. The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Asia and the Pacific. Vietnam. Twenty years after spraying with defoliants, the Mekong delta's war-torn mangroves remain heavily damaged. WWF/J. MacKinnon Conservation Areas The government started to establish nature reserves as early as 1962 when it inaugurated the first national park at Cue Phuong, about 130 km south of Hanoi. Further extension of the reserve system was postponed by the war but since 1980 has proceeded very quickly. The government recently approved the extension of the reserve system to include a total of 87 reserves and these wi
. The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Asia and the Pacific. Vietnam. Twenty years after spraying with defoliants, the Mekong delta's war-torn mangroves remain heavily damaged. WWF/J. MacKinnon Conservation Areas The government started to establish nature reserves as early as 1962 when it inaugurated the first national park at Cue Phuong, about 130 km south of Hanoi. Further extension of the reserve system was postponed by the war but since 1980 has proceeded very quickly. The government recently approved the extension of the reserve system to include a total of 87 reserves and these will protect representative examples of most major forest formations in the country. These include seven national parks, 49 nature reserves and 31 cultural and environmental reserves although a lack of staff, resources and management experience prevents the protected areas system fulfilling its greatest conservation potential. Some cover substantial areas, such as the 450 sq. km Mom Ray nature reserve close to the Cambodian border, but many are much smaller, due to the highly fragmented condition of the remaining forest. However, forests retained to protect watersheds are also important for wildlife and as corridors between reserves and isolated forest patches. Table lists the name, size and status of reserves. It is highly desirable that a forest corridor should be created down the length of the Annamite mountain chain since this is an important habitat for elephant and other large mammals such as gaur, banteng and wild dog {Ciion alpiniis). These corridors are probably also important for linking primate populations, especially the more ar- boreal forms such as gibbons and langurs. The extensive wetlands of the Mekong delta are also of critical importance. Forest cover in this area is vital to ensure the proper flow of water through the delta's many small channels, for protecting its banks, fish and prawn nursery areas and providing refuges for waterbirds. The conservation
Size: 1485px × 1682px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionbiodiversity, bookleafnumber245
