The recent Bird Exhibition at the Ha Noi Opera House and the Vietnam Musuem of Ethnology brought together school children, the local community, professionals and environmental enthusiasts in celebration of World Environment Day. Australian Ambassador, Allastar Cox, praised the exhibition, "It allowed local people to see the part of Vietnam that few people had a chance to see".
The bird exhibition continues at the Gallery 29 Hang Bai, Ha Noi until the 7th of June. These photos were taken in and around the areas of key AusAID and Australian Ministry of Environment AFAP-funded programs designed to promote environmental sustainability in key forest and coastal areas in Viet Nam.
This AusAID funded exhibition features 3 of these key areas of AFAP's work between 1998-2008:
Ha Long Bay Region: This includes the Ha Long Bay World Heritage Site, Cat Ba Island and surrounding island and coastal ecosystems. In this area AFAP, our counterparts and local people have worked together for 6 years to save endangered species like the Cat Ba Langur and provide livelihoods and education programs for communities in these areas.
Cat Tien Region: This vast region comprises an area of exceptional biodiversity in Southern Viet Nam taking in several key ecosystems of the Southern Annamite Ranges and adjacent lowlands. This includes Cat Tien National Park and the Cat Loc protected sector.
Mui Ca Mau Region: This vast mangrove and coastal region in the very south of Viet Nam is a key place for migratory birds from across Asia. This includes the Mui Ca Mau National Park and the Dat Mui and Bai Boi Protected Bird Areas.
AFAP: AFAP is a pioneering, Sydney-based overseas development agency. AFAP's mission is to work towards a just world through community partnerships. AFAP facilitates the achievement of these solutions in two main ways:
Strengthening and empowering local Non-Governmental Organisations and
Community Groups to be able to independently operate and undertake sustainable development, environment and emergency relief programs on behalf of their communities;
Working with Australian groups to provide innovative opportunities and professional support to Australians wishing to become meaningfully involved in sustainable development, environment and emergency relief programs in developing countries.
Viet Nam National Park Buffer Zone Program: Since 1966, AFAP has been working in protecting the beautiful National Parks and Natural Heritage of Viet Nam. This has involved photographic surveys of a number of national parks, protected areas and buffer zones including Tam Dao, Cat Ba, Cat Tien, Bach Ma, Mui Ca Mau, Xuan Son, Cuc Phuong, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.
AFAP works within the national parks and the buffer zones on projects that both protect the wildlife and nature as well as those that look after the communities in and around the national parks through providing livelihood, health, education, agriculture and water programs. Over the last 12 years, Australia has funded several of these programs including AFAP work in Cat Ba National Park, Tam Dao National Park and Xuan Son National Parks.
Bird Explorers:
In 1994, two adventurers with a great love of the outdoors, Kevin Vang and Wojciech Dabrowka, joined forces to travel the globe in the pursuit of the study of natural history, science and the humanities. Birds in particular became the focus of many wild and wonderful expeditions. In 2005, they founded Bird Explorers. Bird Explorers is a non-profit entity dedicated to promoting the awareness, conservation and astonishing beauty of our planet's amazing and diverse birdlife, and to disseminate wildlife and nature photos to non-profit community and conservation groups, museums, research institutions and students in developing countries.
http://www.birdexplorers.com/
Kevin Vang was Executive Director of the Australian Foundation for Asia and the Pacific (AFAP) from 1994-2008. AFAP is one of Australia's oldest and most progressive overseas aid agencies with offices and programs in over 40 countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. He has been interested in birds and nature since he was a child. He has led a number of birdwatching, natural history and ancient history expeditions to a variety of places specialising in New Guinea, Solomons, Chile, Argentina, Nepal, Sikkim and other hill states of Northeastern India. He is one of Australia's most prolific birdwatchers and bird photographers.. Of Scandinavian and US parentage, he now lives Bangkok and is the Asia Regional Director for the World Society for the Protection of Animals.
Wojciech Dabrowka has a special love of Asia and passion for the Himalayas where he has worked with ecotourism projects in Nepal and in Sikkim. He is also involved with bird conservation projects in Australia. Travelling after birds and visiting remote areas rarely explored has taken him to different corners of the World. He has travelled extensively throughout Middle East, North America, Australia, the islands of the South Pacific, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. He has also undertaken several long trips to Southern Africa. He has visited all the national parks in Eastern Poland, where his parents live. He is a trainer by profession and did his graduate studies at School for International Training in Vermont.
www.afap.org
http://www.afap.org/sectors/sec_seasia_environment.php
http://www.birdexplorers.com/Highlights.html