U.S. Supports Biodiversity Protection in Vietnam

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Vietnam’s Biodiversity Conservation Agency will build upon collaborative scientific research and information sharing to protect the biodiversity in Vietnam. The support was formalized at a signing ceremony during the World Conservation Congress in Honolulu, Hawaii with the USGS representing the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Vietnam Biodiversity Conservation Agency representing the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. “The USGS is honored to contribute our body of knowledge and scientific expertise to this partnership between the U.S. and Vietnam,” said USGS associate director Kevin Gallagher, “This project is a successful outgrowth of the ever-increasing scientific and technical cooperation between our two nations,” said Gallagher. With its emphasis on scientist-to-scientist exchanges, this partnership falls under the President’s Pivot to Asia strategy, which prioritizes strengthening cooperation among our partners in the region, leveraging their significant and growing capabilities to build a network of like-minded states that sustains and strengthens a rules-based regional order and addresses regional and global challenges. This partnership is a multi-year project to increase documentation of Vietnam’s unique biodiversity and to increase legal protection of that biodiversity in the country which is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots. Vietnam’s diversity is under great pressure from development, population growth, and climate change. Among Vietnam’s biodiversity are more than 13,000 species of land-based plants, more than 10,000 species of land-based animals, 39 types of wetlands, 20 marine ecosystems, and more than 11,000 marine species. One of the most important ecosystems for Vietnam is the Mekong River, the largest river in Southeast Asia, and one of the longest rivers in the world. “The biodiversity of Vietnam is a national treasure that we seek to help protect for future generations. Teaming with USGS helps bring extra hands to the important tasks of documenting and protecting our species and habitats,” said Dr. Pham Anh Cuong from Vietnam’s Biodiversity Conservation Agency. The two agencies will build upon the Letter of Intent to complete and sign a Project Annex that will last for the duration of the Vietnam Biodiversity Conservation Agency’s review period, after which time the Vietnam Biodiversity Conservation Agency will submit its recommendations to the Vietnamese National Assembly, the country’s highest legislature. (www.usgs.gov Sept 3)