Xuân Thủy National Park () is a national park in Hong River Biosphere Reserve in Ninh Bình province, Vietnam. The national park was established according to the Decision number 01/2003/QĐ-TTg dated 2 January 2003 signed by premier Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, this decision turned Xuân Thủy Wetland Nature Reserve into Xuân Thủy National Park. The park was the first wetland area to be announced a Ramsar site in south-east Asia and is internationally significant as a migratory bird habitat.

History On 2 January 1989, the area of 12,000 hectare around the mouth of the Red River in Giao Thủy District located in north-east Vietnam were recognized as Southeast Asia's first Ramsar site, being the 50th site worldwide. Six years later the establishment of Xuân Thủy Wetland Natural Reserve was decided by the government, soon after it was upgraded to be the Xuân Thủy National Park in 2003, putting the National Park under the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nam Định Province. Furthermore, the park was acknowledged by UNESCO as part of the core zone of the Red River Biosphere Reserve. The numerous titles given by both national and international agencies and the strong support from the government and international organizations (governmental and non-governmental) reflect the importance of the area.Phan Nguyen Hong, Le Xuan Tuan & Phan Thi Anh Dao, Xuân Thủy National Park : Biodiversity, Hanoi, 2007, p.8.

Landscape and climate

Landscape Xuân Thủy National Park is located in Giao Thủy District (Nam Định Province), 150 km south-east from Hanoi. It is the largest coastal wetland ecosystem in the north of Vietnam and placed in the south of the Red River mouth.Nguyen Duc Tu, Le Manh Hung, Le Trong Trai, Ha Quy Ouynh, Nguyen Quoc Binh and Thomas, R., Conservation of key coastal wetland sites in the Red River Delta: an assessment of IBAs 10 years on Hanoi: BirdLife International Vietnam Programme 2006, p. 15. The Core Zone has a total area of 7.100 hectares, 4000 hectares of low tide wetlands and 3.100 hectares of land.Phan Nguyen Hong, Le Xuan Tuan & Phan Thi Anh Dao, Xuân Thủy National Park: Biodiversity, MERC-MCD, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2007, p. 9. It covers the islets of Con Ngan, Con Lu and Con Xanh. Aquaculture farms and some parts of mangrove forest cover the largest islet, Con Ngan. Con Lu islet is covered by sandy areas as such as alluvial flats and aquaculture farms. Con Lu, which is the smallest of the three islets is being widened by alluvium from the Red River and covered by sandy layer.Pham Dinh Viet Hong, Nguyen Duc Tu, Nguyen Viet Cach & Le Thanh Binh, Xuân Thủy National Park: Policy Brief, VEPA-MCD, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2007, p. 9. The Buffer Zone has a total area of 8.000 hectares. The Park is a delta and estuary islands (Ba Lat river-mouth) support coastal mangroves and the mud flat ecosystem in the Red River delta. The area includes land enclosed by sea dikes with fringing marshes. 'The land is also noted for the human ecological model of VAC (model of planting vegetable gardens, raising fish in ponds and animal husbandry all in one home) and silvofishery models. The area has a long history of wet rice cultivation as well as dike construction and land reclamation'Xuân Thủy National Park- A Destination of Eco-tourism, flyer of the National Park

Climate

Giao Thuy district lies in the tropical monsoon region, which has two distinct seasons. One hot and rainy season from April to October and a cold and dry season from November to March. The annual average temperature is 24 °C. The highest temperature in summer is 40.3 °C and the coldest temperature in winter is 6.8 °C. The average humidity is 84%. The annual rainfall is between 1700 mm and 1800 mm. Averagely there are 133 rainy days per year. Rain mainly falls in summer or winter. With 15-18 rainy days August is the month with the most rainfall in contrast to autumn and winter with the lowest rainfall (25–50 mm per month). From July to October the Red River is flooded, which influences the region as well as the northeast monsoon. In winter the wind mainly comes from the north and in summer from the east. July and August seem to be the stormiest months in the year where storms are followed by heavy rain. Three strong storms hit the north of Vietnam in 2005 (28 July one wind with level 7, 18 September with level 9 and on 28 September with level 12). There are two types of soil formed from the alluvium of the Red River. One is alluvial mud (which becomes loam) and one is sand. Transported by water the alluvial forms the coastal soil like light soil (sand and light loam and pure sand), medium soil and heavy soil (loam and clay).Phan Nguyen Hong, Le Xuan Tuan & Phan Thi Anh Dao, Xuân Thủy National Park: Biodiversity, MERC-MCD, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2007, p. 9 ff.

