Chapter 2 Vietnamese forestry, biodiversity and threatened tree species
With M.J.A. Werger & N.H. Nghia
Introduction A successful conservation strategy requires a good understanding of the natural and social conditions and their relations to the strategy’s objectives. This is particularly important for the tropical countries, where the forests are very diverse in species and complex in structures, but being lost at an alarming rate (Wilson 1988, Whitmore 1997, Sodhi et al. 2004). Tropical countries, on the other hand, have among the world’ highest population (people) growth rates, which are the most crucial underlying cause of deforestation (Laurance 1999, Wright &