Green Echoes #22 - Q&A with Trang Bui on reporting the illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam
Welcome to Green Echoes, a newsletter from the Environmental Reporting Collective that highlights key investigative stories, data sources, funding, reporting and training opportunities and our projects from across Asia.
Q&A with Trang Bui
In our last issue, we featured our latest investigation by Trang Bui and Lam Quan, conducted with MDI with support from Internews’ Earth Journalism Network, on whether or not the illegal wildlife trade in the hotspot of Vietnam will come back stronger after Covid-19.
Trang Bui graciously agreed to share a bit the reporting process behind this investigation. She’s a multimedia freelance journalist with several years’ experience working with Vietnamese and international media outlets, covering a range of topics but focused on environment and development issues. Her reporting has been published in The Guardian, South China Morning Post, TIME, VnExpress and Zing News.
Nithin: How did this investigation initially get started?
This investigation started several months after ERC published the first collaboration project, The Pangolin Reports, which I was delighted to contribute a small part in undercover reporting and data collection. With pangolins, we were able to map a trade route based on seizure data reported by local media, and we felt that there is potential to find out similar information about other wildlife species and products that are being trafficked to and through Vietnam, such as rhino horns, ivory, tigers and turtles.
Colleagues at Internews’ Earth Journalism Network liked the idea, and agreed to fund us a grant to conduct these four separate investigations, which we are very grateful for.
What was it like reporting this during a pandemic? Any unexpected challenges, or issues, come up during your investigation, and how did you address them?
We were lucky to be in Vietnam, where the pandemic has been fairly well controlled in most areas, so traveling inside the country was possible. Lam Quan is an experienced investigative journalist who has been able to infiltrate in wildlife criminal networks even before the pandemic, so he was able to make necessary phone calls and visits.
Initially, the project aimed to find out hotspots of the illegal wildlife trade within Vietnam. However, as the pandemic went on and its impacts are starting to be much more visible on these traders, we decided to change course and focus more on the shift of criminal activities, in order to prepare a timely report for readers. It definitely took more effort, but I think everything was worthwhile.
For others journalists looking to embark on their own investigation of wildlife trafficking - any advice or things to consider from the start?
Research, research and research. Wildlife trafficking is complex, and there are plenty of resources provided by NGOs and conservation groups that journalists can dig in before starting their investigation. It is important to read through materials thoroughly and allow yourself enough time to absorb the cumbersome amount of information, rather than rushing and finding out new details afterward. It is also vital that journalists keep an open and critical mindset, as the trade is intricate and approaches to eradicate the trade can be widely debatable.
What do you hope that readers, or decision-makers, takeaway from your investigation?
One theme that readers can notice keeps popping up throughout the article is that the illegal wildlife trade is difficult to dismantle, even during a pandemic, because there is still demand. I hope they are aware that they themselves can contribute to keeping these endangered animals alive, by not consuming and convincing others not to consume these animal products that are not scientifically proven to be effective.
Any plans to do follow up reporting, or other related investigations?
It will be a great idea to look into the illegal wildlife trade again when the pandemic eventually phases out across the globe, if it actually comes back stronger. The longer the pandemic drags on, the more unpredictable the outcomes for the trade can become. I cannot tell for sure about my plans, but it would be a great topic to look into for wildlife investigative journalists.
Read the full investigation, with graphics, photos, and visualization, on our website. For editors and media outlets, this investigation is available for republication – respond to this email if you’re interested.
The best reporting from around Asia
Do read this investigation published in Mongabay, on the environmental and social impacts of South Korean-funded coal plants in Indonesia. It was the result of a multi-month collaboration between Seulki Lee and Della Syahni – and is an example of the type of projects we hope to support in the future.
Tempo just published this well-reported feature by Abdul Manam and Sofyan Siruyu on the impacts of dredging on the Poso River basin in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.
And check out the latest from Oxpeckers. For them, Richa Syal digs into the data to find that Malaysian courts are imposing heavier penalties for wildlife crimes, but whether or not this enough to deter organized criminal networks remains uncertain.
Data, Resources and Training
The Earth Journalism Network has released a self-paced online course on covering zoonotic diseases, a topic that the pandemic has made all-too-relevant. Sign up here.
For our Indonesian-speaking audience, the Google News Initiative is holding a two week long verification workshop. Apply here (deadline 21 May).
New resources: The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime has released a new report on the global illicit economy that show the inter-relationships and interdependence between global mega-trends and the trajectories of organized crime since 2000.
And from the Global Forum for Media Development: a case study on how investigative news oulets can measure the impact of their investigative reporting, a ongoing challenge I know many of us deal with regularly.
A new fellowship opportunity from Mongabay. Applications are open for the Sue Palminteri WildTech Reporting Fellowship, which allows reporters to focus on stories that cover conservation technology-related research (deadline 31 May).
EJN is also accepting applications for Fisheries Subsidies Story Grants, aimed at supporting the production of in-depth stories that will call attention to fisheries subsidies issues, both at a large and small scale (deadline 1 June).
That’s all for this week. As always, please respond to this email if you have comments, know of articles or opportunities we missed, or have anything else you’d like to share.
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Stay safe and healthy,
Nithin Coca