Dong Thap combines bamboo conservation with ecotourism hinh anh 1Chairman of the Dong Thap provincial People’s Committee Pham Thien Nghia speaks at the seminar on September 20. (Photo: VNA)
Dong Thap (VNA) – Realising the values of bamboo, the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap has been working to conserve bamboo varieties in combination with ecotourism development over the past years, head a seminar on September 20.

The event was held in the province’s Cao Lanh city as part of the 4th World Bamboo Workshop.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Pham Thien Nghia said Dong Thap has been stepping up agriculture restructuring and new-style countryside building in recent years to achieve higher added value and sustainable development.

Since 2014, the province has been seeking new plants for farming, and bamboo has caught their attention, he said, noting that bamboo holds a special role since it helps develop rural livelihoods, promote ecotourism, improve landscapes, and also preserve traditional values of Vietnam.

Dong Thap has been implementing a project on setting up a bamboo conservation zone in combination with an ecotourism site in the Gao Giong cajuput forest in Gao Giong commune of Cao Lanh district. Over the last eight years, the forest management board has collected over 1,000 clumps of bamboo belonging to 84 varieties from Vietnam and other countries.

Nghia noted the bamboos are growing well in acid sulfate soil wetland of the Gao Giong cajuput forest, helping the province identify bamboo development orientations.

At the seminar, French expert Yves Crouzet said as Dong Thap and many other localities in Vietnam own highly favourable conditions for bamboo planting, they should make use of this advantage to grow this plant and boost ecotourism.

The previous World Bamboo Workshops, initiated by the World Bamboo Organisation, was respectively held in Mexico, Peru, and India. This year’s event is taking place in Vietnam from September 16 to 21, including in Binh Duong province from September 16 - 19 and Dong Thap province on September 20 - 21./.
VNA