The World Wide Fund (WWF) Vietnam on Tuesday launched a project aiming to avoid deforestation and forest degradation in the border area of southern Laos and central Vietnam.

The four-year Annamites Carbon Sinks and Biodiversity project will target an area of 200,000 hectares of trans-boundary forest.

The area comprises of two saola nature reserves in Hue city and Quang Nam, the extended Bach Ma National Park in Vietnam and the Xe Sap National Protected Area in Laos.

The project is expected to avoid emissions of 1.8 million tons of carbon dioxide deriving from deforestation and forest degradation.

Funding of the project will come from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany through KfW Entwicklungsbank (the German Development Bank).