Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is joining common efforts to restore theecosystems in response to International Day for Biological Diversity 2022themed “Building a shared future for all life”.
Currently, the risk of biodiversity degradation andecosystem imbalance remains high, directly affecting food security, and drivingpeople to the risk of poverty, genetic resource depletion, and especiallyclimate change. Therefore, the restoration and protection of ecosystems andbiodiversity has become a global issue.
Vietnam currently boasts 173 conservation zones with a totalarea of more than 2.5 million hectares, including 33 national parks, 66 naturereserves, 18 species and habitat conservation areas, and 56 landscape protectionzones. In particular, the country houses nine UNESCO-recognised “World BiosphereReserves” and three “World Natural Heritage Sites”, nine ramsar sites, 10 ASEANHeritage Parks.
Vietnam has 128 special-use forests, mostly small and scattered ones, that makeup the country’s system of protected areas. However, many of them have degraded not only in scale but also in quality of habitat.
In order to improve the declining quality of theenvironment, localities across the country have actively responded to the treeplanting movement to protect the ecological environment and limit the negativeeffects of climate change.
Coral reef in Phan Rang-Thap Cham city, Ninh Thuan (Photo: VNA) Vietnam is considered one of the most important areas inthe flyway network of migratory and endemic birds, with 63 globally importantbird zones and seven endemic bird zones.
By now, the country has recorded more than 900 birdspecies, of which 99 need conservation attention, 10 are critically endangered,and 17 endangered.
On January 28, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh signed adecision approving the national biodiversity strategy to 2030 with a visiontowards 2050.
Under the strategy, the Government targets expanding thearea of protected ecosystems to 9 percent of the country's land area, andprotected marine and coastal areas to 3-5 percent of the total sea area.
Meanwhile, the forest coverage is expected to be kept at 42-43percent and at least 20 percent of the degraded ecosystem area will berestored.
The Government will give priority to conservation ofwildlife species, particularly endangered, rare and precious fauna and flora species.
With a vision towards 2050, major natural ecosystems,endangered species, and precious and rare genetic resources will be restoredand effectively preserved.
To that end, the strategy sets out key tasks such asintensifying biodiversity conservation and restoration, conserving andrestoring endangered wild species, stepping up the conservation of geneticresources, and controlling activities that would harm biodiversity.
Most recently on May 17, the Deputy PM signed a decree on a number of urgent tasks and solutions to protect wild and migratory birds in Vietnam./.
