As one of the most biodiverse provinces in Vietnam, Quang Nam has established one national park with USAID support and two nature reserves to protect its biodiversity. However, Quang Nam’s wildlife continues to be hunted for local consumption and export to other areas. From November 10 to 26, 2021, the USAID Biodiversity Conservation project organized 13 community events to highlight the infectious disease-related risks of human-wildlife interaction created by illegal hunting and wildlife consumption for approximately 350 people living around the Elephant Habitat Conservation Area.
Raising communities’ awareness of the risks associated with illegal hunting and wildlife consumption is a key strategy to conserve biodiversity, and, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, to protect communities from the risk of future zoonotic diseases.
USAID Biodiversity Conservation
