Why Is Prince William Planning a Solo Trip to Vietnam?
Prince William is taking his fight to protect wildlife animals to Vietnam.
Just one month after Princess Kate traveled solo to Holland to further her mental health awareness campaign, William will embark on his own solo tour to Hanoi on November 16 and 17 to attend the third International Wildlife Trade Conference and meet with locals.
William and his fellow campaigners have been concentrating on clamping down on the demand for ivory and rhino horn by appealing to populations in Asia to stop buying the wildlife parts, which they hope will help put a stop to the poaching of animals in Africa and all over the world.
In a passionate speech that he made last month on behalf of the charity Tusk, of which he is patron, William said, “We have the chance to say that ivory is a symbol of destruction, not of luxury and not something that anyone needs to buy or sell.
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“We have the chance to say that rhino horn does not cure anything and does not need a legal market. Now is the chance to send an unambiguous message to the world that it is no longer acceptable to buy and sell ivory, rhino horn or other illegal wildlife products. Indeed, I would challenge anyone who knows the truth of how these wildlife products are obtained, to justify desiring them.”
Details about the two-day trip were revealed by his office at Kensington Palace on Tuesday. William is set to visit with the traditional medicine community, meet young leaders from across Vietnamese society and talk with political leaders from throughout South East Asia.
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The prince “will engage with a wide cross section of Vietnamese society in order to encourage the work of local people to stamp out the use of things like rhino horn,” a statement from the palace says.
“Demand for IWT products in the region has led to an unprecedented increase in the poaching of endangered species in Africa in recent years. As he did in China last year, the Duke will bring a positive message to the people of Vietnam about their ability to play a leadership role in saving iconic animals for the benefit of future generations.”
