Social News 23/5 Forum on building platform for biodiversity conservation The purpose of the forum “Building a platform for biodiversity conservation & sustainable use of ecosystem services” is to accelerate the collaboration among ministries, sectors and stakeholders for the conservation of biodiversity. The forum was co-organised by the Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA) of the Ministry of Nature Resources and Environment, the Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment (VACNE) on May 20. The event is supported by the German Development Cooperation GIZ commissioned by The German Federal Ministry for Economic Corporation and Development (BMZ) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Vietnam is one of the world’s ten most significant biodiversity hotpots. Biodiversity and ecosystems services play a vital role in the livelihoods of rural populations in Viet Nam, including the millions of people living in the proximity of forests and coastal areas. Nonetheless biodiversity and ecosystem services are increasingly threatened. According to the Vietnam’s 5th National Report to the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity for the period 2009-2013, the main causes are increasing population pressures, overexploitation of natural resources, climate change, the fragmented state management of biodiversity, and the missing policy and regulatory conformity. In addition, there is a lack of effective inter-sectoral coordination mechanisms to respond to overlaps in functions among relevant ministries and agencies. Being well aware of the problems, the related Vietnamese ministries and sectors have initiated efforts for the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of ecosystem services. Accordingly, in 2015 VNFOREST and VEA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Programme for Coordination in the Field of National Conservation and Biodiversity, period 2015-2020. This program provides for the coordinated implementation of the state management in nature conservation and biodiversity through the development of legal documents, policies, plans, and inspection. The Department of Nature Conservation of VNFOREST and Biodiversity Conservation Agency of VEA are focal points for the implementation of the Programme. Both the agencies have jointly developed a collaboration workplan for 2016-2017. Leaders of the Biodiversity Conservation Agency presented the initiative for the establishment of a partnership platform on biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of ecosystem services. This partnership would allow different stakeholders and partners to jointly provide technical support, policy advice, institutional capacity strengthening and resources for the sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The theme of the International Day for Biological Diversity 2016 is Mainstreaming Biodiversity: Sustaining People and Their Livelihoods.    Germany welcomes Vietnamese nurses A study conducted last year by the Bertelsmann Foundation indicates the nursing care segment of the health care industry in Germany is experiencing great difficulties finding qualified staff. According to the study, fully 61% of nursing-care facilities have job vacancies, with each having on average 4.3 unfilled positions. A full three out of four of facilities with job vacancies described the search for suitable skilled employees as difficult. The study also shows that establishments in the industry have actively sought to recruit employees internationally as one of the alternative strategies to fill this critical worker shortage. Over the last three years, the country in which German nursing-care companies have most often sought workers is Spain. A total of 61% of all companies with international-recruitment experience have been active there. This is followed by Poland (19%), Croatia (16%), Romania (14%), Italy (13%) and Greece (12%). For those companies that have engaged in recruitment efforts outside the EU, activities are split mainly between Eastern European countries (Bosnia Herzegovina, Ukraine, Russia, Moldova) and Asian countries (China, Philippines, Vietnam). "Given the nursing-care needs for not only the nursing care segment but the health care industry as a whole in Germany, the opportunities for Vietnamese nursing candidates and nurses has never been greater,” said Nguyen Ngoc Quynh. Mr Quynh, who is the head of the Foreign Labour Management Department of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) said the need has resulted in the expansion of nurse training programs for Vietnamese candidates. In 2013, MoLISA in collaboration with the German partners initiated a nurse training program. For the program, 125 candidates aged 21-25 were selected to take a six-month conversational German language course at the Goethe Institute in Hanoi. After successfully completing the language course the candidates were approved for training in Germany under a two-year nursing assistant and a three-year practitioner