The prize honours grassroots environmental heroes from the world’s six inhabited
continental regions of Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North
America, and South and Central America.
The prize, worth 200,000 USD, recognises individuals for sustained and
significant efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment, often at
great personal risk.
Thai was given the award at a virtual ceremony, which took place on June 15, for
his contributions to rescuing 1,540 pangolins from the illegal wildlife trade
between 2014 and 2020 and establishing Vietnam’s first anti-poaching team under
the co-management of Save Vietnam's Wildlife – a local non-governmental
organisation and the Government since 2018.
The team has destroyed 9,701 animal traps, dismantled 775 illegal camps,
confiscated 78 guns and arrested 558 poachers between June 2018 and December
2020, leading to a significant decline in illegal poaching in Pu Mat National
Park in the central province of Nghe An.
In 2016, Thai opened the Carnivore and Pangolin Education Centre, the first of
its kind in Vietnam, in order to provide wildlife conservation courses to local
children and the general public. He also gives training courses to customs
officials, border guards and forest rangers on wildlife laws and how to properly
care for seized pangolins.
As a result, nearly 8,200 children living in the buffer zone of Cuc Phuong
National Park have been inspired in wildlife conservation so far. About 2,500
law enforcement officers have been given training courses on wildlife
conservation.
The Goldman Environmental Prize was established in 1989 by late San Francisco
civic leaders and philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman.
In 32 years, the prize has had an immeasurable impact on the planet. To date,
the prize has honoured 206 winners from 92 nations, and has shone a light on
many of the critical issues facing the Earth.
Source: VNA