Participants in the seminar, jointly held by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) - Vietnam Programme and TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade-monitoring network, in Southeast Asia, said that the Truong Son region, including Thua Thien Hue province, is one of the areas with the highest biodiversity level in the world. 

It has more than 204,000 ha of natural forests and a plentiful fauna and flora including more than 2,000 species of plants, 132 species of animals with three newly-discovered hooves such as Sao la, Mang Lon and Mang Truong Son. 

However, the region’s biodiversity is being seriously threatened as rare species such as tiger, rhino, elephant, pangolin, loris and tortoise have remarkably decreased due to the increasing illegal hunting and transport of these animals. 

The provincial Department of Forest Management said since 2000, it has handled over 450 violations and seized more than 1,550 individuals weighing over 7,100 kg in total.  

The project to prevent the illegal transport, trafficking and consumption of wild animals and plants in Thua Thien-Hue will be implemented in the 2009-2011 period.