SPE1-BWT: VIETNAM BIRD WATCHING

Introduction to Vietnam
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (331,000 km2) is situated in the South Eastern margin of the Indochinese Peninsula, spread over 16,000 km. The population of Vietnam is over 80 million, about 87 percent of which are the Viet (Kinh) people and the remaining belong to 53 other ethnic minority groups who mainly live in the mountainous areas of the country. 75 percent of the Vietnamese population live in rural areas. Vietnam is still a developing country with 29% of households living under international poverty line (2002). The annual income per capita is USD485 (2003). Thus, the highest priority of the Government is poverty reduction and social development. In recently years, the country has been highly appreciated for their success in poverty alleviation.

Vietnam is rich in culture, history and biological diversity. The country has a long history that dates back about three thousand years ago and famous for its hard-working and intelligent people. However, in its contemporary history, the country has undergone several prolonged wars which have had devastating impacts on the economy as well as the environment.

Basic geophysical description
Vietnam’s varied topography and hydrology account for its rich biological diversity. Three quarters of Vietnam is hilly or mountainous. Montane areas in Vietnam fall into three distinct regions: the Hoang Lien Mountains in the north-west, a mountain region in the north-east which represents a southern extension of the South China Platform and the Truong Son or Annamite Range in central Vietnam which extends for nearly 1,200km from the north to the south along the Vietnamese border with Laos and Cambodia. Other distinct regions of the country include the vast Red River Delta in the north, the Mekong River Delta in the south and a number of small coastal plains in central Vietnam.

In terms of climate, Vietnam lies totally in the monsoon tropics. In the northern part of the country, there are four separate seasons; spring, summer, autumn and (cold) winter. In the south of the country, there are two distinct wet and dry seasons.

Environmental context
Vietnam, given its tropical location and diversified topography, is one of the global biological hotspots. However, the devastation of wars in the past and currently the pressures of population and economic development have seen the ecosystems in Vietnam heavily degraded. Main threats to biodiversity loss include conversion of forestland to agriculture, wetlands to aquaculture, poor land use planning, weak regulatory enforcement, logging, hunting and wildlife trading. In addition to that, the high population density and relatively high population growth place extra pressures on the use of forests for livelihoods.

Operational context
The origin of the protected area system in Vietnam dated back to the 1960s, however, there are still numerous gaps, and weaknesses in the natural resource and biodiversity conservation management in the country. Currently, the protected area system (or Special Used Forests) covers about 2.4 million hectares or over 7% of the country’s land area, which mainly comprises terrestrial forest sites. Wetlands habitats are considerably under-represented. There are not yet any decreed marine protected areas even though Vietnam has over 3,000 km of coastlines. Institutionally, the country is still struggling to deal with a lack of technical capacity and financial resources, a lack of integration of biodiversity conservation objectives in its overall socio-economic development plans and weak conservation regulatory enforcement.

Key government policies on biodiversity
Over the past 40 years, the Vietnamese government has increasingly recognized the need for management and protection of natural resources and biodiversity conservation in sustainable development. Their efforts are reflected in major legal/strategic documents such as the Law on Forest Protection and Development and the National Biodiversity Action Plan. Vietnam also participates in four of the five global conventions related to biodiversity and the management of protected areas and wildlife species: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention on Wetlands (the Ramsar Convention), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the World Heritage Convention (WHC). However, investment by the Vietnamese government on biodiversity conservation is limited. The donor community for biodiversity conservation is diversified in scope and origin. Funds come from a variety of organisations, unilateral and multilateral agencies and governments.

What is the global conservation significance of Vietnam?
BirdLife's global conservation priority-setting process has placed Vietnam among the top ten countries in the world in terms of levels of biodiversity and numbers of threatened bird species.

How many EBAs, how many IBAs, how many GT species?
BirdLife has identified four biodiversity "hotspots" termed Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs) in Vietnam, only two of which support established protected areas. Vietnam currently has 63 IBAs and a total of 40 Globally Threatened species.

What are governments constraints on further support to biodiversity?
Vietnam currently experiences severe limitations in its ability to adequately address its environmental challenges. Constraints include:

1. Limited knowledge, skill and experience among officers and staff in government institutions.
2. Lack of funds due to competing development needs.
3. Lack of a holistic integration of biodiversity consideration in overall socio-economic development plans.
4. Gaps and overlaps in the current legal frameworks for biodiversity management
5. Weak law enforcement capacity

What is state of civil society?
Civil society in Vietnam is still in its initial development stage. In the environment sector, a number of major INGOs such as WWF, BirdLife, Fauna and Flora International, etc, in partnership with other multilateral and bilateral donors, form an important driving force for conservation in the country. Indigenous skill base for conservation management is still low. Local NGOs are a relatively new phenomenon, mostly in the development sector, and usually not membership-based. The government is increasingly open to the development of NGOs, however, there is not yet a clear legal framework for NGO’s operation.

Current Programme
BirdLife has been active in Vietnam since late 1980s. In 1997, BirdLife Vietnam Programme was one of the first few conservation INGOs in Vietnam that obtained the representative office licence. Over the last ten years, BirdLife Vietnam Programme has been implementing a number of projects that have contributed to the more complete inventories of Vietnam’s biodiversity values and have established its reputation as a provider of reliable information and technical assistance for informed decision making in conservation. In the coming years, the programme will be moving towards more on-the-ground actions and policy advocacy.