Foreign and domestic donors have pledged a combined of VND92.5 billion ($4.83 million) for a project to protect wildlife animals in the UNESCO-recognized Kien Giang World Biosphere Reserve this year. The reserve, covering a site of 1.15 million hectares, is home to six ecosystems, 1,480 species of flora including 116 red-listed ones, 860 species of fauna with 78 kinds of rare animals, the Tien phong newspaper reported June 30. Illegal trading wildlife animals is a “hot” issue not just in Vietnam but also in the Southeast Asian region, threatening to push many species of fauna and flora on the edge of extinction, Ha Cong Tuan deputy head of the General Department of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said.
