After more than 10 years of implementing the international Convention on Biological Diversity, Vietnam currently has 126 nature reserves covering a total area of over 2.5 million hectares, marking a 28% increase since joining the convention.
At a workshop assessing the implementation of the biodiversity convention organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Hanoi on November 23, the Department of Environmental Protection reported that the investment rate for biodiversity conservation currently accounts for 20-30% of total investment in the environmental sector.
However, the quality of conservation investment is still low. Vietnam currently has no marine protected areas and only two wetland ecological reserves. The degraded ecosystems have not been effectively restored.
In addition, the Vietnam Environmental Outlook report for 2005, focusing on biodiversity, published by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the World Bank, and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), was also released yesterday (November 24). The report indicates that nearly 700 species of animals and plants are threatened with extinction at the national level, with over 300 species at risk of global extinction, including 49 species classified as “critically endangered” in Vietnam.
The report confirms that if current trends continue, in the first decade of the 21st century, Vietnam may witness an unprecedented wave of extinction among certain species of wildlife, accompanied by potential environmental and economic repercussions.
