Viet Nam News byTrần Thị Diệp 9:30 pm. The street, strewn with rustling dry yellow leaves coming down from the trees, was ready for a strong wind after this breeze in the small township of Phu Sa. A stem of purple orchids hanging down like a screen seemed to cover part of the table where Thiên An was silently watching her hot coffee drip into her cup drop by drop from the percolator. “One hundred and seventeen, now eighteen, now one hundred and nineteen,” she counted. Suddenly a roll of thunder crashed in the sky and startled her. From the balcony, close to her place, she looked at the dim street lamps below while above her head the sky turned overcast. Then suddenly a ray of lightning burst across the darkness while the thunder kept on rolling from afar. From the coffee house, Thiên An rang her husband. “Are you ready to come home right now and pick me up on the way?” she asked. “Of course, I might reach home in thirty … [Read more...] about That rainy night
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Counting langurs in the forests
Viet Nam News Sơn Trà Nature Reserve is in Đà Nẵng. It is a home to red-shanked douc langurs. Bùi Văn Tuấn enjoys exploring the reserve where he is part of a study group that counted one thousand three hundred langurs in the reserve. Bùi Văn Tuấn and his colleagues spent a year following them. Having graduated with a degree in biology and environmental studies from the Đà Nẵng Teachers’ Training College, Bùi Văn Tuấn has explored remote forests across central Việt Nam to conduct his scientific research on primate species and their diets, as well as the rich forest biodiversity of the region. The 4,439ha Sơn Trà Nature Reserve in Đà Nẵng has been his favourite site since he began studying Vietnamese biodiversity and the endangered red-shanked douc langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus) population living in the reserve. Tuấn, 33, … [Read more...] about Counting langurs in the forests
The art of living and thriving in the Amazon river basin
Learning to swim in the Amazon river basin also means learning to avoid flesh-eating piranhas and snapping caimans. A boy enjoys the river in the Brazilian village of Sao Raimundo do Jaraua. (Photo: AFP/Mauro Pimentel) Residents of the Mamiraua and Amana Sustainable Development Reserves, deep in the Amazon rainforest, are experts at the art of survival. But they're just as at home caring for local plants and animals. Life here is a balancing act: you learn to avoid dangerous creatures, harvest the jungle fruit, and go with the flow as the seasons change and the river rises and falls. Roads are scarce - and in many areas, non-existent - so the rivers serve as highways, affected only by the changing water level. Some riverside homes jut into the water on a raft or logs that allow them to float if the tide rises. Other homes are built on stilts for protection from high tides. The main source of income for Amana reserve residents is harvesting acai. The purple fruit, known … [Read more...] about The art of living and thriving in the Amazon river basin
Social News 2/8
Second Ngoc Linh ginseng festival opens in Quang Nam The second Ngoc Linh ginseng festival began in the mountainous district of Nam Tra My, the central province of Quang Nam on August 1. The festival featured a procession of Ngoc Linh ginseng symbol, a fair showcasing ginseng and signature farm produce from local mountainous districts, a photo exhibition on Ngoc Linh ginseng and music performances. Ngoc Linh ginseng is a rare medicine containing 52 sanopin compounds helpful to health. As many as 779 households in Tra Linh, Tra Nam and Tra Cang communes are growing the ginseng in forests on an area of over 932ha. In June 2017, Ngoc Linh ginseng was named in the list of national products by the Prime Minister. It has not only improved lives of local famers in Nam Tra My but also protected local primeval forests. Many people have become billionaires thanks to high economic value of the variety. The province has zoned off over 15,000 ha for Ngoc Linh ginseng … [Read more...] about Social News 2/8
Hospitals in HCM City lack rabies vaccine
Viet Nam News HCM CITY — Hospitals and medical centres in HCM City have announced that they do not have enough vaccines against rabies. According to Nguyễn Ngọc Anh Tuấn, deputy director of Clinical Biosafety Clinic at the city-based Pasteur Institute, the vaccine went out of stock in the past few days. Nguyễn Đức Hải, a resident of Tân Bình District, said he had to go to a third health centre to get the first rabies vaccination, which he had to take four to five times. Nguyễn Thái Tuyết Nhung, a resident of Thủ Đức District, also said she had to go to a second medical centre for vaccination. The Việt Nam Vaccine Centre said on Wednesday it just had 1,000 more doses of the rabies vaccine left. Pasteur Institute, meanwhile, said it had just imported a batch of some 1,000 vaccines. Tuấn said people should not worry as the incubation period for rabies was some three months. A … [Read more...] about Hospitals in HCM City lack rabies vaccine