program. All of the candidates successfully completed their training with the three-year course concluding last October, said Mr Quynh. Each of the candidates, he said, now reside and work in Germany as fully trained and qualified nursing assistants or practitioners in health care facilities, earning a monthly salary ranging from US$2,250-US$2,900 (VND50-VND65 million). The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany and MoLISA last July agreed to expand the training program to 200 nursing candidates. Like the first program qualified candidates must be aged 21-25. The conversational German language training provided by the Goethe Institute in Hanoi was lengthened to a nine-month course with the length of all of the training in Germany extended to three years. Substantially all of the fees for visas and travel to Germany, said Mr Quynh, are paid for by either the German government or the nursing facilities and candidates receive a US$900 per month stipend to cover costs of living and other ancillary expenses during their training. After successfully completing their training the nurse practitioners will earn a monthly salary of US$2000-$2,260 working and residing in Germany. Mr Quynh said there are tremendous opportunities for Vietnamese nursing candidates both in training and future employment in Germany for those who are willing to reach out and seize the opportunity. Priority given to vaccination in disadvantaged areas   Vietnam is prioritising vaccinations in remote, mountainous and disadvantaged areas in order to equalise the immunisation rate among regions across the nation, stated Dang Duc Anh, head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. According to Anh, the National Expanded Programme on Immunisation (NEPI) has been implemented for children and women in Vietnam for more than 30 years with an average national rate of over 90 percent. However, around 5-10 percent of districts nationwide still have rates of below 90 percent, mainly in far-flung, mountainous and ethnic-inhabited areas. To increase the proportion and quality of immunisation in these areas, regular vaccinations are being carried out in replace of periodical ones. The birth of the Circular 117/TTLT-BTC-BYT in 2015 on the management and use of expenses for the national target programme on health marked an important step in prioritising investment in vaccination in disadvantageous areas. Specifically, for each child in far-flung areas receiving sufficient vaccine injections, the heath worker is provided with 24,000 VND (1.08 USD), double the previous regulation. Moreover, the NEPI has also called on international organisations to expand their assistance to help disadvantageous and mountainous regions in Gia Lai, Lai Chau, Yen Bai, Son La, Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh provinces organise vaccinations outside of medical clinics to approach more women and children, Anh said. He added that international organisations have also been proposed to help implement activities to increase the immunisation rate synchronously during 2017-2019. He went on to say that the rate of hepatitis B vaccination for new-born babies within 24 hours in several localities remained below 50 percent in 2015, while the national average rate reached 69.8 percent. About a half of children aged 2-4 months catching whooping cough are those who have yet to be vaccinated or vaccinated fully. Therefore, in 2016, the health sector will continue efforts to maintain the country’s achievements in controlling the spread of polio, eliminate neonatal tetanus, and raise the rate of hepatitis B vaccination for new-born babies within 24 hours in order to successfully control the disease in 2017. It will also provide additional injections against measles-rubella for juveniles aged 16-17 nationwide. High-tech HCMC treatments District-level hospitals in HCM City are now using more advanced techniques and treatment, often performing at a level that matches city-level hospitals.   The Thủ Đức District Hospital, which is considered only the district-level hospital in HCM City with the same quality as city-level hospitals, has successfully performed for the first time the non-surgical treatment, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), on a patient with a malignant liver tumour. The 58-year-old patient was hospitalised and diagnosed on May 12. During TACE, the doctors injected a chemotherapy medication into the patient’s liver through a catheter inserted into a femoral artery to prevent the development of the cancerous tumour. The procedure was carried out with a digital subtraction angiography machine worth more than VNĐ 26 billion (US$1.2 million), which the hospital bought in early May. The patient is expected to be discharged from the hospital today. “When people benefit from high-tech healthcare services at the hospital where they live, they won’t need to go to city- or central-level hospitals, which are faced with patient overload, causing delays in treatment,” said Dr Nguyễn Minh Quân, head