Dong Thap (VNS/VNA) -Located in the wetlands of the Plain of Reeds in the Mekong Delta province ofDong Thap, Tram Chim National Park is known for its spectacular diversity ofbird species, attracting bird-watchers year-round.

Local farmers named the park Tram Chim due to the great number ofcajeput (tram) trees and birds (chim).

The 7,300ha park, flooded for half a year and dry for the otherhalf, is home to more than 100 vertebrate species, 40 species of fish, and 213species of water birds, including 16 rare birds like the Sarus crane, thegreater adjutant, black-headed ibis, darter, and little egret.

Nguyen The Hanh, vice director of the national park, said thatthousands of Asian openbill storks, which were given priority for preservation,have flocked to the park.

The park has a good environment for birds, containing a level ofwater conducive to the development of flora and aquatic creatures.

Thanks to its diversity of bird species, the park holdsbird-watching tours, attracting a great number of visitors.

The number of visitors exceeded 60,000 in 2014, a five-foldincrease compared to 2012, when it was recognised as Vietnam’s fourth siteunder the Ramsar Convention of Wetlands of International Importance.

In the first half of the year, the park welcomed more than 75,000guests, an increase of 26 percent year-on-year. Tourism revenue in that periodexceeded 3.8 billion VND (167,000 USD), up 81.5 percent from the same periodlast year.

The World Wild Fund for Nature Vietnam recently provided 2.6billion VND (114,500 USD) for a project to encourage eco-tourism andsustainable use of natural resources in the park.

Pham Tan Xieu, head of the Dong Thap province People’s CommitteeOffice, said the project would preserve the biodiversity of the wetlands andimprove livelihoods for local people through community-based tourism.

In the late 1980s, under a Government programme to turn Dong Thap provinceinto one of the country’s largest rice granaries, many canals, embankments andirrigation works were built, which led to degradation of the wetlandsecosystem.

The grass fields, which were food sources for the Sarus crane andother bird species, narrowed significantly, causing the birds to seek newshelter sites.

In an effort to retain the precious birds, the Government andconservation organisations have worked in the past decade to promote themigration of birds and cranes with million-dollar projects.

One of them was a project supporting habitat restoration andprotecting the wetlands ecosystem in Tram Chim funded by the World WildlifeFund (WWF) and Coca Cola, which operated from 2007-2014 in two phases.

The project helped increase by threefold the area of Eleocharisgrasslands, a favourite food of the Sarus crane, drawing 125 cranes back to thepark.

However, Hoang Viet, a programme coordinator of WWF Vietnam’sFreshwater and Climate Change, said that efforts to rehabilitate the wetlandshabitat could be in vain if actions are not taken to restrict negativeinfluences on the natural reserve.

The overuse of pesticides in agricultural production, for example,harms cranes, he said.

Despite many efforts to protect the bird population, a wild birdmarket in Long An province’s Thanh Hoa district, the biggest in the south, hasbeen seen selling several species of rare birds, including darters and Asian openbills.

Though the province’s authorities have urged people to stoptrading wild birds, the market remains busy.

Le Huu Loi, vice chief ranger of Long An province, said thatauthorities had imposed fines on eight people who sold endangered birds thisyear.

He said that many species of wild birds sold at the market werenot on the list of endangered species banned from trade and hunting, and thusrangers could not punish traders.-VNA