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VIETNAM
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Ravaged by years of war which brought napalm, millions of tons of explosives and land mines, and intense fighting throughout forest areas, Vietnam's rainforests have been seriously damaged. The use of chemical defoliants during the war was particularly destructive and some areas still show signs of damage.
Today, Vietnam's breakneck economic growth has taken a heavy toll on its natural forests. Between 1990 and 2005, the country lost a staggering 78 percent of its primary forests, leaving it with only 85,000 hectares of old-growth forest (0.66 percent of its forest cover or 0.26 percent of its total land cover). The total loss of forest (38 percent during that period) has been moderate, but still is among the highest in the world. The good news is that deforestation appears to be slowing in Vietnam. Since the close of the 1990s, average annual deforestation rates have fallen by 18 percent.
Much of Vietnam's forest clearing results from commercial agriculture and subsistence acitivities, notably small-scale agriculture and fuelwood collection. The government has tried to stem forest loss by promoting a massive reforestation project which was initiated in 1986. Since 1990, the area covered by plantations has expanded from 967,000 hectares to more than 2.7 million hectares.
Mining is also a threat to Vietnam's forest, but on a much smaller scale. Agricultural fires can spread into forest areas during particularly dry years, especially under el Niño conditions.
The government has blamed deforestation for worsening soil erosion and floods—though the flood link is tenuous and inundations are more likely the result of poor government policies regarding land settlement than actual forest loss.
Recent articles | Vietnam news updates | XML
U.S. furniture demand drives illegal logging in Laos
(3/24/2008) In Vietnam the illegal timber trade continues unabated, in many ways due to the Southeast Asian country's growing economy and wealthy nations' insatiable demand for cheap furniture. Since 2000 Vietnam has seem a ten-fold increase in their furniture industry, a rise that is leading to large-scale illegal deforestation in the Mekong region, according to a report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Telapak Indonesia.
11 new species discovered in Vietnam's Green Corridor
(9/29/2007) On September 26th, scientists from World Wildlife Fund announced the discovery of eleven new species: one snake, two butterflies, five orchids, and three other plants in Vietnam's biologically rich Green Corridor. The discoveries were made between 2005 and 2006.
Researchers find large population of extremely rare monkey
(7/2/2007) A team of scientists from WWF and Conservation International (CI) has discovered the world's largest known population of grey-shanked doucs (Pygathrix cinerea), a monkey ranked as one of the world's 25 most endangered primates, in Vietnam. The discovery is fueling that the species can be saved from extinction -- less than 1,000 of the monkeys are thought to remain.
Nigeria has worst deforestation rate, FAO revises figures
(11/17/2005) Nigeria has the world's highest deforestation rate of primary forests according to revised deforestation figures from the the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
US ranks #7 in global forest loss, Cambodia has worst deforestation rate
(11/16/2005) Cambodia has the world's highest deforestation rate, Brazil loses the largest area of forest annually, and Congo consumes more bushmeat than any other tropical country. These are among the findings from mongabay.com's analysis of new deforestation figures from the United Nations.
Vietnam: Environmental Profile
(2/15/2005) An overview of tropical rainforets found in Vietnam. Includes forest cover and deforestation statistics.
Suggested reading - Books
Unless otherwise specified, this article was written by Rhett A. Butler [Bibliographic citation for this page]
Other resources
Contact me if you have suggestions on other rainforest-related environmental sites and resources for this country.
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CIA-World Factbook Profile
FAO-Forestry Profile
Last updated: 4 Feb 2006 |
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