2500m mist net were dismantled by Ninh Binh’s ranger forces

Last November 1st, Kim Son District Forest Protection Department in collaboration with the WildAct Vietnam launched a patrol to dismantle 2,500m of mist nets and rescue trapped migratory birds in Kim Son district, Ninh Binh province.

Vietnam's Red River Delta Biosphere Reserve is one of the biodiversity hotspots at the center of the East Asia-Australasia Flyway (EAAF) of migratory birds. However, over the years, this area has witnessed a serious decline in migratory birds due to illegal hunting taking place here. Kim Son district, Ninh Binh is one of the areas in the Biosphere Reserve that is facing an increasingly serious problem of illegal hunting of migratory birds.

Implementing Directive 04/CT-TTG of the Prime Minister on a number of urgent tasks and solutions to conserve wild and migratory birds in Vietnam, WildAct continues to collaborate with the Forest Protection Department of Kim Son district to carry out activities to dismantle net bird traps. As a result, in the 26 patrol points, 6 net trap points were detected, 26 mist nets were dismantled, with a total length of more than 2,500m, and 8 individual birds were rescued. After coordinating with forest rangers to collect traps, WildAct plans to cooperate with a number of recycling social enterprises in Vietnam to come up with appropriate methods for handling net traps to minimize the impact on the environment.

Under the framework of the project “Strengthening law enforcement and raising public awareness to protect Spoon-billed Sandpiper and other migratory birds in the Red River Delta Biosphere Reserve”, WildAct will continue collaborate with local government agencies, schools and communities to implement activities to raise local people's awareness to effectively conserve migratory birds.

Ms. Le Thu Ha, representing WildAct participating in this event, shared: "Working with the Kim Son County Forest Ranger force to remove bird traps is one of the meaningful and important activities within the framework of our project activities. This shows effective coordination between conservation organizations and functional forces to effectively carry out migratory bird conservation work. Hopefully, the collaboration with conservation organizations as WildAct will help the rescue migratory bird patrol work effectively in the following migratory bird seasons.”

Sharing from Kim Son County rangers, the situation of setting up mist nets to trap migratory birds has decreased significantly thanks to effort from the local ranger forces to mobilize local communes; Organized 02 workshop on management and protection of wild and migratory birds for households and individuals in Kim Son and Yen Khanh districts with a total of 110 attendants. Forest rangers also have weekly and monthly outings to coordinate with local authorities to remove traps and handle illegal acts.

At the end of 2023, WildAct conducted a survey of threats and recorded locations of illegal migratory bird poaching in Kim Son, Kim Hai, Yen Mo districts (Ninh Binh); Thai Thuy and Tien Hai districts (Thai Binh) and Giao Thuy and Hai Hau districts (Nam Dinh). Data such as number of traps, type of traps, location, number of birds and species found have been collected and transferred to the Forest Protection Departments of relevant provinces for processing.

In addition, local rangers from the Forest Protection Departments of relevant provinces: Ninh Binh, Thai Binh and Nam Dinh were trained by two experts, veterinarians Lesley Halter and Mark Goelkel from the Four Paws about how to handle bird rescue. The training course also covers diseases transmitted from animals to humans and how to prevent them, helping rangers fully equip safety knowledge while performing their duties.