Vietnam Launches Germany-Funded Biodiversity Preservation Project

The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the German Technical Cooperation’s (GTZ) have joined hands to launch a project for biodiversity preservation in the forest ecosystems in Vietnam from now up to 2020. The project will be divided into three phases, with the first worth EUR3 million funded by the GTZ for the 2010-2013 period, the online newspaper thiennhien.net reported late Dec 8. The first phase will be piloted in Ba Be national park in the northern province of Bac Kan, Na Hang natural reserve in the northern province of Tuyen Quang, Pu Luong and Pu Hu natural reserves in the central province of Thanh Hoa and Bach Ma national park in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue as well as buffer zones of the protected areas. The project is aimed to enhance capability in persevering biodiversity, protect forest ecosystems, and set up technical and financial conditions for biodiversity preservation in the country’s forest ecosystems, especially at national level and in natural reserves. Vietnam has a high biodiversity with 58 natural reserves and eight UNESCO-recognized biosphere reserves. The country is home to nearly 700 species of endangered flora and fauna, of which 300 are in danger of extinction worldwide. Vietnam has 10.3 million hectares of natural forests, making up 31% of the country’s total forest area, including just 0.57 million hectares of primeval forest. GTZ and Vietnam’s partners have actively been carrying out sustainable development projects in the fields of sustainable economic development, natural resources management and healthcare services since 1993. (vietnamplus.vn Dec 8, thiennhien.net Dec 8)