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Viet Nam Includes Numerous Rare and Precious Wildlife Species in the Red List and Red Book

15:06 13/01/2025

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A team of Vietnamese scientists has successfully updated the Red List and compiled the Viet Nam Red Book, a project implemented by the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources in collaboration with the Center for Informatics and Computing and published by the Natural Science and Technology Publishing House during the 2020–2024 period.

The Viet Nam Red Book has been compiled and released in two volumes: Volume 1 focuses on animals (742 species), while Volume 2 covers plants and fungi (656 species). Expert groups have updated, supplemented, and revised the conservation status of 1,398 species.

Over three years of implementation, including numerous consultative workshops with specialists, the dossiers for 1,398 threatened species in Viet Nam were developed and assessed according to the criteria and standards of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), adapted for the national level. Detailed information on taxonomy, distribution, population status, and threats to wildlife species has been updated for each species.

A significant highlight of this project is the development of Viet Nam's Red List online, allowing detailed searches for information on 1,398 threatened species in the country. The system is aligned with the IUCN Red List, organized by scientific taxonomy, and supports online access at http://vnredlist.vast.vn/. The Center for Informatics and Computing developed this database as part of Component 2 of the project. The Red List logo features the Vietnamese slipper orchid and the saola, two iconic species of Viet Nam's tropical forest ecosystems.

Each species in the Viet Nam Red Book includes information on nomenclature, identification characteristics, distribution, population status, biological traits, threats, and conservation measures.

 Vietnamese pheasant, one of the endangered species listed in the Viet Nam Red Book

Compared to the 2007 Viet Nam Red Book, the number of threatened species in the 2024 version has increased significantly, from 836 species to 1,398 species. Notably, the number of threatened animal species has risen by 354, plant species by 196, and fungal species by 6. New groups, such as mosses, arachnids, and dragonflies, were evaluated for the first time. However, the research also noted that five animal species are now extinct (EX) or extinct in the wild (EW) in Viet Nam: the sika deer (Cervus nippon), the Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), the white-crested pheasant (Lophura edwardsi), the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), and the southern river terrapin (Batagur affinis).

The research team also published five studies in reputable international journals such as Nature Conservation, ZooKeys, and Frontiers of Biogeography. Notably, a new species, the Ngoc Linh salamander, was discovered in Kon Tum province and published in ZooKeys in 2023.

The Viet Nam Red List and Red Book serve as critical references for biodiversity conservation and implementing international conventions that Viet Nam participates in, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Information in these documents also forms the basis for drafting legal frameworks and policies, including decrees and national strategies related to the protection and sustainable development of endangered, rare, and precious wildlife species.

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