The management board of Dong Chau Protective Forest in central QuangBinh province has signed a contract for the Viet Nature ConservationCentre to lease forest land for scientific research and conservation.
Leasingprotected forests for scientific research and long-term biodiversityconservation is a pioneering model that is being applied in Vietnam forthe first time.
This step is part of a project, planned to last30 years, titled "Protection of biodiversity and enhancement ofecosystem services of the Dong Chau-Khe Nuoc Trong Forest," which is inLe Thuy district.
Under the contract, the Viet NatureConservation Centre will lease more than 700ha of lowland broadleavedevergreen forests—Forest Compartment 528 specifically—for 30 years, from2015 to 2045, at a price of 200,000 VND (9.5 USD) per hectare per year.
ForestCompartment 528 was chosen because it supports moist evergreen forestsat low elevations, which is a suitable habitat for Edwards's Pheasant—acritically endangered species endemic to Vietnam that is on the verge ofextinction in the wild—and a potentially good site for itsreintroduction, if deemed necessary.
For the last three years,the Viet Nature Conservation Centre has conducted biodiversity surveysusing camera traps and has recorded 63 species in the forest, many ofwhich are globally endangered or critically endangered. These includesaola, pangolin, large-antlered muntjac, red-shanked douc langur, andothers.
Director of the management board Pham Duc Hoa said thatthis was a significant opportunity for both sides to better protect theforests, the living conditions of the endangered species, and the uniquebiodiversity of the forest, even though only a small-scale contract wassigned.-VNA
Leasingprotected forests for scientific research and long-term biodiversityconservation is a pioneering model that is being applied in Vietnam forthe first time.
This step is part of a project, planned to last30 years, titled "Protection of biodiversity and enhancement ofecosystem services of the Dong Chau-Khe Nuoc Trong Forest," which is inLe Thuy district.
Under the contract, the Viet NatureConservation Centre will lease more than 700ha of lowland broadleavedevergreen forests—Forest Compartment 528 specifically—for 30 years, from2015 to 2045, at a price of 200,000 VND (9.5 USD) per hectare per year.
ForestCompartment 528 was chosen because it supports moist evergreen forestsat low elevations, which is a suitable habitat for Edwards's Pheasant—acritically endangered species endemic to Vietnam that is on the verge ofextinction in the wild—and a potentially good site for itsreintroduction, if deemed necessary.
For the last three years,the Viet Nature Conservation Centre has conducted biodiversity surveysusing camera traps and has recorded 63 species in the forest, many ofwhich are globally endangered or critically endangered. These includesaola, pangolin, large-antlered muntjac, red-shanked douc langur, andothers.
Director of the management board Pham Duc Hoa said thatthis was a significant opportunity for both sides to better protect theforests, the living conditions of the endangered species, and the uniquebiodiversity of the forest, even though only a small-scale contract wassigned.-VNA
