Biodiversity Conservation

Facing the Problem

The rate of species extinction is increasing rapidly, currently 10-100 times higher than it was 10 million years ago. This trend is pushing the Earth towards the risk of falling into the largest extinction period since the disappearance of the wingless dinosaurs 66 million years ago.*

The squandering of natural resources by humans, which brings prosperity to society, has pushed approximately 1 million species of animals and plants out of a total of 8 million species on Earth to the brink of extinction.

68%

Average decline in vertebrate populations
globally from 1970 to 2016 **

Ecosystems are being gradually destroyed at an increasing rate due to the synergistic effects of climate change. The loss of biodiversity is breaking the links in biomes, leading to ecological imbalance on Earth. Additionally, the loss of biodiversity has affected people’s ability to adapt to the effects of climate change.

VIETNAM IS ONE OF 12 BIODIVERSITY CENTERS
AMONG 16 COUNTRIES THAT POSSESS THE HIGHEST GENERAL BIODIVERSITY RESOURCES GLOBALLY

Unfortunately, many species of animals, plants, and fungi are currently facing the threat of extinction. In Vietnam alone, there are 396 endangered vertebrate species and 227 species of vascular plants listed as endangered in the 2021 IUCN Red List.
Deforestation, expansion of farming areas and hunting, illegal logging, and climate change are the main causes of this situation.

* According to the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of the Intergovernmental Science and Policy Forum on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) 2019.
** According to WWF’s Planetary Vitality Report 2020

HOW TO SOLVE

These Problems?

The United Nations has selected 2021-2030 as the decade of
Ecosystem Restoration

With a series of reports on biodiversity loss and its impacts being published globally, the issue of biodiversity conservation and wildlife protection is one of the most pressing concerns on a global scale. More than 190 countries, including Vietnam, have participated in the Convention on Biological Diversity, and have developed a new strategy on biodiversity with a vision to 2050. The strategy includes measures to implement and monitor progress towards the common global goal of protecting 30% of each country’s land and ocean by 2030. Vietnam became a member of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1994 and has since demonstrated its commitment to implementing biodiversity protection through a series of policies, laws, and decrees. These include

The Law on Biodiversity (2008) and its Unified Text (2011)
The Law on Forestry, Law on Fisheries, Law on Environmental Protect…
The national strategy on biodiversity that extends to 2020 with a vision for 2030.

National parks and reserves, covering nearly 2.5 million hectares, have been established. The Vietnamese government, organizations, and communities are continuously developing policies and practices to promote biodiversity protection and sustainable development.

Solutions from CEGORN

Biodiversity conservation based on community participation

CEGORN’s top priority is biodiversity conservation, and one of the ways it aims to achieve this is through community-based conservation. In fact, over 1 million hectares of natural forest area allocated to the community for management have been well-protected.

By relying on indigenous knowledge and customs, the community not only manages areas that are not eligible for the establishment of a national park or protected area, but also acts as an “extension arm” of co-management and conservation activities in national parks, national park buffer zones, or even forest areas that have not been allocated to the community.

Work with the community

CEGORN, an organization based in Quang Binh, one of the localities with the most biodiversity in Vietnam, has been cooperating with Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park since 2015 to establish 20 community conservation groups. These groups provide support for communities living in the buffer zone and the national park.

Since 2017, CEGORN has also accompanied the community of Tuyen Hoa district in organizing policy advocacy activities and implementing effective conservation measures for the white-necked langur, an endangered endemic species threatened with extinction.

To conserve forests and plant systems, including timber and forest products, under the forest canopy, CEGORN has been working with communities and organizations in the alliance and network to implement various programs in provinces such as Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Hue, Kon Tum, Dak Lak, Lao Cai, and Nghe An. The main programs include:

Restoring natural forests with native trees
Enriching forests with native trees
Developing forest products under the forest canopy

Raising public awareness

In addition to carrying out technical activities like afforestation and biodiversity conservation consulting, CEGORN also regularly conducts training programs and awareness-raising activities. Gender equality is also considered in the implementation process.

The pilot models with lessons learned from practice help CEGORN, its network members, and partners propose appropriate policy improvements towards sustainable development associated with biological form conservation.

Survey on the distribution of Red-shanked Douc in Đakrông Nature Reserve, Quang Tri province

Cooperative Production, General Business and Voluntary Conservation of Hatinh Langur – Continuing the journey of conservation and sustainable livelihood development.

Many impressive stories from the visit of BGCI and ICRAF, CEGORN to the white-necked langur conservation model in Quang Binh province