A primate in the Cuc Phuong Endangered Primate Rescue Center.

USAID/Vietnam

USAID’s Biodiversity Policy recognizes that biodiversity conservation is an essential component of achieving sustainable, resilient development. Human well-being and progress are dependent on the health of ecosystems and that durable development gains are not possible unless these systems are valued and safeguarded. USAID aims to shape a future in which both people and biodiversity thrive via improvements in economic prosperity, social equity and environmental stewardship.

Vietnam is one of the world’s most biologically diverse countries, with 10 percent of the world’s mammal, bird and fish species in habitation. Forty percent of local plant species exist only in Vietnam. Diverse ecosystems provide critical goods and services to the Vietnamese people through the provisioning of ecosystem services, including clean water, soil stability, buffers against storms and climate shocks, and a basis for tourism. Vietnam is classified as a top priority under USAID’s Biodiversity Policy. Activities aim to protect globally significant biodiversity by safeguarding a future for unique and endangered species, currently threatened for example by land use change, intense poaching and wildlife crime.

USAID activities to conserve biodiversity, combat wildlife crime and protect the environment include:

• USAID Green Annamites (2016-2020) supports provincial and local interventions in Central Annamites landscapes that are focused on increasing application of low emissions land use, strengthening biodiversity conservation, and increasing resilience for vulnerable communities. The project helps protect people, landscapes and biodiversity in Vietnam’s priority forested provinces, working directly with governments and citizens in the provinces of Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue.
• USAID Saving Species (2016-2021) aims to reduce consumer demand for and consumption of illegal wildlife and wildlife products, strengthen wildlife law enforcement and prosecution, and improve and harmonize the legal framework to combat wildlife crime. The program’s Government of Vietnam counterpart is the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
• Ha Long - Cat Ba Alliance (2014-2019) promotes environmental protection of the Ha Long Bay UNESCO World Heritage Site and Cat Ba Archipelago Biosphere Reserve. Activities include business engagement through the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and support to expand the Ha Long Bay UNESCO World Heritage Site to include Cat Ba Archipelago Biosphere Reserve.

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