A lot has happened in the past week, impacting not just our human existence, but our natural world as well. Most notably, the HIV/AIDS conference in Washington D.C. is about to wrap up, and the World Wildlife Fund came out with a new report warning about the treatment of endangered species in Vietnam.
Vietnam ranks worst in wildlife crime report
The World Wildlife Fund has ranked Vietnam as the world’s biggest perpetrator of wildlife crime in their new report, “Wildlife Crime Scorecard: Assessing Compliance with Enforcement of CITES Commitments for Tigers, Rhinos and Elephants.” CITES stands for the “Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species,” and the report was produced to coincide with a CITE standing committee meeting in July 2012.
The report looks at 23 “range, transit and consumer countries from Asia and Africa facing the highest levels of illegal trade in elephant ivory, rhino horn and tiger parts.” The report rates Vietnam as “failing on key aspects of compliance and enforcement” in tiger and rhino protection, and “failing on key aspects of compliance or enforcement” in elephant protection. According to the report, in 2007, “Vietnam permitted the establishment of ‘pilot breeding farms’ for tigers in 2012, and in a 2012 report to the Prime Minister, the Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development (the CITES Management authority) described three facilities and proposed that ‘dead tigers [from captive facilities] can be used to make specimens and traditional medicine on a pilot basis.”
Scaling up: Vietnamese fish farms search for eco-friendly formula
If reports about animal mistreatment in Vietnam have got you blue, hopefully this feature on greater efforts to promote eco-friendly fish farming from the Center from Investigative Reporting, featured on American Public Media’s Marketplace and PBS’s NewsHour, can balance things out a bit. On the aquatic front, the WWF, the same organization that condemned Vietnam for its forest wildlife practices, is working with with Vietnamese fish farmers to “create a new model for industrial-scale fish farms that puts the planet on equal footing with profits.” One of the methods includes searching for ways to make fishponds completely waste-free. The hope is that these new models will remain profitable to the farmers, but also become more sustainable and conscious of the environmental impact they might have.
Vietnam Bonds Rise As Stable Exchange Rates Boosts Foreign Demand
In economic and financial news, the once red hot inflation rate in Vietnam slowed to an annualized 5.35% in July. This is reportedly the lowest inflation rate since November 2009. Inflation rates in Vietnam climbed beyond 20% at some points in past years. With more stable inflation and exchange rates, foreign investors are expected to have a more positive view of Vietnam.
Nike relies even more on Vietnam for shoes, annual report shows
Nike’s latest filings show that 41% of all Nike brand footwear is produced in Vietnam, making Vietnam the largest source of Nike shoes three years running. China produces 32% of Nike’s products, and Indonesia produces 25%. In the mid-1990s, Nike was plagued with allegations of mistreatment and sweatshop conditions in its subcontractors in Vietnam. Nike responded by improving factory conditions and promoting more humane practices. According to a World Bank case study,
[Nike workers in Vietnam] are now aware of their rights, such as the right to minimum wages, and other entitlements, like food at subsidized rates. The workers also have access to basic education. By 2001, 85 percent of the Nike factroeies offered education and training programs and the remaining factories had similar programs in the pipeline. Nike commited itself to stop deling with factories lacking basic education facilities for workers by the end of 2001. Nike also planned to benefit a target number of about 1000 familes in Vietnam through its microenterprise loan program, and extended the program to residents of communities in which Nike factories were operational.
As evinced by the volume of Nike production in Vietnam, it remains a large presence in the country to this day.
This is a quick primer on the difficulties still facing the quest to end HIV/AIDS, even as prevention and treatment methods become more feasible. Particular challenges include the funding bottleneck and the “medicalization” of HIV, wherein populations respond only through health means but fail to address the social issues that contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS and its stigmatization.
Photo by Flickr user Keither Roper (Creative Commons)