VietNamNet Bridge – In 2011, the Dak Lak provincial people’s committee
approved the elephant conservation project worth 61 billion dong, and the
Artemisia conservation project worth 50 billion dong, in an effort to rescue and
develop the last elephant and yew individuals in the Central Highlands. Elephant
conservation projects remain on… paper
Scientists
say elephants seriously endangered
Meanwhile, Dr Bao Huy from the Tay Nguyen University has warned that the slow
implementation of the conservation projects would be a big disadvantage to the
province, since a lot of foreign and domestic organizations now show their big
interests in the conservation work.
The organizations will only provide capital, equipment and techniques to fund
the projects if they can see with their eyes, the feasibility of the
conservation projects. Meanwhile, Vietnam has to spend too much time on
complicated procedures.
Regarding the elephant conservation project, 100 wild elephants and 51
domesticated elephants would be taken care and receive reproductive healthcare.
It is expected that an area covering 200 hectares would be reserved for grazing
elephants and growing the plants favorable to them. The project’s officers would
be sent to Thailand, India and Sri Lanka to learn the experience for elephant
breeding.
Meanwhile, the yew conservation project aims to have a sustainable development
of the plants, which can serve the scientific research and people’s lives.
Currently, the plants can be found at three places – Trap K’Sor in Krong Nang
district (20 plants), Ea Ral in Ea H’Leo (200 plants) and Cu Ne in Krong Buk
district (5 plants).
The two conservation projects have been drawn up after environmentalists rang
alarm bells over the increasingly high number of killed elephants and chopped
down trees.
According to Pham Quang Vinh, Head of the Ea H’Leo district’s Forest Ranger
Unit, in 2009-2011, the unit discovered 18 cases in which illegal loggers
exploited 6.3 cubic meters of yew timber. Tens of other cases were discovered in
Krong Nang. In fact, the number of cases would have been higher.
Meanwhile, Do Ngoc Dung from the Dak Lak provincial Forest Management
Sub-department, tens of domesticated elephants have had their tales cut since
2010, because people believe that they would have good luck with elephant tale
feather.
In 2011 alone, five wild elephants died in the forests because of the accidents,
while two domesticated elephants were killed.
Though the project was approved one year ago, the yew species & habitat
conservation project still does not have a director. The problem lies in the
fact that the district’s foreign management unit and the Krong Nang district’s
party committee have not agreed about who to be appointed as the director.
Regarding the elephant conservation project, the Dak Lak provincial authorities
asked for the permission to use 163 hectares of the Yok Don National Park for
the elephant conservation center. However, the proposal was refused by the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, which said that it would be
better not to split natural ecosystems to get the land for an independent
elephant center.
The ministry also emphasized that protecting elephants and other big animals is
also an important task of the Yok Don National Park.
According to Huynh Trung Luan, Director of the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation
Center, due to the lack of investment, the center’s head office is now located
at the Yok Don Guest House, while there are only six officers in the center. In
principle, the capital for the project implementation comes from three sources,
the local budget, central budget and foreign organizations. However, to date, no
capital has been funneled.
Source: NLD