CONSERVATION OF FOREST GENETIC RESOURCES IN VIETNAM WITH REFERENCE TO ENDANGERED TREE SPECIES

Nguyen Hoang Nghia^[13]
Forest Science Institute of Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam

Introduction

Conservation is not the same as protection. Broadly speaking, conservation is the proper management and use of biological resources to obtain sustainable benefits for present and future generations. The objectives of conservation should include:

• Maintaining ecological processes and other support systems of the living biosphere, including water and soil resources;

• Conserving genetic diversity among species and populations; and

• Using natural resources sustainably.

It is obvious that the conservation of forest genetic resources plays an important and necessary role in environmental protection and sustainable forest management. Our objective should be to conserve for development and to develop for conservation. Conservation is not only preservation-it should incorporate measures to protect and use sustainably forest genetic resources.

In 1993, the total forest area of Vietnam was 9.65 million hectares, or 29.1% of the national territory (General Statistic Office 1994). Vietnam's forests consist of special-use forests (0.92 million hectares), protection forests (2.80 million hectares) and production forests (5.93 million hectares). Conservation objectives are pursued only in special-use forests and some ex situ conservation stands. Conservation of other functional forest types has not received enough attention and a detailed conservation plan covering both flora and fauna has yet to be formulated and implemented.

Vietnam has an abundant and diverse, but relatively unknown, forest flora. According to the Flore Générale de L'Indochine, the country has more than 7000 plant species in 1850 genera and 290 families. Of these, 64 genera and 2084 species are endemic. According to the Ecological and Plant Resources Institute (Tran Dinh Ly 1993), there are 11,000 species in the Pteridophyta, Gymnospermae and Angiospermae. The National Biodiversity Action Plan, approved by the government in 1995, estimates that there are about 12,000 plant species in Vietnam (7000 of which have been named), as well as 275 animal species, 800 bird species, 180 reptile species, 80 amphibian species, 2470 fish species, and 5500 insect species (Vietnam Government & GEF 1995). Of these, 40% are endemic.

Conservation efforts

In 1943 the forest area of Vietnam was estimated to be about 14.3 million hectares, or 43% of the total land area (Maurand 1943). Owing to war, shifting cultivation, land clearances, unsustainable logging and repeated burning, forest cover shrank at a rate of about 100,000ha per year to 27.1% in 1980 and 26.2% in 1985 (Ministry of Forestry 1991). Efforts to protect natural habitats began in 1962 with the creation of Vietnam's first national park at Cuc Phuong. In 1972, a Decree on Forest Protection established a forest ranger system with about 10,000 rangers across the country.

On the basis of Decision No. 194/CT of the Council of the Ministers in 1986, the Vietnamese government decided to establish a system of special-use forests covering 87 protected forest areas. The government issued laws for forest protection in 1991 and for environment protection in 1994. Many other decrees and decisions have also been issued to create a legal framework for establishing and managing special-use forests. Vietnam's Tropical Forest Action Plan (TFAP), which was issued in 1991, has also contributed to integrated planning of forest management. The first volume of the Vietnam Red Data Book was published in 1992, and included 347 endangered animal species. The second volume, which was published in 1996, included 350 rare and endangered plant species.

The main documents and important stages in the history of environmental protection and biodiversity conservation in Vietnam are given in Table 1.

Table 1. Development of conservation in Vietnam

Endangered species in Vietnam

In Vietnam, deforestation and shifting cultivation are the main causes of forest fragmentation, which can lead to a decline in natural populations and the loss of genetic diversity. Some examples of endangered tree species in Vietnam include (for other endangered species, see Table 2 below):

• Pinus dalatensis. This species is found only in a few areas such as Mat Station (Da Lat City), Lac Duong (Lam Dong province) and Mang Giang (Gia Lai province). The population at Mat Station, which is where the first samples of P. dalatensis were collected, is now almost extinct. Only two trees remain along the river bank at Uyen Uong Waterfalls.

• Many important populations of Erythrophleum fordii in Bac Giang, Lang Son, Phu Tho and Son Tay have disappeared. Also, Aquilaria crassna, which used to be distributed throughout Vietnam, is now found only in Ha Tinh, Tay Nguyen and Phu Quoc (see paper by Hoang Thanh Loc and Nguyen Duc To Luu in these proceedings).

