The World Wide Fund for Nature in Vietnam (WWF Vietnam) has just launched a communication campaign to raise public awareness, about the extinction risk of the saola and call for practical actions to protect the endangered animal.
A female saola about 4-5 months old at the botanical garden of the Institute of Investigation and Forest Planning, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. (Photo: David Hulse/WWF)
The campaign kicked off on October 1, within the framework of the project "Saving saola from the brink of extinction", funded by the European Union (EU) through the Re:wild organisation.
The campaign emphasises forest protection as a prerequisite for preserving this endangered endemic species, as well as protecting ecological benefits and community livelihoods. The message is integrated with the "Saola diary", which recounts true, vivid stories, never before known in the mountains and forests of Central Truong Son.
WWF and partners will also widely disseminate information through mass media, expected to include reputable electronic newspapers, broadcasts on national television channels, as well as social networking platforms, to call for the response of journalists, artists and influential people.
The Saola, scientifically known as Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, inhabits the Truong Son Mountain range in Vietnam and Laos.
Found by scientists in 1992, Saola is critically endangered and is listed in the Red List of Threatened Species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Red Data Book of Vietnam.
In addition to the national public, the campaign focuses on communicating with teenagers from 12 to 25 years old, in six central provinces including Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam, where the project is taking place. The project is trying to find and preserve the remaining saola individuals, in the Central Truong Son area.
The project "Saving saola from the brink of extinction" includes three main activities:
- Identify areas with potential for detecting saola, through the observation experience of local people.
- Field survey to detect the last remaining saola individuals in priority areas, throughout the Central Truong Son region.
- Raise community awareness about saola conservation.
Through habitat discovery and support, the project hopes to help the saola avoid the risk of extinction in Vietnam, in the future.