Park, Park Director Tran Van Thanh told the Assistant Secretary he is leveraging bureaucratic reforms, international assistance, and the expertise of local and international NGOs and wildlife researchers to turn the tide. Recent GVN reforms that placed Cat Tien NP (and five more of Vietnam's 27 national parks) directly under FPD control have reduced poaching, and the prestige of potential UNESCO World Heritage Status for the park has increased cooperation from local authorities. Earlier as well as ongoing projects funded by the Netherlands and French governments, the World Bank, USAID and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have reduced poaching, reforested logged areas, and improved habitat for endangered rhinos and wild buffalo. Public-Private Partnerships Crucial to Park's Survival -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Major international environmental organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund have supported rhino and primate projects in the park, while local and regional NGOs work in the park full-time. WAR has established a bear sanctuary near park headquarters and the Endangered Asian Species Trust runs a gibbon rehabilitation center where primates rescued from the animal trade are prepared for release back into the wild. Both groups plan educational outreach programs at their facilities, Assistant Secretary McMurray heard from local officials. The Director of the gibbon center noted that since they began collaborating, the FPD have become more assertive in their anti-wildlife trafficking efforts, to the point where they now "confiscate more trafficked primates than we can accept". The park also hosts international researchers and feeds their findings back into resource management. Currently, a University of Colorado Fulbright researcher studying endangered primates advises both NGOs and park management on primate preservation efforts. So far these various efforts are paying off, and the park is holding its own: while most of Vietnam's national parks suffer from 'silent forest syndrome' (ref D),the Assistant Secretary spotted various species of deer, wild boar and civet cat on a night time jeep safari. Sustainable Development Reduces Poverty and Poaching -------------- -------------- ¶8. (SBU) In poverty-stricken Lam Dong province adjacent to Cat Tien National Park, Assistant Secretary McMurray toured the Hong Nhung bamboo furniture and handicrafts factory, one of only two larger-scale manufacturing facilities in the 45,000 person Da Teh District. Here 45 workers trained by the U.S. NGO Winrock International, many of them former poachers according to the factory's owner, fashioned raw bamboo into vases, dishes, and furniture for export, including to the U.S. retailer Target. Prior to training the workers, the USAID-supported project determined the commercial feasibility of bamboo handicrafts export, and then provided seed, fertilizer and training to over 2,000 local residents to grow bamboo, lemon grass and high-value hardwoods. The Da Teh District People's Committee Chairman was an enthusiastic convert to sustainable development, noting that HO CHI MIN 00001099 003.2 OF 003 the annual income of $120 per hectare of lemon grass or the $90 monthly wage paid by the bamboo manufacturer were a lifeline out of poverty for the District's forest-dwelling communities. Comment: -------------- ¶9. (SBU) A/S McMurray's agenda of wildlife protection and sustainable development illustrates the continuing evolution of U.S.-Vietnam relations from political and commercial to environmental, law enforcement and quality of life issues. The enthusiasm of Da Teh district officials for environmentally sustainable development indicates that well-conceived, economically viable 'green' projects are feasible even in remote, economically-depressed areas not known for progressive attitudes. Continued targeted assistance in wildlife protection and sustainable development could have great impact. Providing more working level officials South East Asian Nations Wildlife Enforcement Network training would strengthen rule of law and increase regional cooperation. Similarly, public outreach grants to the demonstrably capable administration of Cat Tien NP would build a local constituency for the park's long-term survival. End Comment. ¶10. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Hanoi. FAIRFAX