Nearly all members of the Ramsar Convention’s Secretariat have reached an agreement to recognize Cham Trim National Park, of Dong Thap Mekong Delta province, as a Ramsar Convention of Wetlands of International Importance, according to the park’s director, Nguyen Van Hung.

Nguyen Duc Tu, Water and Wetlands Coordinator of the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Vietnam, says: “The Secretariat is completing final formalities to announce Tram Chim National Park as a world Ramsar site in the coming days.”

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 Tram Chim National Park will become Vietnam’s fourth Ramsar site if it is accepted by the Ramsar Convention Bureau, 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.

According to Wikipedia, Cham Trim 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.

Tuoitre