A Vietnamese institute charged with assessing the environmental impacts of two potential hydropower plants in Cat Tien National Park concluded that the forested area planned for the projects was too degraded to merit saving.
Most of the primary forest was gone - as were many of the animals - and the remaining forest consisted primarily of bamboo and shrubs. The researchers disputed previous reports that the land was home to yellow-cheeked gibbons and a newly discovered flower species called Camellia longii.
The area was better off developing the hydropower dams to boost the local economy, they added.
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