Description

This biosphere reserve plays an important role in conserving biodiversity in the region, particularly for the wild and rare bird species. Its habitat is home to lots of rare water and migratory birds and a typical river-mouth wetland ecosystem in Northern Vietnam. It was internationally recognized by UNESCO in 2004. It includes two core zones, namely, the Xuân Thủy National Park – located in Nam Định province and the Tiền Hải Wetland Nature Reserve – located in Thái Bình province. These zones are surrounded by a buffer zone, a transition zone, and a corridor zone. The Xuân Thủy National Park is the first Ramsar site in Southeast Asia.

The co-management model has been applied among three provinces of Thái Bình, Nam Định, and Ninh Bình in a large coastal area focusing on biodiversity protection, sustainable livelihood maintenance, and climate change adaptation. With this, it is considered the first biosphere reserve using this co-management model in Southeast Asia.

Besides the high biodiversity value, which has a huge potential for ecotourism development, this biosphere reserve is also of importance in natural disaster response and climate change adaptation.

Sources & further information: “The home of water, migratory birds in northern Vietnam” at https://en.vietnamplus.vn and “Vùng đất hoang dã của các loài chim nước và chim di cư quý hiếm” at https://www.vietnamplus.vn, accessed on 11 February 2022.