A
project to save the rare Vietnamese pond turtle in the central province of Quang
Ngai has yet to get off the ground due to lacks funds, said Nguyen Van Hang,
head of the provincial Forest Protection Department.

The Pond Turtle
Conservation project has received a US$20,000 grant from the Asian Turtle
Preservation Programme in Binh Son District’s Binh Khuong Commune.

However, the project
has been put on hold because there is not enough money to compensate villagers
for the loss of farming land.

“We are calling for
more capital to compensate local people here so they can continue to work the
land,” Hang said.

The 35-ha area
earmarked for the conservation programme has ideal conditions for pond turtles,
he said.

Pond turtles are
listed by conservation groups as needing special care and protection. They live
in wetlands only in Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen but
are threatened by urbanisation, which is destroying their natural habitat.

The conservation area
would include different zones to encourage turtles to remain and breed.

Under the project,
wildlife officials will boost public awareness of the need to protect endemic
species, while training local authority staff on conservation.

About 100 pond turtles
(Annamenys annamensis) currently being reared at Cuc Phuong National Park’s
Turtle Conservation Centre will be introduced to the designated conservation
area in Binh Khuong Commune when the site has been made ready, Hang said.

The rare turtles are
only found in Viet Nam’s central region. They were thought to be extinct in the
wild until a few were discovered in the coastal wetlands of central Quang Ngai
Province in 2006.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News