| Vietnam |
Information Sources |
| Location |
Eastern Seaboard of Southeast Asia
Bordered by China to the North. Bordered by Laos and Cambodia to the west |
|
| National websites |
Vietnamese
Embassy
|
|
| Embassy / Chancery in U.S. |
1233 20th St, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
|
|
| Agencies responsible for biological
inventory and conservation |
Ministry of Forestry
123 Lo Duc, Hanoi
Centre for Ecology
85 Tran Quoc Toan Q.3
Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam
Museum of Natural
History |
|
| Major Natural Resources |
Phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate,
offshore oil deposits, forests.
Vietnam's oil reserves are amongst the biggest in the world. Production of oil is expected
to be 22-25 million tons in the year 2000. This has been one of the countries most rapidly
growing exports. Natural gas reserves are another major export for Vietnam. Although these
resources went unused for many years, Vietnam is now beginning to utilize the great
abundance of resources it has available, and is strongly encouraging foreign investment in
order to extract and process the material Vietnam is blessed with. |
info source
info source |
| Major Environmental and Conservation Issues |
Due to the rapidly increasing population
of Vietnam, the destruction of the environment has increased at an equally fearful rate.
Slash-and-burn agricultural pracitces and increased logging are causing a high rate of
deforestations. Pollution as well as overfishing are threatining marine life populations
and clean water is becoming a increasing scarce and precious resource. |
|
| Statistics |
| Land area |
329,565 sq. km |
info source |
| Area of forest |
50,146 Sq. Km |
info
source |
| Area of wetlands |
25,000 ha protected |
|
| Area of territorial waters |
3,444 km coastline: area of territorial waters
in dispute |
|
| Population |
77,311,000 |
info source |
| Population Density |
210 people per sq. km |
|
| Area protected (ha) (only areas >1000ha)
at all IUCN levels |
1,329,788 ha |
info source |
| Fraction of land area protected |
4.03 % |
info source |
| Major Protected Areas |
List of Protected Areas |
|
| Endemic Species |
| Mammals |
7 |
| Birds |
10 |
| Reptiles |
49 |
| Amphibians |
26 |
| Fish |
60 |
| Invertebrates |
Biological Inventory Currently Incomplete |
| Plants |
6,000 |
|
| Endangered and Threatened Species |
|
| Extinct Species |
 | Hylobates pileatus -- Pileated Gibbon, Crowned Gibbon, Capped Gibbon |
| Rhinoceros sondaicus -- Javan Rhinoceros |
| Circus cyaneus -- Marsh Hawk, Hen Harrier, Northern Harrier |
| Hieraaetus fasciatus -- Bonelli's Eagle |
| Spizaetus nipalensis -- Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Hodgson's Hawk-Eagle, Feather-toed
Hawk-Eagle |
| Falco peregrinus -- Duck Hawk, Peregrine, Peregrine Falcon |
| Eretmochelys imbricata -- Hawksbill Turtle |
| Batagur baska -- Common Batagur, Batagur, River Terrapin, Tuntong, Four-toed Terrapin |
| Anthracoceros malayanus -- Black Hornbill |
| Vipera russellii -- Russell's Viper |
|
|
| Species listed on CITES Appendix I |
53 |
|
| Species listed on CITES Appendix II |
129 |
|
| Legislation |
| Laws protecting endangered or threatened
species |
Elephant hunting is forbidden
The Fisheries Ordinance-totally bans harvesting of some endangered species
Decision 276 by the Ministry of Forestry forbids hunting of 38 wildlife species.
Decision 18 of the Council of Ministers place a ban on logging/hunting 13 species of
trees, 46 animals, and 19 species of plant. |
info
source |
| Laws protecting endangered ecosystems |
Vietnam protects a number of endangered
ecosystems from further destruction. However, guards make very little money and they are
easily corrupted. |
|
| Signatory to CITES |
4/20/94 |
|
| Signatory to Ramsar Wetlands Convention |
1/20/89 |
|
| Signatory to Convention on Biological
Diversity |
5/28/93 |
|
| Signatory to Migratory Bird Treaty |
Not a signatory |
|
| Member of International Whaling Commission |
Not a Member |
|
| Signatory to other international treaties
designed to protect or manage biological resources |
Climate Change Treaty in 1994
Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer in 1994
Traffic in Endangered Species Treaty in 1994
Environmental Modification
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals in 1997
Law of the Sea
Ship Pollution |
info source |
| Non-government Organizations (NGOs), or
chapters of international organizations concerned with the preservation of natural
resources |
WWF was first NGO working in Vietnam.
