Young people protect wildlife

The story of protecting nature and wildlife in Vietnam is always a topical issue that receives much attention. Understanding this, a group of students from the Faculty of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (VNU-HCM) has made an effort to help young people understand more about wildlife in a visual and vivid way through the game series "Entering the Vietnamese Forest".

The Vietnam Jungle Trial received many positive responses.

Unique approach

“Entering the Vietnamese Forest” is a board game series created by a group of students: Bui Thi Nam Giang, Kit Vinh Dy, Nguyen Thi Kim Khanh and Huynh Ngoc Kim Ly. Through their time studying and experiencing in the field of information and communication, the group of authors realized that knowledge about wildlife is still quite unfamiliar and difficult to approach for many young people. Moreover, this is not a topic that is close and has a direct impact on life, so it has not received much attention from the majority. Therefore, instead of implementing a simple social media campaign, the group chose to bring information, raw data and convey nature stories to the community through the form of games.

The game is played by a card drawing mechanism, for 2 to 4 people with a total of 58 cards, divided into categories: information cards about 5 endangered species (Asian elephant, Indochinese tiger, Javan pangolin, golden mountain tortoise, red-shanked douc langur), temptation cards - solutions, conservation level cards, disease cards - disease prevention and violation cards. Players play the role of explorers, discovering and learning about wild animals typical of Vietnam's forests. Throughout the journey, players will learn more about the natural habits and legal regulations of wild animals. In addition, when facing challenges and difficult situations, players need to make the right decisions to protect the green forest.

The cards are closely linked, so each game is a new story. At the beginning of the game, each player is protected by a ranger card. Using this card means notifying the authorities of harmful behavior to wildlife, helping the player to neutralize the violation card. With a limited number of ranger cards, the game ends when there is only one person left who has not violated - the winner of the wildlife protection journey. The ultimate goal is to complete the journey responsibly.

Student Bui Thi Nam Giang, a member of the author group, shared: “The game originates from the story of each of us, students who have experienced and learned about wildlife for the first time. The game is not only an entertaining experience but also an opportunity for each person to learn and spread awareness of protecting the wild environment.”

From consciousness to action

After participating in the “Go and Tell” journey organized by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and teachers in the department, the group of authors was impressed with the information about the CITES Convention, the wildlife law in the 2015 Penal Code, other information about species, distribution or common acts of wildlife abuse. Therefore, the group flexibly turned this information into functions in the game. For example, information about the conservation level can help players keep more cards in hand, the ranger card helps players stay safe from violations, the disease card makes players lose the animal card and the solution card helps players escape the temptation card, etc.

Officially tested since July 2024, after more than 1 year, the game has received many positive responses. Young people who participated in the game said that "Entering the Vietnamese Forest" provides an intuitive view, helping them to be more aware of protecting wildlife seriously. At the end of July, "Entering the Vietnamese Forest" was officially certified as a copyright. This is not only a memorable milestone to recognize the efforts of the group of authors, but also a testament to the dynamism and creativity of young people.

In the future, “Into the Vietnamese Forest” promises to have many improvements to perfect its form and content. With the support of WCS Vietnam, the game series is expected to be more widely popular, bringing exciting and useful moments to young people.

The “Go and Tell” on-site training and guidance program is organized by WCS, Vietnam Office in collaboration with the Faculty of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (VNU-HCM), for journalism and communication students in the Southern region. The program aims to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to exploit topics on wildlife protection through the development of press and communication works.

GRACE

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nguoi-tre-bao-ve-dong-vat-hoang-da-post809717.html