The Department of Culture, Tourism and Sport in north-central Thanh Hoa Province has recently launched new community-based tours in Pu Luong Nature Reserve. Connecting various hamlets with rich ethnic minority cultures, the tours offer a host of activities such as trekking, hiking, and cycling to discover old stilt houses, terraced rice fields, primeval forests, waterfalls, rivers, and mountains. Guests can also visit traditional trade villages, experience the daily activities of local people, enjoy local specialties, especially those from ethnic minority groups, and join in their traditional festivals. Dozens of local people participate in the tours, offering homestay services in their house. Tours range from one day and two days and one night to three days and two nights as well as customized tours spanning the three districts of Ba Thuoc, Quan Hoa and Lang Chanh and connecting with rural areas in nearby Hoa Binh province and Hanoi. As the number of foreign visitors to Pu Luong has … [Read more...] about Community-based tours introduced at Pu Luong Nature Reserve
Langdon nature reserve
Dead gaur found in Đồng Nai Nature Reserve
A gaur is seen in Rang Rang forest in Đồng Nai Culture and Nature Reserve. — Photo baodongnai.com.vnViet Nam News ĐỒNG NAI –– A gaur was found dead on Monday at the Đồng Nai Culture and Nature Reserve in Mã Đà Commune, Vĩnh Cửu District in the southern province of Đồng Nai. Deputy head of the province’s Forest Protection Division Lê Việt Dũng confirmed the news on Monday evening. He added that the dead gaur was a male, weighing about 700kg. It appeared to have died two or three days ago. Forest rangers and police are examining the animal and the area in which it was found to identify the cause of death. According to Đồng Nai Culture and Nature Reserve, there are five groups of gaurs living in the forests of the reserve; each group has a population of 40-50. In 2006, two gaurs were found dead in the reserve. The gaur is native to the Indian subcontinent and … [Read more...] about Dead gaur found in Đồng Nai Nature Reserve
Na Hang – Lam Binh Nature Reserve named national tourist site
A view of Na Hang Lake in the Na Hang – Lam Binh Nature Reserve, Tuyen Quang. (Photo: VNA) Tuyen Quang (VNA) – Na Hang – Lam Binh Nature Reserve in the northern province of Tuyen Quang was honoured with a certificate to recognize it as a national tourist site at a ceremony in Na Hang district on October 14. The 61,300-ha nature reserve, about 270 km northwest of Hanoi, stretches across 14 communes and townships of Na Hang and Lam Binh district. It lies amid a remote jungle along the banks of Gam River and Nang River. The reserve is renowned for magnificent caves and a diverse ecosystem with many endangered flora and fauna species. Most notably is Tokin snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus avunculus), a species listed by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in the Critically Endangered Species as endemic to northern Vietnam. Besides the value of biodiversity, it is home to various tourist attractions, including Thuong Lam area with 99 legendary … [Read more...] about Na Hang – Lam Binh Nature Reserve named national tourist site
New world species in Sơn Trà nature reserve announced
Viet Nam News ĐÀ NẴNG — Reports about three new species of the ginger family – Newmania cristata, Newmania gracilis and Newmania sontraensis (Zingiberaceae: Zingibereae) – found in central Việt Nam were officially published by Phytotaxa (a botany journal) in September, bringing the number of species in this endemic Vietnamese genus to six. Dr Lưu Hồng Trường from the Southern Institute of Ecology (SIE) told Việt Nam News that the three new plant species were found by a team of biologists in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve in Đà Nẵng. The report recognised biologists Trường and Trần Hữu Đăng from SIE; Trần Ngọc Toàn from the centre for biodiversity research and conservation (GreenViet); Nguyễn Thành Trung from Núi Chúa National Park; Nguyễn Quốc Bình from the Việt Nam Nature Museum and Jana Skornickova … [Read more...] about New world species in Sơn Trà nature reserve announced
Thua Thien-Hue enhances animal protection in nature reserves
The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has decided to establish a biodiversity corridor connecting the saola reserve with the Phong Dien Natural Reserve (Source: WWF) Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has decided to establish a biodiversity corridor connecting the saola (an endangered bovine, scientifically known as pseudoryx nghetinhensis) reserve with the Phong Dien Natural Reserve. The project looks to improve the quality of the local ecological system and maintain the current forest coverage of 83 percent in the biodiversity corridor, as well as protect the natural landscapes and habitats of native creatures. The biodiversity corridor also seeks to protect various animals aside from the saola, including the red-shanked douc (pygathrix nemaeus), the northern white-cheeked gibbon (nomascus leucogenys), and the pygmy slow loris (nycticebus pygmaeus), and more. The project also aims to raise public awareness of biodiversity protection and forest … [Read more...] about Thua Thien-Hue enhances animal protection in nature reserves
