The German Government and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) office in Germany have committed 8.2 million euro (US$11.7 million) to enhance the protection of forests near the Viet Nam-Lao border, the German Embassy announced yesterday.
The four-year project “Annamites Carbon Sinks and Biodiversity” aims to prevent forest degradation and promote sustainable management of 200,000ha of forest in the central provinces of Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue, and a national park in Laos.
The area, part of the Truong Son Mountain Range and a portion of the biggest mixed-forest region in Asia, is home to many endangered species such as Indochina Tiger, Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) and douc langurs (Pygathrix).
Project manager Nils Meyer said the project was a milestone in the joint commitments made by the German and Vietnamese governments to prevent the degradation of global biodiversity.
A majority of the funding, $10.3 million, will come from Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety through KfW Entwicklungsbank (the German Development Bank). The remaining funds will come from the WWF German bureau.
