TRAFFIC Vietnam Director Shares Conservation Insights During Yale Fellowship
Trinh Nguyen, TRAFFIC's Vietnam Country Director and 2025 Yale World Fellow, recently appeared on the Yale Leads podcast during her fellowship at Yale University to discuss her pioneering work in wildlife conservation and the fight against illegal wildlife trade.
In the conversation, Nguyen shared her journey from witnessing Vietnam's "silent forests", lush landscapes emptied of wildlife due to poaching and illegal trade, to leading innovative behavioural change campaigns that address the cultural and social drivers of wildlife consumption.
Her approach has helped shift attitudes among key consumer groups in Vietnam, one of the world's major markets for illegal wildlife products.
Conservation for many years was about guilt and punishment,"
Nguyen explained.
At TRAFFIC, we're pioneering the use of behavioural science. If you want to change people and make them interested in protecting wildlife, you need to meet them where they are, not where you want them to be."
As Vietnam's first local female Country Director at TRAFFIC, Nguyen also discussed the importance of creating opportunities for women to become leaders and of adapting conservation strategies in an era of shrinking development budgets, emphasising partnerships with the private sector, engagement with emerging financial mechanisms such as biodiversity credits, and community-centred approaches.
The fellowship has provided Nguyen with space to explore critical questions about long-term, scalable solutions for wildlife conservation while connecting with global leaders tackling challenges across sectors.
Listen to the full conversation on the Yale Leads podcast to learn more about Nguyen's work protecting wildlife and building a more sustainable future for Vietnam.