• Glyptostrobus pensilis is in danger of extinction. Only two populations remain: 32 trees at Trap Ksor (Dac Lac) and about 200 trees at Ea H'Leo. Some of these trees are able to produce seed but no germination takes place, i.e. they are not regenerating naturally.

• Only about 50 individuals of Taxus chinensis and Pinus kwangtungensis remain in the country.

• Shorea falcata is represented by only six trees at Song Cau (Phu Yen province) and seven trees at Cam Ranh (Khanh Hoa province).

• Hopea cordata is represented by about 100 young saplings at Cam Ranh (Khanh Hoa).

Conservation methods in Vietnam

The research project on conservation of forest plant genetic resources, managed by the Forest Science Institute of Vietnam (FSIV), has received funding from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MOSTE) since 1988. Strategic orientation and the selection of conservation methods and priority species have received special attention. Priority species have been divided into four groups:

i) Threatened species with high economic value;

ii) Threatened species with high scientific value;

iii) Precious native species for reforestation; and

iv) Valuable exotic species for reforestation.

The main strategy used by the project is in situ conservation, applied in combination with the establishment of ex situ conservation stands. The following steps are taken to conserve forest genetic resources:

• Inventories (botanical and genecological surveys);

• Collection, evaluation and documentation of information;

• In situ and/or ex situ conservation; and

• Utilization.

Table 2. Endangered tree species in Vietnam and their levels of endangerment. Source: Nguyen Hoang Nghia (2000). Degree of endangerment is based on IUCN (1978, 1994).

^a) CR = Critically endangered (criteria A-E); EN = Endangered (criteria A-E); VU = Vulnerable (criteria A-D); LR = Lower risk; cd = conservation dependent.

Priority conservation areas and species are selected according to five criteria:

i) Level of diversity;

ii) Representativeness;

iii) Endemism;

iv) Degree of endangerment; and

v) Scientific and economic values.

Although the conservation of genetic resources and the conservation of natural habitats (in national parks and nature reserves) have some similarities, they also have important differences. The purpose of nature conservation is to protect entire ecosystems found in certain environments. This purpose does not give special consideration to the conservation of genetic diversity as such. Ecosystems that need to be conserved are more easily recognized and identified than the genetic variation crucial to conserving genetic resources.

Differences also exist between gene conservation of agricultural crops and forest tree species. Because agricultural crops are generally not perennial species, storage of their seeds in genebanks is of the highest priority. For forest tree species, however, conservation in the form of living individuals or populations (in situ and ex situ conservation stands) is of particular importance. The number of important agricultural crops (rice, maize, wheat, etc.) is limited, whereas the number of forest tree species that need to be conserved is very large. In addition, tree species have wide and scattered distribution ranges, and conservation efforts cannot focus on one provenance or population alone. Very few tree species can be considered as domesticated.

Conclusions

It is obvious that conservation of forest genetic resources plays an important role in conserving biological diversity. When a species is in danger of extinction, it is easy to agree on the need for conservation. Gene conservation, however, aims to prevent not only the extinction of a species, but also the depletion of its genepool by the loss of genes and genotypes. Conservation of forest genetic resources requires long-term funding and integrated management and conservation activities. In situ conservation and the establishment of ex situ conservation stands should be given priority in future conservation programmes in Vietnam.

References

General Statistic Office (1994) Statistical Data of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery (1985-1993). Statistical Publishing House, Hanoi.

Government of Vietnam & GEF (1995) National Biodiversity Action Plan. Hanoi.

IUCN (1978) The IUCN Plant Red Data Book . The World Conservation Union, Gland.

IUCN (1994) IUCN Red List Categories. The World Conservation Union, Gland.

Maurand, P. (1943) L'Indochine Forestière. Institut de Recherches Agronomiques et Forestiers de l'Indochine, Hanoi.

Ministry of Forestry (1991) Thirty Years Construction and Development of Forestry Sector, 1961-1990. Statistical Publishing House, Hanoi.

Nguyen Hoang Nghia (2000) Some Threatened Tree Species of Vietnam. Agriculture Publishing House, Hanoi.

Tran Dinh Ly (1993) 1900 Useful Plant Species of Vietnam. World Publishing House, Hanoi.