Assessing the threat status of Vietnam’s bird species

A new research published in the magazine Nature conservation assesses the threat status of bird species from Vietnam, highlighting the country's critical conservation needs.

Vietnam is well known for its exceptional level of biodiversity, especially its very rich bird fauna. However, although the country is home to more than 900 species, Vietnamese ornithologist and study co-author Dr Hung Le Manh from the Institute of Biology (IB) of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in Hanoi highlights that no effort has been made to assess their conservation status to better protect them from the risk of extinction.

For this reason, the study, based on a master's thesis completed by Helena Hackenbroch at the University of Cologne (Germany), provides a comprehensive list of bird species recorded in Vietnam, including threat status, identifying hotspots of avian richness and their coverage by the national network of protected areas. The implementation of the IUCN One Plan approach to conservation is considered.

The study shows that of the 803 native bird species, ten of which are found only in Vietnam, only 43 are currently listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. Internationally, a further 87 species are listed in the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Prof. Dr. Truong Quang Nguyen, Deputy Director of the International Bureau and Editor-in-Chief of the new edition of the Vietnam Red Book, highlights that a total of 61 species are listed in the 2007 version of the Vietnam Red Book, 112 species in the updated version published in 2024, and in addition, 138 species are included according to national decrees.

Ass. Prof. Dr. Dennis Roedder from the Institute for Biodiversity Change Analysis. Leibniz (LIB), Bonn, Germany, highlights that the greatest diversity of bird species is found in northern and central Vietnam, and the Mekong Delta is an important area for non-breeding species but has a relatively low area of ​​protected areas.

Zoo databases (ZIMS) show that zoos have 308 species, including 20 endangered species and two endangered and endemic species. One of these species, the Vietnamese pheasant, listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, which has not been reported in the wild in Vietnam since 2000 and is one of the flagship species of the ongoing conservation campaign and VIETNAMAZING network, is now due to be released back into the wild to replenish stocks. natural populations.

A team led by Prof. Dr. Thomas Ziegler from the Cologne Zoo and the Institute of Zoology at the University of Cologne contributed to identifying gaps in the conservation of Vietnamese vertebrates. Three articles written by the team have already been published in the journal Nature conservation: amphibians (2022), reptiles (2023) and mammals (2024). This threat analysis aims to accelerate effective conservation action by implementing the IUCN One Plan approach and the Turn Back the Red initiative.

This updated avifauna assessment highlights Vietnam's critical conservation needs, highlighting areas for improved protection, integration of expanded ex situ conservation efforts, and alignment of legislation with global conservation priorities, says Ass. Prof. Dr. Minh D. Le from the Central Institute of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies (CRES), Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam.