Van Long Lagoon recognised as national Ramsar site

Van Long Lagoon in the northern province of Ninh Binh has been officially recognised as a new Ramsar site.

Van Long Lagoon in the northern province of Ninh Binh has been officially recognised as a new Ramsar site.

  

Van Long Lagoon

The certificate award ceremony was held on May 22 by the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment and Ninh Binh Province authorities on the International Day for Biological Diversity with the theme of Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health.

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan gave the certificate to recognise Van Long Lagoon as the ninth Ramsar site in Vietnam to the authorities of Ninh Binh Province.

Nhan congratulated Ninh Binh Province authorities on the achievements in biodiversity conservation and thanked the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, organisations and individuals who have worked hard to protect the environment.

He went on to say that the theme of this year’s Day for Biological Diversity aimed to raise awareness about the connection between nutrition, health and biodiversity, restore ecosystems, clean water sources and fight hunger.

Vietnam has great biodiversity as 10% of the animal species and over 40% of the fauna and flora in the world can be found in Vietnam. Many are local species.

Nhan asked related agencies to have plans for promotional activities on the media aimed at young people to help them understand more about food, health, nature as well as economic-socio development. They were asked to start movements to protect the animals and use natural resources more wisely.

The 3,500-ha Van Long Lagoon is considered the biggest wetland nature reserve site in the northern delta and home to thousands of rare fauna and flora species, many of them on the brink of extinction.

Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts shot Kong: Skull Island at the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex, Tam Coc-Bich Dong National Park and Van Long Lagoon.