Biological characteristics

Fauna

Xuân Thủy National Park is a staging and wintering area for shorebirds, gulls and waterfowl in the coastal zone of the Red River Delta. The National Park is a living space for 250 species of birds (150 migratory and 50 water bird species) from 41 families and 13 orders. 9 species are designated as endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species for example the spoon-billed sandpiper and Nordmann's greenshank.Phan Nguyen Hong, Le Xuan Tuan & Phan Thi Anh Dao, Xuân Thủy National Park: Biodiversity, MERC-MCD, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2007, p. 19. 65- 75 black-faced spoonbill – who were chosen to be the symbol of Xuân Thủy National Park – are seen in the migratory season. The total number of black-faced spoonbill in the world are about 1000, it shows that 5% of the whole population of the species are living in Xuân Thủy National Park during the winter season. The park also provides a habitat for other rare animal species. These include species of otter, endangered cetaceans such as Chinese white dolphins, finless porpoise, and rorqual whales.2010. Cá voi gần 10 tấn chết dạt vào bờ biển Giao Thủy Furthermore, it has 30 species of reptiles and an uncounted number of different insects.

Flora In Xuân Thủy National Park are 120 species of vascular plants (20 of which thrive particularly well in the wetland habitat). The mangrove forest helps stabilizing the alluvial soil as well as functioning as flood protection and playing an important role in different biochemical cycles. 111 aquatic plant species have been recorded. Certain species of seaweed in particular are of high economic value. Over 500 species of benthos and zooplankton (shrimp, fish, crab, oysters etc.) have also been identified.

Nature conservation activities In Xuân Thủy National Park's Core Zone there is a portion of unoccupied land used for shrimp-rearing ponds (about 19 extensive farming ponds near the Red River) and extensive clam rearing areas (a part of the sandy plain near the end of Con Ngan). Tents and huts pitched to look after such ponds were built without planning. The land in the Buffer Zone can be divided into several categories including residential land, agricultural farming land, aquaculture land, mangroves and flats and a few mangrove areas along the river canals.

Most of the areas in Bai Trong and Con Ngan, Xuân Thủy's buffer zone, have been divided into ponds to raise shrimps and crabs. This activity grew exponentially in the 1990s. The culturing season is May to January (April to December lunar calendar). During the off season some local people culture yellow thread seaweed for commercial purposes. Hunting of birds and other animals is prohibited and has decreased. Nevertheless, such illegal activities are still present. It is also forbidden for the farmers to graze their buffaloes in the Core Zone.Phan Nguyen Hong, Le Xuan Tuan & Phan Thi Anh Dao, Xuân Thủy National Park: Biodiversity, MERC-MCD, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2007, p. 10.

To prevent the over-exploitation of the given natural resources, there are projects like the Mushroom Club which aim to create alternative livelihoods. Also, the National Park has the task to raise awareness in the communities of the Buffer Zone to care about the environment and to protect it on a long-term basis. To achieve this goal, the National Park started some educational activities which include annual lessons in nine local secondary schools. In the future there will also be a project concerning the solid waste management in the Buffer Zone; at the moment, waste is not separated and simply thrown away.

Scientific research Since it is a very important natural site in Southeast Asia, Xuân Thủy National Park has been subject to many both Vietnamese and international scientific researches. According to the National Park, there have been written more than 10 PhD theses, tens of master and hundreds of research papers by students from over 30 Vietnamese universities.The Ramsar Regional Center – East Asia Wise-Use Workshop and Training Session on Wetland Management 19 – 26 September 2009, Changnyeong, South Korea, p. 62. Non-governmental organizations also conducted research before implementing new projects which usually are related to the conservation of environment or to sustainable development.

Especially in the Core Zone there are many projects regarding conservation as there is no human activity allowed in this area. The aim is to protect the mangroves, migratory birds, other aquatic and terrestrial species and the wetland ecosystem in its entirety. In the Buffer Zone the focus of scientific research lies on the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative livelihoods and the promotion of environmental protection. Also there is still the need to find mechanisms which end fights between local interests and the park policies. Projects concerning the co-management of clamp culture are a first step to solving those problems. In the whole area there are also projects which focus on building capacity both for the staff of the National Park and for the local community to reduce the current pressure on the natural resources of the park. One problem of any scientific research concerning the park is the missing long-term basis. Most of the projects are conducted by outsiders who sometimes fail to meet the given needs. Furthermore, there is no database in the National Park which collects all research that is ever made so that a lot of basic information needs to be collected repeatedly.

Socioeconomic background

Overview

According to statistic data of the Giao Thủy District People's Committee from the year 2005, there are 47.123 inhabitants living in the five Buffer Zone Communes (Giao Thien, Giao An, Giao Lac, Giao Xuan and Giao Hai) belonging to the National Park. The average density of population varies between 1,023 and 1,331 people per square kilometer, due to more than one percent population growth every year it is still rising.