(VOVworld) - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) held a conference in Hanoi on Thursday on “Zero Tolerance for Wildlife Crime”.

Christopher Batt, UNODC Officer-In-Charge, at the press confrence (Photo: VOV5)

The conference is part of activities to celebrate World Environment Day 2016 on June 5 themed “The fight against illegal trade in wildlife”. The conference said illegal trade in wildlife is driving species to the brink of extinction, while posing environmental, economic, developmental, and security risks. UN Resident Coordinator Pratibha Mehta said: “The United Nations in Vietnam has been working very closely with the government and with international and national NGOs to combat wildlife crime through various initiatives and we will continue to collaborate and support these efforts in addressing very important issues.”

In 2014, Vietnamese Prime Minister issued a Directive on “strengthening measures to control and protect endangered, rare and precious wild animals.”