Young conservationist Dang Thai Tuan: “I was a part of wildlife trade”

Dang Thai Tuan is a biotechnology student at the Faculty of Biology and Environment from The University of Da Nang. He has been working at non-governmental organizations in the field of wildlife and environmental protection. Besides being the leader of “Education of Nature Da Nang”, Tuan is a co-founder of “Eco-station”. His mission is to raise awareness of young people in Da Nang about the environment through education and communication activities.

As a pioneer conservationist, Tuan wants to show the importance of the relationship between livelihoods and conservation

Owning animals because of "love"

QUESTION: How did you realize you were interested in nature, particularly wild animals?

TUAN: My journey began when I was a small child, I had the thought that I was simply a part of nature and that I adored it. I enjoy every moment of nature, enjoy the petrichor, and enjoy watching animal-related films. My curiosity is what drove me to pursue those interests. I'm curious about how different species live in the wild.

My family used to live in the mountains from 2008 to 2009, and wild animals seemed strange to me at the time. My father once gave me a monkey and a large cage. My school was close to my house, and if you ask my elementary school friends, they will almost certainly remember that I would almost bring them to school. The ostentation and the desire to show off the unique items contribute to many people's desire to own a piece of wild nature. I'm certainly no exception.

QUESTION: What did you do after owning a monkey?

TUAN: At that time, the movement of owning reptiles was exploding as a phenomenon in Vietnam's three major provinces. After being an amateur in wild animal collecting for a while, I wanted to make money from this hobby, and the money earned was not small at all. People are willing to pay large sums of money to own and trade wild and rare animals because finding them is extremely difficult.

Thai Tuan and his “pet”

Because I have traded in wildlife and profited from it, I became an "anti-fan" of the Education Center for Nature Vietnam (ENV) - a leading center in dealing with wildlife trafficking cases. I used to fight and even curse conservationists in order to defend the view that keeping animals is the same as "loving" them. Then I assumed I was protecting animals, and that if they were released into the wild, they would perish.

QUESTION: What situation did your conservation journey begin?

TUAN: Then a long time passed, everything was normal until my favorite pets suddenly died, which consumed me a large amount of money, but it was not my concern. The thing I cared most about was that I put my effort into taking care of them very well. I was unaware of the circumstances surrounding their deaths. I collapsed financially and mentally, I stopped selling reptiles due to this loss.

Once, I went to Son Tra peninsula, which was unappreciated and not well-known during that time. Wandering around Ban Co peak, I came across the red-shanked douc langur (Pygathrix Nemaeus).

When I saw such a magnificent animal in nature, my emotions became extremely strong. The first thing I wanted to do was catch them so I could see them every day, but I stopped when images of my dead favorite pets appeared. And, at the time, I drove to Son Tra once a week because I loved the green color and seeing the douc langur.

Later then, the media started to talk more about Son Tra. I got to know Ms. Trang Le, who currently was 1 of 10 global biodiversity protectors. She also inspired me to finally release and sell all the species I was taking care of.

Approaching a new aspect of “love”

QUESTION: It was an interesting turning point. I got to know that you have joined many conservation non-profit organizations. What motivated you to join these activities?

TUAN: When I visited Son Tra to see the douc langur, I frequently learned more about this species from the GreenViet Biodiversity Conservation Center. After that, I became a volunteer at GreenViet and went on forest trips to study the behavior of douc langurs as well as the Son Tra ecosystem.

Tuan (the leftmost) became a member of Education Center for Nature Vietnam (ENV) - the organization that he disliked before

In 2018, I decided to volunteer at the Education Center for Nature Vietnam (ENV), which was a significant and difficult transition in my life. To be able to work confidently in the center, I concealed my past by hiding wildlife-related posts on my personal Facebook page. There was always a fear in me. There was always a fear in me. I was afraid of having my past exposed and I could not protect wild animals any longer.

Anyway, volunteering allowed me to gain new insights into the douc langur. Since then, I have also stepped on the path of being a conservationist.

QUESTION: So what do you do as a conservationist?

TUAN: To understand the reasons people poach wild animals, I surveyed more than 500 restaurants, hotels, as well as trading, captive breeding, and butchering wild animals markets in Da Nang city and Quang Nam province. However, finding the reasons and solutions at wildlife's final destination is just short-term and temporary because everything has its own root cause.

To get a deeper insight, I found the traders with the hope that I can know their reason. After conservations, I realized it was literally simple. Traders are the people who have been pushed to the bottom and have had to use the natural resources where they were born and raised in order to solve the eternal story called “livelihoods”.

Now I am in the process of helping them find other livelihoods so that they can create stable livelihoods without hunting.

QUESTION: Could you tell us a little bit about your future plans?

TUAN: I participate in activities to encourage the consumption of agricultural products by people in mountainous districts in order to help them develop their economies, thereby contributing to changing people's perceptions of forest exploitation without harming the environment.

I also take part in activities that promote a green lifestyle, such as helping to establish ECO Station - an organization that raises environmental awareness and capacity among young people in Da Nang through education and communication. I want to be a speaker in order to educate and inspire students about a green lifestyle.

I am passionate about forest trips and learning about nature, so I am going to work with the people of Nam O fishing village to do community tourism.

Thank you for spending your time with Metropolitan!