The Green Corridor Project of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on biodiversity conservation and development has yielded practical results: the people’s awareness of the biodiversity conservation has been highly enhanced; the diverse values of the whole region in general and Thua Thien-Hue Province in particular has been announced and recognized by the world; the forest resource management and biodiversity conservation have been given special attention; and the illegal logging and hunting of wild animals have decreased.
The green corridor stretches from Bach Ma National Park to Phong Dien Nature Reserve - the riverhead area of the Huu Trach, Ta Trach and Bo Rivers. Being one of the last remaining lowland wet evergreen forests in Vietnam, the green corridor has a high biodiversity value and is home to over 60 rare and precious wild animals, such as saola, five-coloured langur, crested argus, edward’s pheasant, etc. Chiris Dickson, advisor to the project said that scientists have specified 891 species of plants belonging to 490 branches of 131 tracheophyte families. Of these species, 67 are locally endemic and 15 may be new discoveries. It is expected that after a complete inventory, the total number of the tracheophyte in the project areas will reach 1,700 to 2,000. In the faunal system, researchers have specified 52 species of animals belonging to 21 families of 7 orders, plus 91 species of amphibians, reptiles and 150 species of birds, of which 7 species are narrowly distributive, 6 species are in the list of Vietnam’s Red Book and 4 species are in the World’s Red Book. In particular, the project has specified 15 species of amphibious reptiles, 6 species of birds and many important communities of primates which are endangered in the world, such as brown legged langur and white cheeked gibbon.
However, this area is threatened by illegal hunting and deforestation and unsustainable exploitation of forest resources. The area is home to different ethnic groups, such as the Ca Tu, Pa Hi, Pa Co and Ta Oi, whose life depends on forest resources. That’s why it is necessary to generate the environmentally friendly income, establish regulations and entrust the local people to protect the forests, at the same time provide training courses for the local communities in the project areas.
After four years of implementation, the project has established a belt to protect the entire area of primeval forests covering 134,000 ha which lies between the nature reserves and national parks in Central Vietnam and the Xe Sap Conservation of Laos. 120 households in Nam Dong and A Luoi Districts have been allotted with forests. They have been trained in forest management and got benefits. The local people have approached and undertaken some activities to earn their living for hunger elimination and poverty reduction. Some communes have been given high conservation priorities and concentrated assistance, such as A Roang Commune, which has received assistance in eco-tourism, reforestation, developing the community livelihood and establishing local nursery gardens. Activities to enhance the awareness on conservation and communication have been undertaken widely in various forms in the project areas and Hue City.
Being one of the first non-governmental organizations operating in Vietnam, in 1985 the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) began to implement a conservation strategy at national level. Since then, it has closely co-operated with the Vietnamese Government to carry out various activities relating to the environment throughout the country. The Green Corridor project is a four-year project implemented by the WWF Vietnam programme and Forest Protection Department of Thua Thien-Hue Province, with funds from the World Bank - Global Environmental Facility (GEF), WWF, Thua Thien Hue Provincial People’s Committee and the Netherlands Development Organization. The aim of the project is to protect and consolidate the forest ecosystem stretching from Bach Ma National Park to Phong Dien Nature Reserve in Hue.