One of the challenges in Vietnam’s efforts to combat wildlife trafficking is the weak coordination among relevant enforcement agencies at the provincial level. To help address this, the USAID Saving Species project supported Lao Cai province, which borders China and is on a commonly used route for illegal wildlife trafficking, to develop and launch a provincial inter-agency protocol for coordination of wildlife law enforcement agencies. Right after the protocol launch in June, the inter-agency coordination between rangers, police, and the provincial court resulted in the discovery and prosecution of four cases of trafficked forestry products. To replicate Lao Cai’s model, on October 15 and 17, USAID organized two experience-sharing workshops in Nghe An and Quang Binh provinces respectively with about 50 participants from their law enforcement agencies. At these events, the Lao Cai Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD)’s representatives shared their experience in the development and application of the inter-agency protocol. Representatives from Nghe An and Quang Binh showed great interest in leveraging local cooperation in combating wildlife crime and applying the Lao Cai model in their provinces with USAID support.

So What? A clear and official inter-agency coordination mechanism among law enforcement agencies in Vietnam will ensure timely, provincial-level coordination for combating wildlife trafficking and crimes.