of Thủ Đức Hospital. He said the hospital can now offer all available therapies for patients with liver cancer. Quân said that TACE was one of several high-tech treatments which the hospital has used for patients not only in Thủ Đức District but for those who live in nearby provinces such as Bình Dương and Đồng Nai. The city’s Department of Health said that more patients were seeking treatment at HCM City’s district hospitals because of improvements made in recent years. The number of insured patients at Thủ Đức Hospital in January increased by nearly 6.6 per cent after one month of implementing a regulation that took effect on January 1 that allowed insured patients to choose any district hospital or private health facility in their home locality. Last year, a quality assessment conducted by the Health Department’s council for quality control showed that Thủ Đức Hospital was the only district hospital that scored four out of the maximum five points on a scale that measures the quality of hospitals. The score was similar to city-level hospitals like Paediatric Hospital No.1 and 2, Từ Dũ Obstetrics Hospital, Hospital for Hematology and Blood Transfusion and Traditional Medical Institute. Doctors at Thủ Đức Hospital also offer training to doctors who work at ward health centres in Thủ Đức District. Electronic toll tag cards being issued The issuance of electronic tag cards to vehicles for automatic toll collection on highways is under way as the Ministry of Transport sets up electronic toll collection systems (ETCs). Vehicle registration centres have been instructed to learn how the ETCs work and attach the cards on vehicles registering for automatic toll payment. Drivers get an e-tag card for free to start with. The card is placed on the vehicle’s windshield and, when passing a toll station, transmits a signal to the ETC installed there to read the tag and activate cameras to photograph the vehicle’s licence plate. The money is automatically deducted from the driver’s account associated with the tag. Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyễn Hồng Trường said the ministry aims to replace 50 per cent of manual toll stations with ETCs by June 1 this year. RMIT launches new digital academy Steve Herbert, Minister of Training and Skills of the Australian State of Victoria, yesterday opened a Centre of Digital Excellence at RMIT Vietnam in HCM City. “CODE will showcase models of digital innovation in learning and teaching in order to develop Việt Nam’s education workforce capacities,” Prof Beverley Webster, RMIT Vietnam’s deputy president, said. The centre will collaborate with Vietnamese universities, work with primary and secondary schools and encourage industry links. It will run a series of public lectures on digital teaching, launch a number of fully online diplomas and other programmes and host professional development and digital best practice events. Its academic initiatives will include an international certificate in teaching with digital technologies, educational leadership, teaching bilingual learners, and digital TESOL talks for primary and secondary school teachers. The Centre is a collaborative venture between RMIT, the Vietnamese Government and higher education Institutions. Quang Tri: 7,300 gift packages sent to affected fishermen The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee in central Quang Tri province has presented approximately 7,300 gift packages to local people affected by the mass fish deaths. They are fishermen’s households living in four coastal districts – Vinh Linh, Gio Linh, Trieu Phong and Hai Lang – of the province. It was the first distribution of relief since the committee has called for support from sponsors for the affected fishermen. The gift packages, worth 3.35 billion VND (150,000 USD), were donated by the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Quang Tri Military Command and the brewing company Carlsberg Vietnam. A unique organic farm produce bazaar in Saigon Consumers who are looking for vegetables, rice and other organic farm products can go to a bazaar held every Saturday and Sunday of the first and third weeks of a month on Pasteur Street in HCMC’s District 3. The bazaar at the head office of the Center of Business Studies and Assistance (BSA) aims to build a bridge between consumers and suppliers of clean and fresh agricultural products. There, consumers of all  ages can buy vegetables for a week. An elderly consumer said that she has known about the bazaar’s organizer for years and that the organic vegetables with clear origins on sale are a joint effort of farmers in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre and a Japanese partner. The woman expects green bazaars will be organized on the other days of a month and in more spacious venues. Mayu Ino who is in charge of Japan’s NGO project called “Seed to table” that funds an organic agricultural program in Ben Tre, said farmers who want to join the program have to guarantee the quality of water resources and land used for