Van Long lagoon wins the title of the first Green List in Vietnam and Southeast Asia

The Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve (Ninh Binh) has been officially approved and certified by the Global Green List Commission (IUCN).

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The Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve is the first nature reserve in Vietnam and Southeast Asia to achieve the Green List title.

This is the result of all the efforts of the Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve, a group of Vietnamese Green List assessors, and support from independent appraisers and relevant agencies. 

Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve.

The official approval and certification of the Green List by the Global Green List Commission (IUCN) will be the driving force for Van Long Nature Reserve and stakeholders to put more effort into conservation activities of the langur and sustainable development of the ecosystem of limestone mountains, the largest wetland in Vietnam.

This also contributes to a positive impact on the tourism development of Ninh Binh province in the future. Because Van Long lagoon is currently a wild and famous destination in Ninh Binh, each year attracts millions of domestic and international visitors to visit.

Vietnam participated in the IUCN Green List program since 2016 with registrars including: Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve (Ninh Binh), Con Dao National Park, Cat Tien National Park, Pu Mat National Park, and Cuc Phuong National Park.

The Van Long lagoon is the largest in-field wetland in the Northern Delta.

The IUCN Green List is a global standard for conservation success; Adaptable to local contexts of all countries and regions; a voluntary commitment to which any type of PA can participate; an independent, highly reliable, guaranteed evaluation process; is a global recognition for the protected areas and the staff of the protected areas.

The Green List's set of criteria includes four components: good governance; design; Good planning, effective management, and successful conservation outcomes.

A certified Green Listed National Park or protected area helps stakeholders identify good natural resource management practices, provide evidence of how conservation outcomes have been achieved, and contribute to global biodiversity goals.

Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve, located in Gia Vien district, established by the Ninh Binh Provincial People's Committee in December 2001, is one of three special-use forests in Ninh Binh province and is part of a system of more than 100 special-use forests of Vietnam.

Every year Van Long lagoon welcomes millions of tourists to visit.

The natural area is more than 3,500 ha, of which the area under the management of the nature reserve is 2,743 ha, of which the area of regular wetlands covers an area of over 400 ha. This is considered the largest inland wetland area in the Northern Delta.

Van Long is a place that concentrates many natural and humanistic tourism potentials, has a convenient location for visiting activities of tourism, plays an important role in the socio-economic development of Ninh Binh province.

Van Long terrain is flat, the difference is not more than 0.5m. This is a region with high biodiversity and limestone ecosystems, home to the largest population of "langur" in Vietnam.

Wild birds and storks fly in the sky at Van Long lagoon.

Van Long forest has 457 species of vascular plants belonging to 327 genera and 127 families. Especially, there are 8 species listed in the Red Book of Vietnam (1996), namely Nauclea purpurea Roxb, Chukrasia tabularis A.Juss, Cycas pectinata, Drynaria fortunei,... There are 39 species of animals, 19 families, 7 animal set; There are 12 species of rare and precious animals such as the Delacour's langur (with the largest number in Vietnam), Ursus thibetanus, antelope, big coolie, red-faced monkey, civet, ...

Among the reptile species, there are 9 species recorded in the Vietnam Red Book: king cobra, varan, python, snakehead, common snake, Ptyas mucosa, and gecko...

It is noteworthy that in the Van Long flooded area there is a species of Lethocerus indicus Lep. et Serv belonging to the swimming feet, a rare species of insect, which is very rare in Vietnam. Living Lethocerus indicus Lep. et Serv shows the freshness of the water environment and the surrounding landscape space.

Rich, diversified ecosystem, and beautiful scenery in Van Long lagoon, Ninh Binh.

Van Long eco-tourism area has 32 beautiful caves, many wide valuable caves such as Ca cave, Bong cave, Turtle cave, Chanh cave. There are also the Kem Cham and the Mother Temple, where the mother of the four generals Hong Nuong is worshiped.

Van Long's river and mountain is a very good ecotourism place, a research and study site for scientists and students who want to research on inland wetlands of Vietnam.