Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) - The central province of Thua Thien-Hue's plan to build abird sanctuary in O Lau estuary area has been met with a groundswell of localsupport.

The new bird sanctuary is planned to cover more than 157ha in two communes of Quang Thai (Quang Dien district) and Dien Hoa commune (Phong Dien district).

Cajuput and coconut trees planted since 2017 by the provincial ForestProtection Sub-department, covering nearly 20 hectares, are growing well,creating good conditions for birds in the area.

Vice Chairman of the Quang Thai communal People's Committee Pham Cong Phuoc said60ha of the planned bird sanctuary is managed by communal authorities so landacquisition will be easy and fast.

However, Nguyen Dai Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the provincial Department ofAgriculture and Rural Development, also head of the provincial ForestProtection Sub-department, said the restoration and construction of the birdsanctuary would require deep scientific knowledge.

Because birds are very sensitive species, if the ecosystem is not suitablethey will not return, he said.

Currently, the department is working with a consultant agency to evaluate theimpacts when the bird sanctuary is built.

According to Tuan, Cua Lac irrigation dam supplies water to a large area of ThuaThien-Hue province and part of Quang Tri province but it prevents natural ebbsand flows in the O Lau estuary area, keeping the natural marshes flooded andstopping trees from growing well, which affects food sources of some birdspecies.

Additionally, the Khe Moi reservoir construction project in the upstream O LauRiver will also impact the bird sanctuary.

The selection of suitable trees to plant in the wetlands and changing theproduction and daily life activities of local people also need to be consideredthoroughly.

If we restore about 70 percent of the original nature in the O Lau estuaryarea as before, surely the birds will return, Tuan said, adding that in the long term, the area will also be important for ecotourism development,contributing to the livelihoods of local people.

O Lau estuary area is a flooded area in the Tam Giang-Cau Hai lagoon system,the largest lagoon system in Southeast Asia.

The area has many floating dunes, creeks and rich ecosystems, and used to behome to many native birds and rare migratory birds.

However, the prolonged process of improving the land for production has alteredthe natural environment, seriously reducing the number of birds.

According to Thua Thien-Hue province's Forest Protection Sub-department, asurvey in 1998 revealed that at that time there were about 73 species of birdsin the O Lau estuary, among total 103 species of birds in the whole Tam Giang-Cau Hai lagoon area.

However, a survey conducted from late 2016 to the middle of 2017 showed therewere only 31 species of bird in the O Lau area./.