The exhibition sends a message from children to call people to stop illegal animal trafficking. VNS Photo Minh Thu

HÀ NỘI – Paintings, photos and posters created by children aged 6-14 are on display at an exhibition calling on people to protect wildlife.

The exhibition Save Wildlife – Save Our Lives was launched as part of a campaign initiated by Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV) in collaboration with the Vietnamese Women’s Museum and Talky English Centre.

In the campaign, 40 students joined field trips and training at the rescue centre of Cúc Phương National Park to protect wild animals and to run projects to raise people’s awareness of wildlife.

On display are 70 items including paintings, posters, photos and videos, and some works by Vietnam News Agency photographer Trọng Chính and ENV.

Trần Phương Oanh, one of the children involved in the campaign, said the exhibition will spread the message of protecting wild animals and stopping illegal wild animal trafficking.

Paintings displayed at the exhibition. VNS Photo Minh Thu

 “These animals play an important role in ecological balance, creating a living environment for other creatures,” said Oanh.

“Many animals are endangered and nature has been damaged. The devastating bushfires in Australia caused a significant and immediate threat of extinction to the koala population.”

“It’s time to protect nature, protect ourselves,” she said.

The exhibition also showcased entries to the 'Better Life for Bears' letter-writing contest launched last year by ENV. The organising board received more than 97,000 letters from 910 schools nationwide. 

The letters were sent to bear owners and used in other ENV material urging bears farmers to quit bear farming and give their bears a better life at rescue centres.

The letters to bear owners were expressed in many different ways, such as a letter from a daughter of a bear owner and a letter presented as a powerful impeachment note sent by the bear to its captors.

Apart from exhibiting, the organisers also collected signatures to commit to protecting wildlife, launched an online competition to create posters, paintings and videos to fight wild animal trafficking and hosted a fair to raise money for the Action for Wildlife fund.

Viewers of the exhibition will have a chance to join games and activities in different subjects. The exhibition and activities will be hosted by children participating in the project, in Vietnamese and English.

The exhibition will run until August 1 at the Vietnamese Women’s Museum, 36 Lý Thường Kiệt Street, Hà Nội. VNS