vegetable farming. They have to spend months completing preparatory steps and training courses on the process of planting organic vegetables, and are granted with a PGS (Participatory Guarantee System) certificate if their records are good. A PGS certificate is issued for a group of households to ensure they participate in checking the process of growing organic vegetables. At the bazaar, consumers can browse for agricultural products with popular brands like Long Chau 66 rice of Co May Company, Ngoc Thach mushroom of Nguyen Tat Thanh University, and other specialties from craft villages in the Mekong Delta. GE accompanies future engineers US industrial conglomerate General Electric (GE) just hosted the seminar named “Engineering career path with GE” at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology for nearly 200 students. Ms. Nguyen Tue Khanh - Deputy Director and HR Manager of GE Vietnam introduced leadership development program, working environment as well as career opportunities at GE for fresh university graduates. Ranked as one of the 2015 best companies for leaders by Chief Executive Magazine with a budget of approximately US$1 billion per year spent on the human resource training across the globe, GE has been showing a strong investment in human resource development. In Vietnam, GE always appreciates the importance of identifying and fostering talents, especially future engineers studying at prestigious universities. Through the seminar, senior leaders at GE Vietnam want to showcase a comprehensive picture of GE's businesses as well as training programmes and workforce development of the company to students. GE hopes that those potential engineers will get the right mindset for the future and a good grasp of career opportunities. Especially, at this seminar, GE also announced the contest “Unimpossible Missions: University Edition challenge” which is hosted by GE in collaboration with Nine Sigma, a leading provider of open innovation solutions, and more than 125 of the best engineering universities in the world. The aim is to encourage breakthrough thinking of students, especially engineering students. Participating in the contest, contestants will have the chance to win the first prize which is a US$100,000 scholarship and become a paid-intern at any GE Global Research Center in 2017. Vietnamese literature after 30 years of reform Over the past 3 decades, Vietnamese literature has seen some remarkable contributions by the post-war generation of writers. Those who grew up after 1975 have led more comfortable lives and have new view of reform. Vietnam’s renewal since 1986 has reshaped national culture and inspired artists’ creativity. Beginning with a novel by Nguyen Minh Chau, Vietnamese literature since 1975 has portrayed the reality of life and human destinies. Nguyen Huy Thiep published a series of short stories, of which “Tuong ve huu” (Retired General) became a phenomenon. Other prominent writers include Bao Ninh, who wrote Noi buon chien tranh (Sorrow of War) and Du Thi Hoan who wrote Loi nho (Small Path). These works embodied a different view of life and the writing style broke with traditional patterns and principles. The themes are about people with their complicated contradictions and the inner self. Many literary works awakened the public to the problems of economic reforms and changes of social ethics through a wisely-analytical and critical attitude. Critic Ngo Van Gia said “The biggest achievement was a change of perception of human lives. Authors adopted a completely new writing style and became famous. They shifted from war-time aesthetics to peace-time aesthetics, from praising the war of resistance to focusing on human destinies, universal values, and questioning and engaging reality”. The renewal period saw the emergence of female writers, who breathed a new life into literature with their feminine sensitivity. Critic Chu Van Son said “Female writers and poets influenced the renewal process. They created the values of prose and poetry during that period”. Dr. Ho The Ha of the Philology Department of Hue University of Science said that following the trend of reform, democratization and integration, the writers have had a stronger voice in society. “That’s a change of thinking based on the change in social life. When literature is empowered to speak out for freedom and democracy, it can achieve the goal of reflecting reality for the people,” he noted. If, during the war time, a generation of writers basically fulfilled their historical responsibility, after the war the subsequent generation helped form an eventful literary period, winning the hearts of the audience. Hospital brokers an unsolved problem in Vietnam Illegal intermediaries at hospitals across Vietnam are a long-standing problem in the healthcare sector, with authorities having been unable to permanently address the situation. Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters went undercover as patients at the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Dermato Venereology and were approached by some brokers the moment they reached the infirmary. “The hospital does not accept patients at this time of the day,” a man said before pointing toward a nearby private clinic. “You do not have to wait for long at that clinic. You only have to pay some VND10,000 [US$0.45] to VND20,000 [$0.9] higher as examination fees,” he elaborated. Similar situations could also be observed at the entrance of the Hoa Hao clinic in District 10. Having to pay only an extra VND150,000 ($6.72) to an intermediary, patients can have access to services there without having to wait in a queue. After all necessary payments had been carried out, the correspondents disguising themselves as patients were brought to the examination room in just a few minutes, despite the fact that there were tens of people waiting outside. “I know the activities of these mediators are illicit. However, I can save a lot of time getting diagnosis or treatment at the infirmary by paying some additional charges,” Huu Danh, a resident in Tan Binh District, said. Not all people are blessed with such luck when dealing with these middlemen as several have reported being scammed. Do Van Tinh, a Hanoi resident who has lived with a giant tumor on his face since he was just a young boy, decided to spend all the money he had getting treatment at the K Hospital in the capital. Tinh and his brother, Do Van Tam, came to the infirmary last month when a man, about 30, offered help, saying that he could provide Tinh with access to treatment at private clinics run by top doctors from the hospital. The brothers were introduced to a nearby clinic, where Tinh underwent an X-ray test, ultrasound, ENT endoscopy, and blood test before being diagnosed with neurofibromatosis. The doctor there concluded that Tinh’s disease could not be treated at his facility and charged him VND1.9 million ($85.14) for the medical examination, roughly all the money Tinh had. Several employees at hospitals have been working with the intermediaries, introducing patients to services outside of the infirmaries to earn commissions for themselves. A recent tip-off from a female patient at the K Hospital to Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien showed that a doctor had scammed her with such a method, resulting in Minister Tien ordering a probe and penalizing the practitioner. According to Bui Dieu, director of the hospital, the doctor has been transferred to another facility while warnings have been issued to the entire staff at the infirmary. Meanwhile, Phan Thanh Hai, director of the Hoa Hao clinic, stated that the middlemen’s operations have become subtler. The mediators may cooperate with hospital staffers, Hai said, adding that they could also disguise themselves as patients to look for ‘prey’ inside infirmaries, introducing them to pharmacies and private clinics without proper certification. These activities could affect the heath of patients, the director said, stating that there had not been any permanent solution to the situation. According to a representative of the Ministry of Health, the agency will order all hospitals to sign an agreement with local police to clear all brokers inside and outside such facilities. Health officials are also expected to perform more regular inspections and imposed more severe punishment upon offenders. Doctors urge early screening to catch gestational diabetes As the proportion of pregnant women with diabetes has risen in Vietnam in the last 20 years, doctors are urging early screening to detect gestational diabetes. Dr Huynh Xuan Nghiem, Deputy Head of Hung Vuong Hospital in HCM City, said: “The increase is alarming. This is a burden on both families and society. ” He said that women who test positive for diabetes should be closely monitored during their pregnancy. At a recent launch ceremony to open diabetes management division for Hung Vuong Hospital, Dr Huynh Nguyen Khanh Trang, head of the ward for pregnant women with diseases, said that only 2 percent -3 percent of 1 million pregnant women who had visited the hospital for routine prenatal care had diabetes 20 years ago. The proportion has increased to 10-15 percent, Trang said. Diabetes can occur during pregnancy when the pancreas does not produce sufficient insulin. When diabetes is detected, patients are asked to change their diet. Sixty percent of patients who receive guidance have a stable blood-sugar level. Of the remaining proportion with an unstable blood-sugar level, the patients are hospitalised and eat meals provided by the hospital’s nutrition ward. With such diets, blood sugar levels of 80 percent of the patients can be controlled. The remaining are given insulin injections. Experts have said that 80-90 percent of patients with gestational diabetes can control their conditions with diet and exercise. According to the International Diabetes Federation in Western Pacific, the prevalence of diabetes in adults (aged 20-79) in Vietnam last year was 5.6 percent, an increase from 2.9 percent in 2010. Last