The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), through the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), recently sponsored over Eur1.6 million for Kien Giang, a province in the southwestern tip of Vietnam, to carry out a project on natural ecosystem conservation.

The project will be implemented in Phu Quoc and Upper U Minh National Parks, protective mangrove forests in Kien Luong, Hon Dat, An Bien, and An Minh suburban districts until June 2011.

In 2009, Phu Quoc and Upper U Minh National Parks will be provided with fire-fighting devices.

Meanwhile, local residents living in the buffer zones in the above suburban districts will be introduced with five useful models of afforestation.

The finance serves to help the province tap its natural potentialities, better management capacity, prevent forest fires and salt erosion, maintain protective mangrove forests, and raise income for the sake of local people.

The Kien Giang Biosphere Reserve was recognized by UNESCO in October 2006 after the local population had showed their active participation in managing and protecting natural resources.

The area is consisted of both coastal and marine ecosystems with islands, swamps, mangrove forests, coral reefs, tropical primeval forests.

VietNamNet/CP