A silver-backed chevrotain (Tragulus versicolor), a critically endangered species, is spotted by a camera trap on June 21, 2018 in the Nui Chua National Park of Ninh Thuan province (Source: AFP/VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - The Vietnamese Government has committed to joining handswith governments in the region and the world to reduce biodiversity loss by 2030for sustainable development.
Deputy head of the Vietnam Environment Administration’s Biodiversity ConservationAgency and head of Vietnam’s ASEAN working group on biodiversity preservation, HoangThi Thanh Nhan, made the statement while attending the 22nd Meeting ofthe Governing Board of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), held via video conferencingon November 18.
The event drew the participation of representatives from ASEAN member states, theASEAN Secretariat and the ACB, as well as ASEAN’s development partners in the fieldof biodiversity preservation, such as the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnamand the German development cooperation agency (GIZ).
Nhan said that as ASEAN Chair 2020, Vietnam wants to promote commitments on biodiversitypreservation and ecosystem restoration in Southeast Asia.
She placed emphasis on the importance of cooperation within the bloc as well aswith countries and development partners to realise targets in the ASEAN cooperationstrategy on the environment, the action plan of the ASEAN working group on naturepreservation and biodiversity, and other regional initiatives.
Biodiversity has helped Vietnam and other ASEAN member states ensure food securityand livelihoods, maintain valuable genetic sources, and provide materials for construction,among others.
Nhan said Vietnam has signed various international treaties on biodiversity, likethe Ramsar Convention, the CITES treaty, the Climate Change Convention, and theUN’s Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is preparing a nationalaction strategy on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the 2020-2030period, she added.
According to theUN’s 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, natureis declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history. Biodiversity losscoupled with climate change is threatening the world’s sustainable development.In this context, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 2020-2030 as the UN Decade onEcosystem Restoration./.
VNA
