The Japanese government has pledged $3 million to assist Vietnam in building national data system on biodiversity until 2014, the Nong Nghiep Viet Nam newspaper reported April 22. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment would sign an agreement on the aid in Hanoi today [April 22]. Under the deal, Japanese experts will help the Vietnam side upgrade systems of collecting, storing and sharing information on preservation and sustainable development of biodiversity resources from July 2011 to end-2014. In fact, biodiversity in Vietnam is in the trend of vanishing quickly, experts warned, adding that 882 endangered flora and fauna were listed in Vietnam’s Red Book in 1997, an increase of 161 species from the red book in the period of 1992-1996. Experts blamed the situation to massively illegal exploitation of timber, forest destruction, infestation of exotic creatures, such as the yellow snail and mimosa pigras and environmental pollution that destroys habitats and the living environment of many wildlife species. The country has a high biodiversity with 58 natural reserves and eight UNESCO-recognized biosphere reserves. (Nong Nghiep Viet Nam – Vietnam Agriculture April 21 p2)
