Wildlife protection exhibition on buses launched in Hà Nội

A pangolin rescued by the SVW. — Photo courtesy o the SVW

HÀ NỘI — Wildlife protection exhibitions on buses in Hà Nội will be taking to the roads from next month after six years of nurturing the idea, said Nguyễn Văn Thái, Director of the Save Việt Nam's Wildlife (SVW).

Thái said that SVW will be organising mobile nature visits to 54 locations in Hà Nội, including schools, shopping centres, walking streets and parks.

The plan is for three buses to be converted into mobile exhibition vehicles and take their message to the wider community.

The first, called 'Magical Green Forest', will show virtual reality (VR) films to visitors, providing an experience of majestic nature with explanations and interactions using specimens.

The second vehicle, called 'Silent Forest', will be a museum of what species still remain and which animals and reptiles have already disappeared forever.

The SVW expects that the second vehicle will stimulate outrage by visitors learning about the health and legal consequences of consuming wild animals.

The third vehicle, called 'Going Home', will hopefully help those who see it understand that they too can play a part in protecting nature through four actions: Refuse, Speak Up, Boycott and Report Violations.

"It will not just be a passing exhibition by looking at photos, we want to connect people to feel like they are in the forests, seeing wildlife and being a part of it. We expect that from these real feelings, viewers will feel the pain of losing wildlife,” said Thái.

“We hope that when coming to the exhibition, people will truly connect with nature, directly see themselves as a part of nature. Each person will be able to clearly feel what in nature is gradually disappearing, why they are disappearing and how that loss affects the viewer's own life. From here, each participant will gradually form specific awareness and actions to protect nature and the environment," he said.

In addition to the three buses, the exhibition area will have a stage system and games to help people interact and have a full experience of what it means to protect the environment and what is being lost.

Here, visitors will be given devices to be able to listen to the natural sounds of the forests as if they are actually there, while SVW will also build a prize system of free experience trips to nature reserves and national parks.

Đoàn Hoài Nam, Deputy Director of the Forestry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the bus exhibitions were a unique project, which were expected to spread the idea of conservation education widely, particularly into urban areas.

"In the city, many people want to go to the forest but do not have opportunity. Through this project, more people will understand and want to go to the forest to experience the wonderful things that nature brings," said Nam.

Việt Nam is one of the 14 countries with the highest level of biodiversity in the world, home to 10,000 different animal species including more than 310 mammals, 469 reptiles, 916 birds, 7,750 insects and more than 20,000 plants, according to the Forestry Department.

However, said the SVW, 29 species were believed to have or are about to disappear in the wild.

Among them, the Indochinese tiger disappeared in 1999, the leopard in 2008, the jackal, the clouded leopard in 2004, the saola, or so called Asian unicorn in 2015, the golden deer in 1980, the Javan rhino in 2010, the white-crested pheasant in 2000 and the central Vietnamese turtle in 2013. — VNS