Fourteen youth were awarded prizes of a drawing competition onanti-wildlife product consumption at a ceremony held in Hanoi on July22.

Eleven-year-old Nguyen Thi Tuyet Nhi fromBen Tre and 17-year-old Vo Thi Thao Hien from Quang Ngai took firstprize, while Vu Cam Tu aged 12, Nguyen Xuan Phuong aged 13 and Tran PhuCuong aged 21 came second.

The competition waslaunched in November 2014 by the US Agency for International Development(USAID), the Freeland Foundation and the ENV as part of aUSAID-funded programme to combat wildlife trafficking in Asia.

The competition received more than 155,000 entriesfrom 1,983 schools and art clubs across the country. It was organisedwith the aim to encourage locals not to consume products from wildanimals such as rhino horns, tiger bones and bear bile.

Douglas O’Neill, Head of the Environmental Department of the USEmbassy in Vietnam, said the massive number of entries reflects hugepublic concern for the issue, which the US Embassy is closely workingwith the Vietnamese Government and non-governmental organisations tocurb.

Bui Thi Ha, Vice Director of Education forthe Nature of Vietnam (ENV) and member of the judging panel shared thatapart from the 14 winning pictures, other outstanding art creationswill also be utilised in the form of communications publications.

Wildlife trafficking and illegal poaching has long threatened theecosystem in Vietnam. The last local rhino was killed for its horn in2010 and only about 30 tigers are currently living in the wild.

The Vietnamese people have played a greater role in the fight againstwildlife crime. The ENV has recorded 8,500 violations since 2005, 42percent of which were discovered and reported by locals through thehotline 1800 1522.-VNA