Động Châu-Khe Nước Trong to become nature reserve
Viet Nam News QUẢNG BÌNH — The Động Châu-Khe Nước Trong Forest in the central province of Quảng Bình is considered to be a region of high biodiversity that needs special preservation, however, after four years of research and discussion by experts and local authorities, the establishment of a nature reserve in the forest remains on paper. According to Phạm Hồng Thái, director of Quảng Bình Province’s Forest Ranger Department based on the high biodiversity of this forest, the National Master Plan for Biodiversity Conservation until 2020, dated January 8, 2014, and approved by the then Prime Minister, set out Động Châu-Khe Nước Trong Forest as a nature reserve. Based on the master plan, Quảng Bình Province authorities have surveyed and planned a reserve for Động Châu-Khe Nước Trong. The forest has been managed by the Động … [Read more...] about Động Châu-Khe Nước Trong to become nature reserve
Tracking langurs in Sơn Trà nature reserve
Tent time: Bùi Văn Tuấn prepares accommodations on a jungle trip in Sơn Trà nature reserve in Đà Nẵng City. — VNS Photo Bùi Văn Tuấn Viet Nam News 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, and a research team from the Biodiversity Conservation Centre of GreenViet, an NGO in Đà Nẵng, are conducting a 10-year study of every … [Read more...] about Tracking langurs in Sơn Trà nature reserve
Waste threatening the Cu Lao Cham Natural Reserve
The increasing number of visitors coming to Cu Lao Cham Natural Reserve, Quang Nam province, is leaving a toll on the surrounding environment. Waste treatment facilities on the island are running on full speed to keep up with the amount of waste discharged, but still their capacity cannot meet the demand. The waste treatment plant of Cu Lao Cham is being strained to deal with about 4 to 5 tonnes of waste a day, while its capacity is only about 500kgs, which is just more than half a tonne. Local authorities have resorted to incinerating and dumping waste landfills, causing serious health issues for residents in Cu Lao Cham, as well as affecting the water sources for daily life. The landfills are overloaded, and garbage incineration in open air emits harmful toxic fumes. Tran Dinh Phuong said: "Back when our tourist sector wasn’t developed, the plant could handle the waste nicely. Now, there are too many people and the waste treatment facility can’t keep up with the … [Read more...] about Waste threatening the Cu Lao Cham Natural Reserve
Da Nang: New frog found in Son Tra Nature reserve
Nguyen Thanh Luan, scientific officer of the Asian Turtle Program-Indo-Myanmar Conservation confirmed to Vietnam News on March 1 that the species – Rowley’s litter frog (leptolalax rowleyae) was found by Vietnamese Dr Phan Thi Hoa from Da Nang College for teachers’ training in 2012 when she was completing her thesis on reptile and amphibian species in the Son Tra Nature Reserve. Da Nang: New frog found in Son Tra Nature reserve Luan said Hoa found a population of the frog in the forest 400m above sea level, but the species had not yet been identified. He said he and Hoa together with Vietnamese scientists and colleagues from Russia and Canada continued research on the species. Luan, who authored the newly published report in Zootaxa magazine, said the group then identified Rowley’s litter frog as the new species through research and photos. Researchers said the new frog was named after Dr Rowley Jodi from Australia who spent a long time … [Read more...] about Da Nang: New frog found in Son Tra Nature reserve
Ta Dung Nature Reserve becomes National Park
Ta Dung National Park in the Central Highlands of Dak Nong is billed as a miniature Ha Long Bay. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved the upgrade of Ta Dung Nature Reserve in the Central Highlands of Dak Nong into a National Park. The move aims to protect forest resources, bio-systems and genetic resources of endangered and rare species, and to support scientific studies and environmental education. Spanning nearly 20,940 hectares in Dak Som commune Dak Glong district, the park has three zones: strict protection zone, ecological restoration zone and administrative-service zone. The park is expected to reduce greenhouse emissions, increase forest coverage, ensure environmental security, mitigate land erosion and floods, stabilise production and improve local livelihoods. The PM asked the provincial People’s Committee to manage the park and direct investment projects to develop the site. Ta Dung is famous for photogenic forests … [Read more...] about Ta Dung Nature Reserve becomes National Park