The People’s Committee of the central province of Thua Thien-Hue has decided to establish a nature reserve for the Sao la (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), a rare animal that is indigenous to the central Truong Son mountain range on the border of Laos and Vietnam.
Expected to cover 15,519 hectares, the Thua Thien-Hue Saola Nature Reserve will connect to a similar reserve in central Quang Nam province, the Bach Ma National Park and the XeSap National Protected Area in Laos, forming a conservation corridor and a vast and continuous span of forest.
The reserve will include a strictly protected section, an ecological rehabilitation area, and another for administration and services.
It will contain the remaining primeval forest of Truong Son, where the biodiversity is of the highest standard in the world. The region is also home to other rare animals like Truong Son muntjacs, giant muntjacs, and Annamite striped rabbits.
Le Thuy Anh from the Habitat Management for the Central Truong Son of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said that not many places in the world have a biodiversity level as rich as that in Truong Son.
Therefore, since 1985 (when the WWF started its operation in Vietnam), the organisation has considered the region as a place in need of urgent protection, she added.
The WWF has worked with the Thua Thien-Hue Forest Protection Department and the management board of Sao la reserves to conduct an array of projects to further the protection of forest and wildlife, including the Sao la.-VNA
