An endangered Asian elephant in the wild in the Central Highlands region in Việt Nam. — Photo courtesy of Animals Asia

ĐÀ NẴNG — The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has approved a conservation project to help protect the endangered elephant herds in Đà Nẵng City and Đắk Lắk Province – both in central Việt Nam – as part of the Việt Nam Elephant Conservation Action Plan to 2035 funded by the World Wide Fund for Nature Việt Nam (WWF VN).

WWF VN said the non-refundable grant worth VNĐ23.9 billion (US$908,000) will help provide conservation and protection solutions for the wild elephant community, including by creating safe migratory corridors, improving habitat and reducing conflict between humans and wildlife.

The project also aims to provide GPS tracking collars and more sources of food and minerals in the environment, as well as create isolated 'green' fences to help avoid conflict between local farmers and wild elephant herds.

According to WWF VN, at least one elephant has been given a tracking collar under a joint effort between the National Park of Yok Đôn and the Mondulkiri Project Elephant Sanctuary in Cambodia.

Previously, a series of projects funded by international partners was implemented to protect the wild elephant community in the formerly Quảng Nam Province (now part of Đà Nẵng City), including construction of an elephant-deterrent honey locust fence by the US Forest Service starting in 2020.

Another prior project involved empowering local communities and raising awareness to prevent habitat destruction, poaching and human-elephant conflicts in the Nông Sơn Elephant Species and Habitat Conservation Area, now located in Đà Nẵng. 

The initiative was undertaken from 2024–25 and was supported by the US charity LVDI International Incorporated and HiVOOC company of Việt Nam.

A mother Asian elephant and her two babies captured by a camera trap system in the Nông Sơn Elephant Species and Habitat Conservation Area. A herd of eight elephants have been found living in the area. — Photo courtesy of Nông Sơn Elephant Species and Habitat Conservation Area

Last month, two baby elephants were captured in photographs by a camera trap system in the Nông Sơn conservation area.

Nông Sơn was set up under the US Agency for International Development-funded Green Annamites Project, assisting Việt Nam’s transition to climate-smart and low-emissions development through improved forest protection, enhanced biodiversity conservation and increased resilience of communities.

The conservation area covers 18,977ha of critical habitat for Asian elephants and helps protect one of the last groups of the endangered species in central Việt Nam.

Local rangers reported a herd of eight Asian elephants living in Nông Sơn, including a mature male, one semi-mature male, three mature females, two semi-mature females and a one-year-old calf. 

A river section in the Nông Sơn Elephant Species and Habitat Conservation Area. A herd of eight Asian elephants is living in the conservation area, including a mature male, one semi-mature male, three mature females, two semi-mature females and a one-year-old calf. — VNS Photo Công Thành

Communities living in a buffer zone near an elephant protection area in Nông Sơn Commune have been offered education programmes to raise awareness of the campaign to protect the endangered Asian elephant and other wildlife species in the region.

The herd of eight Asian elephants – an endangered species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature – has been found to coexist in harmony with humans in the protected zone, the local rangers department reported.

WWF VN has previously implemented projects in central Việt Nam, including the Elephant Species Habitat Conservation Area in the former Quảng Nam Province’s Nông Sơn district; the Green Annamites Project; the Saola Nature Reserve in Quảng Nam and another in Huế; and phase one of the Forest Restoration and Livelihood Development Project.

Đà Nẵng, which now includes the former Quảng Nam Province, has made efforts to conserve its rich biodiversity and ecological systems, including Sông Thanh National Park, the UNESCO-recognised world biosphere reserve at Chàm Islands-Hội An and reserves for saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), or Asian bicorns, in central Việt Nam.

Other protected landscapes include several created for Ngọc Linh ginseng in Sơn Trà, Bà Nà Núi Chúa, and South Hải Vân. — VNS