02/03/2021
Đà Nẵng City’s People's Committee has approved the Master Plan on biodiversity conservation in 2030 in line with long-term socio-economic and sustainable development goals. The Plan would include funds of nearly VNĐ 100 billion (US$ 4.4 million) to cover the cost of conservation, forest protection and afforestation as well as establishing new reserves on an area of 43,722 ha.
Following the Plan, current nature reserves of Sơn Trà, Bà Nà - Núi Chúa and Nam Hải Vân, or South Hải Vân forest, will be key priorities for strict protection in biosphere reserves, natural landscape protection, herb and botanical gardens covering 37,534 ha. The Bà Nà - Núi Chúa nature reserve would be promoted as a National Park, while the Sơn Trà Naturre Reserve and the South Hải Vân special use forest will be kept as two ature reserves.
A core zone of the three reserves of Sơn Trà, Bà Nà - Núi Chúa and Nam Hải Vân forest and 10,979 ha of the Đà Nẵng Bay would be a new biosphere reserve to protect endangered species.
A red-shanked douc langur (Pygathrix nemaeus) at the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve
The Master Plan also includes a botanical garden in the Bà Nà-Núi Chúa reserve and a 10ha herb garden in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve. Two lakes - Hòa Trung and Đồng Xanh - Đồng Nghệ - will be protected landscape zones, including wetlands and endangered species conservation sites. It said the protection of the nature reserves and promotion of new reserves and protected natural areas will aim to build rich biodiversity conservation corridors with neighbouring Thừa Thiên - Huế and Quảng Nam in the future.
According to the City, the Master Plan on biodiversity conservation would help promote eco-tourism services while protecting the rich biodiversity of flora and fauna. The Sơn Trà Nature Reserve, 10 km from the City, is home to more than 1,300 red-shanked douc langurs - the world’s biggest population of the endangered primate listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The Nature Reserve, which is 600m above sea level, is known for its rich biodiversity, with 387 animal species and 1,010 plant species. Meanwhile, 626 animal species and 793 plant species, including the endangered Northern buffed-cheeked gibbon and Edwards’s pheasant were reported living in the Bà Nà - Núi Chúa Nature Reserve. The two nature reserves of Sơn Trà and Bà Nà-Núi Chúa are the “green lungs” of Đà Nẵng, supplying millions of tonnes of oxygen to residents and tourists.
Nguyên Hằng
