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About Vietnam
  Sample Tours
 | About Vietnam >> Vietnam's Geography :>> Vietnam's Geography - Flora & Faula Thanks to the monsoon tropical climate, sunshine and rain, Vietnam has abundant and diversified vegetation. Forest covers 28.8% of the total land area of the country and has many strains and species of vegetation. Vietnam has over 800 wood species many of which are precious due to their hardness, solidity, beautiful grains and colors. The famous wood species comprise iron wood, oak, teak; thitka on limestone mountains; wood with beautiful grains such as mahogany, calamander, barian kingwood, aqilaria, species of peumou, yellow wood pedo-carpus fleuryi, comphor-trees also abound. The virgin forests have a reserve of wood of over 300 cubic meters per hectare. According the statistic of our State of Environment, Vietnam has 13,766 species of plants. Of these, 2,393 are lower plant species and 11,373 vascular plant species. 10 percent of the plant species are reported to be endemic. The total number of vascular plants in Vietnam estimated to be between 15,000 to 20,000 species. The fauna is as abundant and diversified as the flora. In Vietnam, there exist a variety of ancient tropical fauna and about 200 species of animals, 800 species of birds, 100 species of amphibians and over 150 species of reptiles. 1,000 species live in the seas and rivers and 200 species live in fresh water. Dense forests, limestone mountain forests, multi-canopied forests constitute the habitat of different species of monkeys, langurs, gibbons, wild cats and squirrels.
Vietnamese forests have typical monkey species such as white-head langurs, rhinopithecus, black mokeys. Likewise, there are valuable species of birds such as pheasants, pheinardia ocellata. There are many species of reptiles: boas, iguanas, snakes, chameleons, centipedes. The high mountains in the north have many furred wild animals like selenartos, small bears, big black squirrels, foxes, otters, civet cats. Aminals living in fresh waters comprise 250 fish species; brackish water and coastal areas are the habitat of 1,000 species of fishes, 300 species of crabs, 40 species of shrimps and lobsters, 300 species of oysters and sea snails. Besides, there are clams, seaslugs, sea turtles, pearl oysters; 300 species of seaweeds; in particular there are salanganes on rocky mountains on islands. Though the Vietnamese fauna is rich, varied and comprises rare species of high value, not all of them are available in large quantities. The natural conditions of Vietnam also present an unfavourable aspect. A particular feature of the monsoon climate is its uncertainty. Cold comes early in some years, late in others. Some years are marked by heavy rains and big floods, and others by prolonged periods of drought. The humid maritime climate facilitates the generation of fungi and insects while accelerating the corrosion of machinery and equipment. Steep slopes and existence of many rivers and streams creates difficulties for the building of the communication network. Land erosion is a danger to be checked in the first place. The diversity of flora and fauna and their existence is in scattered state and small quantity makes it difficult to organize breeding. Effects of socio – economic development on flora and fauna’s home Due to socio-economic development in Vietnam, deforestation has been a serious threat to the forests in Vietnam. According to the most frequently quoted sources, between 1943 and 1993 the proportion of the national territory covered by forests declined from at least 43% to 20% or even to as low as 16% – the various estimates differ somewhat, depending on the authors and their respective sources. Some observers go as far as claiming that the proportion of Vietnam still covered by forests has now fallen below 10%... It can be estimated that the forests of Vietnam recede by more than 200,000 ha/year, that is, the proportion of the country still forested in 1997 vary between 10 and 20%, that is, between some 3.3 million and 6.6 million ha. In other words, the national annual rate of deforestation stands between 3 and 6%. Beside deforestation, water and air pollution also threaten to quantity of fishes and birds in Vietnam.
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