Nature conservation seeks young researchers

Panels representing nature conservation studies at the Student Conference on Nature Conservation in Đà Nẵng City. VNS Photo Công Thành

ĐÀ NẴNG — Twenty-four research projects from universities and colleges nationwide were selected to be shown at the first Students Conference on Nature Conservation (SCNC) in the central city, promoting the hope of a growing generation of younger conservationists.

The conference was co-organised by WildAct – a not-for-profit centre providing conservation education and protection of threatened species – the biodiversity research centre GreenViet and the Đà Nẵng University for Education and Science.

Its aim is to attract a younger generation of students to participate in nature conservation and research activities, as well as boost solutions in the protection of wildlife species in Việt Nam.

It’s the only conference for students in nature conservation in Việt Nam, building a new generation of biodiversity researchers and conservationists, according to the director of WildAct, Nguyễn Trang.

“The conference has been organised three times now and it has attracted the participation of 180 students from universities and colleges in 15 cities and provinces, with 16 prizes awarded to the successful themes in nature conservation and endangered species,” Trang said.

“It’s the first time the conference has been taken in the central and Central Highlands region, promising a precious source supplying human resources for future biodiversity conservationists and researchers.”

Dr. Hà Thăng Long, a biodiversity and primates researcher said that opportunities to work in nature conservation were open to all students.

He said Việt Nam had been challenged with a degrading natural environment and some species had become extinct.

“Nature conservation is a multi-sector research that involves studies in forestry, biology, IT, planning, design and finance. All students from different studies could join in conservation activities including fund-raising and web design,” Long said.

“Việt Nam has conserved more than 10 million hectares of primary forest and it needs a huge manpower resource to work together in the restoration of the natural environment and keep biodiversity for sustainable development in the coming decades.”

A student works at the laboratory of Đà Nẵng University of Education and Science. The university is the first of its kind in central Việt Nam to open a course in marine conservation. VNS Photo Công Thành

Long, who is chairman and founder of GreenViet, said the organisation has provided field conservation study programmes for 330 students in central Việt Nam and 25 research projects for primates and endangered species were born from the programmes in the Kon Ka Kinh National Park in Gia Lai Province.

Nguyễn Văn Linh, a student from Đà Nẵng University of Education and Science, under the Đà Nẵng University, studied the Annamite striped rabbit (Nesolagus timminsi) –a species threatened by illegal poachers in central Quảng Nam Province.

Linh offered a solution to promote community awareness and legal education in protection of the rabbit species from extinction.

Nguyễn Lê Thị Ngọc Ánh, a student from HCM City College of Law, said she also enjoyed studying the strict legal enforcement in dealing with wildlife trafficking and violations.

She said heavy punishments were not only levied on traffickers and hunters, but also sanctions applied for wildlife species buyers and gastronomers at restaurants.

A study on conservation education, which was introduced at the conference, unveiled that 93.2 per cent of students knew about wildlife study and 74 per cent wished to have educational programmes at universities and colleges.

According to WildAct, employee recruitment for conservation organisations is still tough.

Lecturer Nguyễn Thị Tường Vi from Đà Nẵng University for Education and Science said the number of students joining nature conservation courses in 2024 was four times as many as the previous year.

The university’s Biology and Environment Faculty currently provides education for 325 students, of which 39 are post-graduate studies.

She said from 80 to 90 per cent of graduates from the faculty were successfully employed one year after graduation.

The University has just opened the first ever study course for marine conservation and it’s also the first and the only education site in marine study in central Việt Nam. VNS