Authorities of the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong are close to
completing their report on the Lang Biang biosphere reserve to be
submitted to UNESCO for recognition this September.
The Lang
Biang biosphere reserve is expected to span 260,000ha, with its core
area of 56,000ha covering Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park.
Surrounding the core area is an 86,000-hectare buffer zone filled with communes.
The
remaining 118,000ha is a wide transitional area covering parts of Da
Lat city and Lac Duong, Lam Ha, Duc Trong and Don Duong districts.
The
Lang Biang biosphere reserve’s core area, a national centre for
biodiversity protection, is home to more than 2,000 plant species and
nearly 400 animal species, of which 127 are rare species identified on
Vietnam’s red list.
The value of Lang Biang lies
in its connection to the culture of the Central Highlands region, said
Professor Nguyen Hoang Tri, General Secretary of the National Man and
the Biosphere Programme, at a recent conference to discuss technical
consulting for and the construction of the Lang Biang biosphere reserve.
Experts noted that additional surveys on the
participation of the community and socio-political organisations in
preserving and developing the reserve were essential, as were presenting
images of the reserve’s fauna and flora and environmental protection
programmes as part of the mandatory documentation to be submitted to
UNESCO.
It is expected that the English-language
report will be completed and submitted to the UN scientific and
cultural body in September.
Vietnam currently
has eight UNESCO-recognised biosphere reserves: Can Gio Mangrove, Cat
Ba, Cat Tien, and Cu Lao Cham-Hoi An, as well as Kien Giang, Mui Ca Mau,
Red River Delta, and Western Nghe An.-VNA