Vietnam Cat Tien National Park Recognized Global Biosphere Reserve

On 30 June 2011, the United Nations added 18 new sites to its global list of biosphere reserves, bringing the total to 581 in 114 different countries, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported.

Cat Tien is the new name of the former Dong Nai Biosphere Reserve in Viet Nam, which was designated in 2001. Two new core zones have been added to the site, bringing its total area to 966,563 hectares. Cat Tien National Park covers the area of Dong Nai, Lam Dong and Binh Phuoc Provinces in southern Vietnam. Cat Tien National Park is 15km north of Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon).

Biosphere reserves are places recognized by MAB (The International Coordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme ) where local communities are actively involved in governance and management, research, education, training and monitoring at the service of both socio-economic development and biodiversity conservation. They are thus sites for experimenting with and learning about sustainable development.