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| Primary students plant herbal trees in their school garden. — VNS Photo Tố Như |
Viet Nam News
HA NOI — Students at Phụng Thượng Primary School in Hà Nội’s Phúc Thọ District have started a campaign to stop the use of bear bile by planting medicinal shrubs as a replacement.
The campaign launched by the Animals Asia Foundation in collaboration with Hà Nội’s Forest Management Department aims to stop the use of bear bile and protect the wild animals.
The students were instructed by forest rangers and animal experts to plant more than 32 medicinal species in the school’s 200sq.m-botanical garden.
The plants shared similar properties to bear bile, according to a book published by the Việt Nam Traditional Medicine Organisation.
According to a foundation representative, the garden would help the students to learn about the medicinal effects of plants.
The students also plan to campaign in the local community to stop the practice of raising bears for their bile.
Phụng Thượng Commune is home to around 200 bears that are farmed for their bile, accounting for 25 per cent of the total bear farms nationwide.
The Animals Asia Foundation started the campaign to rescue bears in Việt Nam in 2006.
So far, 173 bears have been rescued and raised in a semi-natural protected area at the Việt Nam Bear Rescue Centre. — VNS
