Ananda Tiega, general secretary of the Ramsar Convention, has just informed Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the recognition, says Nguyen Duc Tu, Water and Wetlands Coordinator of the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Vietnam.
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, and has continued to provide a national framework for wetland preservation ever since.
The convention embodies the commitments of its member countries to maintain the ecological character of their Wetlands of International Importance and to plan for the "wise use", or sustainable use, of all of the wetlands in their territories.
The Tram Chim National Park has become the country’s fourth Ramsar site after Xuan Thuy Natural Wetland Reserve in the northern province of Nam Dinh, which was recognized in 1988; the Bau Sau (Crocodile Lake) Wetlands and Seasonal Floodplains in Cat Tien National Park, selected in 2005; and Ba Be National Park in Bac Kan northern province, recognized in 2011.
Tram Chim covers an area of 7,588 hectares, which is home to 130 species of plant, 100 species of vertebrate animals, 40 species of fish, and 147 types of water birds – of which 13 are listed as endangered.
The most distinguished resident bird is the Sarus Crane (Grus antigone), which has been recognized as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red Book.