Nghe An, Dak Lak and Dong Nai will become three centers of elephant conservation under a VND257-billion project set up by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The scheme for elephant conservation in the 2012-2020 period has been submitted to the Government. The aim of this scheme is to protect wild and working elephants and their habitats.
Nghe An, Dak Lak and Dong Nai have the best elephant populations and their habitats. Pu Mat National Park in Nghe An, Cat Tien National Park and Dong Nai Nature-Culture Conservation Area in Dong Nai and Yok Don National Park in Dak Lak provide suitable habitats for elephants.
Other national parks like Vu Quang in Ha Tinh, Da Hoai in Lam Dong and Tien Phuoc and Phuoc Son in Quang Nam can also foster development of elephants. Therefore, small and isolated elephant groups can be brought to those areas if necessary, says the scheme.
Apart from creating natural habitats for elephants, the agriculture ministry sets a target that 3-6 elephants will be born in conservation areas from now to 2020, while working elephants in Dak Lak will give birth to 2-4 offspring.
In related news, the agriculture ministry and South Africa’s Ministry of Water and Environmental Affairs on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in biodiversity conservation and protection, including prevention of illegal wildlife trade.
A press release from TRAFFIC, a global wildlife trade monitoring network, says that the purpose of this MoU is to strengthen cooperation between Vietnam and South Africa in biodiversity management, conservation and protection, legal enforcement and compliance to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and other relevant legal documents and conventions.