An international seminar on preservation of forest biodiversity is being held in Ba Vi, Hanoi on May 21-22, as parts of activities to response to the UN’s International Year for Biodiversity 2010.

The discussion focussed on the situation, role and challenges of forest biodiversity in Vietnam , as well as a new financial mechanism for forest biodiversity, including reimbursement for biodiversity.

Experiences in sustainable preservation of forests in Vietnam are on the agenda at the seminar.

Vietnam ranks 16 th in the world in term of biodiversity. However, the nation has seen its biodiversity and ecological systems, especially tropical forest ecology, degrade seriously over the recent past due to different causes, including population increase, pollution and climate change.

The country’s primeval forests, home to many rare and precious animal and plant species of Vietnam , have shrunk in both acreage and quality, leading to the decrease in number of species.

Hua Duc Nhi, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development informed that over the past years, the forestry sector exerted great efforts in biodiversity preservation. A preservation fund was established and two decrees were issued to regulate the management of special purpose forests and payment for environmental services.

With effective assistance from the international community, Vietnam has to date set up a system of special purpose forest of 2.2 million ha with 160 forest representing most of the important ecologies of inland, wetland and the sea. As a result, a large part of primeval forests and many animal and plant species have been protected and developed.

Juergen Hess, Co-Chairman of Forest Sector Support Partnership (FSSP) said that the seminar was an FSSP initiative, proving its commitment and contributions to the global efforts in general and those of Vietnam in particular, in biodiversity preservation.

The same day, over 300 students of the Doan Thi Diem primary school in Hanoi planted trees in response to the Green Wave programme and the International Year for Biodiversity of the UN.

The Green Wave programme, launched by the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) Secretariat, aims to provide knowledge and skills to young people in Vietnam and the world about the role of biodiversity in the current life and in the future./.