Currently working on programs to help manage protected areas, sustain resources, minimize
the effects on environmnent by economic development, as well as other conservational
goals.
IUCN helped Vietnam develop both conservation and sustainment strategies.
The World Food Programme has helped in reforesting efforts
The International Crane Foundation and Wogelpark Walsrode have had programs to protect
bird environments |
info
source |
| Natural Resource Use |
| Fisheries |
Fish resources are declining due to
overfishing. Still, fisheries bring in 1 Billion dollars US currency to the country. This
is a major source of income for the country, as 1.4 million ha of inland waters are
dedicated to aquaculture purposes. This is one third of the water surface, 61% of which is
used for fish culture, 39% for shrimp culture. |
info
source |
| Forestry |
Forests cover a mere 20% of total land area,
compared to 42% in 1943. Deforestation is mainly caused by clearing of forests to expand
cropping area, and partly by firewood collection. 54% of households use wood as their main
source of fuel and 34% use other collectable items such as leaves and husks. Forest areas
are state owned, and 65% of the forestry workers are women. Recently, Vietnam has been
experimenting with a programme that allocates forest lands to individual household
management. Households are responsible for responsible for reforestation, protection and
management. Also, most of the natural forests remaining have been protected.
100,000-200,000 ha of forest are replanted annually but the survivorship of these is
low.Human growth occurs at the expense of the forests. |
|
| Ecotourism |
Although tourists travel to Vietnam to see it's
natural beauty, there is no educational or conservational component which draws them
there. |
|
| Trade in wildlife products |
Dogs, cats, frogs, turtles, snakes, geckos, primates, brids, and pangolins all are
wildlife traded in Vietnam to other countries. |
info source |
| Hunting |
Hunting is uncontrolled in Vietnam and
has led to disappearance of many local populations as well as entire species from the
country. Recently, hunting has become much more of a activity for trade rather than for
simply finding food to live off of. While there are now protected species and areas,
hunting still occurs with nothing to stop it, and the easy access to firearms by the
population makes hunting that much harder to control. |
info
source |
| Other uses of natural resources |
Resources are mainly used by citizens for
subsistence use: as more and more people begin to populate, more and more food and
resources are required to sustain the population. |
|
| Human Impacts on Natural Resources |
| Air pollution |
A number of standards for the maximum
permissible concentrations ot toxic chemicals, dust, and noise pollutants is in place, as
developed by the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment. |
info
source |
| Water pollution |
Significant water pollution which is
threatening marine life. Also, entered into Ramsar Convention in order to better protect
the freshwater of the population. However, there is little control of waste disposal into
the sea and rivers, and the fear of an oil spill is always present. |
info source |
| Development activities |
Marine and Coastal
Development
|
|
| Introduced species |
Various species have been introduced, but
most have only hindered the environment they have been introduced to. (Examples can be
seen here |
|
| Legislation addressing these issues |
There is no legislation regarding the
introduction of introduced species |
|
| Restoration and Reintroduction |
| Programs for restoration of damaged
habitat |
The Ministry of Forestry in Vietnam
conducted major reforestation and regreening. Close to 1,000,000 ha of forest have been
planted and the project has been a success. Additionally, farmers have been encouraged to
plant and develop various agroforestry crops. In addition, school children are also
encouraged to plant and take care of a few trees each year. Several million trees have
been planted in this fashion as well. |
info source |
| Programs for ex situ conservation (captive
breeding and reintroduction) of endangered species |
A number of Programs for ex situ
conservation programs are in place, how these programs are more for commercial
purposes rather than conservational. |
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