year, the number of adult mortalities due to diabetes was 53,457. The cost for each patient with diabetes was 163 USD. Vietnam’s rate of diabetes in adults aged 20-32 is higher than global rates and countries in the Western Pacific region. At Hung Vuong Hospital, a 28-year-old pregnant woman from Can Tho said she was diagnosed last month with gestational diabetes. When she was 28 weeks pregnant, she was asked to be screened at the Can Tho Obstetrics Hospital. The test showed that her blood sugar level was higher than normal. “I then came to Hung Vương Obstetrics Hospital for treatment. Now the sugar level in blood is controlled. Doctors gave me guidance about my diet to prevent the level from increasing,” she said. Nghiem said that gestational diabetes can cause pre-eclampsia and hypertension during pregnancy. According to a report by researchers at the University of Toronto published in 2013 in Healthline, pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes and hypertension can increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes up to 18 times. Miscarriages, still births and premature babies can occur because of gestational diabetes, he added. “The babies born to these mothers can be fat and ruddy, but not healthy, and have respiratory system problems,” he said, adding that the babies could get diabetes. If they receive good treatment, diabetes will not develop among mothers and babies after delivery, Nghiem said. He said that pregnant women should exercise and eat food with fiber, and reduce fat and calories to prevent gestational diabetes. More fruit, whole grains and vegetables should be included in the diet.- Kim Đồng Publishing House opens first HCMC store Kim Đồng, a well-known publishing house in Việt Nam, has opened its first store in HCM City’s District 1. The Kim Đồng Book Centre, located at 248 Cống Quỳnh Street, covers an area of 550 square metres. The shop offers more than 2,000 book titles written by local and foreign authors in different fields like literature, culture, science and life skills. Most of them are for children and teenagers. Popular books include best-selling writer Nguyễn Nhật Ánh’s novel set Kính Vạn Hoa (Kaleidoscope) and Chuyện Xứ Lang Bian (The Tale of Lang Bian), and Sống Sót Vỉa Hè (Living on the Street) by Võ Phi Hùng. The store also provides comics about historical topics by young Vietnamese authors like Hào Kiệt Đất Phương Nam (Vietnamese Heroes) by Hoài Anh and Nguyễn Đông Hải. The publishing house will host several activities to promote reading habits at the venue, such as book introduction meetings, and discussions between local and foreign writers, translators and readers. Ninh Thuan restructures crops to fight droughts The central coastal province of Ninh Thuan was hardest hit by the droughts in Vietnam. Ninh Thuan farmers grow green beans in the rice cultivation land to cope with droughts. In recent years droughts have become increasingly severe due to climate change, negatively affecting agricultural production and daily life. To reduce its impacts, Ninh Thuan’s agricultural sector has instructed farmers to switch crops towards higher economic efficiency. During the 2016 Winter-Spring crop season, Cao Vac of Mi Hiep commune in Ninh Son district has changed to growing green beans through intensive farming methods although his family is located near Phuoc Trung reservoir. Vac harvested more than 600 kilos of green beans from the first crop and is preparing for the second harvest. “Due to the lack of irrigation water for this year’s crop, we could produce only 150 kilos from 360 square meters. If we have enough water, the output may reach 200 kilos. If we continue rice cultivation, one ton of rice cannot offer the same value as two quintals of green peas,” according to Vac. In Nhi Ha commune, Thuan Nam district, the restructuring of 40 hectares from rice cultivation to green peas has brought remarkable incomes for farmers. Chairman of Nhi Ha People’s Committee Vo Nhu Son said, “Although the restructured area’s productivity remains modest, it has partly helped overcome economic difficulties caused by the current drought. We hope that in future the provincial agricultural sector will apply farming techniques so that farmers can increase their economic efficiency and spread the model.” The initial results of crop restructuring shows that green beans are good drought-resistant plants and easy to take care of. Deputy Chairman of the Ninh Thuan provincial People’s Committee, Tran Quoc Nam, said that once high tech is applied, an output of 280 kilos can be made from 360 square meters of cultivation land. He noted, “This is the first harvest where Ninh Thuan’s farmers have converted rice paddies to green beans, and they have changed their minds. With such a result, we’ll call on the locals to continue switching to drought-resistant crops.” During the 2016 Winter-Spring season, corn, green beans, and grass are the three main crops grown in Ninh Thuan, of which green beans make up the majority of acreage. The drought has been continuing severely in Ninh Thuan, which is carefully balancing water supplies for localities and making full use of cultivation land.   Kien Giang: More than 2.3 trillion VND needed for irrigation work The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang needs more than 2.3 trillion VND (103 million USD) by 2020 to build irrigation facilities to prevent saline intrusion, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The province will ask the Government for financial support for the construction of 25 anti-salinity drains to adapt to climate change and rising sea levels, said director of the department Nguyen Van Tam. Poor drainage, stemming from shortages of capital, led to production losses in the locality during 2016’s dry season, he said. The anti-salinity drains will be built along An Bien-An Minh sea dyke and Chau Thanh-Rach Gia-Kien Luong sea dyke. In past years, the province has used investment capital to construct sea dykes and irrigation drains to control saltwater levels. Some 46 irrigation facilities have been built in Rach Gia city and Hon Dat and Kien Luong districts. Drains at the Kien river and Cut canal are also being built, helping control salinity in Long Xuyen Quarangular and neighbouring localities. Construction of six out of 31 planned drains along An Bien-An Minh sea dyke are also underway to protect the U Minh Thuong area. Community-based programme conserves Bach Ma Park A community-based conservation model, funded by the World Wildlife Fund, was launched on May 14 in Bach Ma National Park in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue. The group, consisting of 15 members from seven villages in Thuong Nhat commune, Nam Dong district, one of the National Park’s buffer zones, will meet once per month. The group is expected to help increase the awareness and participation of local people in protecting the forest’s biodiversity, particularly rare and endangered species. Over past years, the province has allocated 10,000 hectares of forests in the National Park to local households to protect. According to Chairwoman of the Nam Dong district People’s Committee Le Thi Thu Huong, local people’s work in forest protection has helped reduce poaching and logging by 50 percent. Established in 1991, Bach Ma Park has a core zone covering 37,487 hectares in Phu Loc and Nam Dong districts. It boasts 2,373 mushroom and flora species. Among them, 73 plants are listed in the Vietnam Red Data Book of endangered species, while more than 500 others are rare herb plants. The park also harbours 1,715 fauna species, including 363 types of bird - one third of the number of bird species in Vietnam. Sixty-nine animals named in the Red Data Book and 15 indigenous species have also been found here. HCM City to remove substandard slaughterhouses The two largest private abattoirs in HCM City, which supply thousands of pigs to the market everyday, will be closed down on June 30. All substandard private abattoirs will also be closed by the end of next year, the municipal People’s Committee said. According to the plan for slaughterhouses in the city from 2016-20, which was approved by the committee recently, the city would step by step remove all private abattoirs and replace them with industrial ones to assure food hygiene and safety. Nam Phong abattoir in Bình Thạnh District and Hiệp Bình Chánh abattoir in Thủ Đức District will be forced to close down next month. The two abattoirs, as well as many private facilities in the city, reportedly failed to meet hygiene requirements. The slaughter was conducted on dirty floors and waste water was discharged directly into rivers, causing pollution to the environment. Cattle and poultry from the offending slaughterhouses would be moved to Bình Tân industrial abattoir in Bình Tân District and Vissan Co.,Ltd for slaughter. By 2017, all cattle and poultry will be slaughtered in six industrial abattoirs in Hoc Môn and Củ Chi districts with capacity of between 1,000 and 1,500 cattle per day, the committee said.   Early this January, the city’s Market Watch found 124 pigs that tested positive for salbutamol, a substance banned in breeding in Việt Nam. The city’s Veterinary Department said that it was difficult to inspect all private slaughterhouses due to their small-scale and irregular operations. Most were illegal and barely met hygiene standards. Two private abattoirs in Tân Phú Trung and Tân Thạnh Đông communes in Củ Chi District were examples. Local residents complained about the noise and pollution from the abattoirs and reported the situation to authorities. However, the two abattoirs have continued to operate at a capacity of hundreds of cattle per night. Workers at the abattoirs reportedly refused to talk with reporters. Figures from the department showed that there were about 30 slaughterhouses in the city, including 26 for pigs, two for cattle and two for poultry. From 2011-15, the department handed out 186 fines for illegal slaughtering. VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri