Subash and I were in shock. We had spent two days cruising Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay aboard a small ship and overnighting among 2,000 immense limestone towers eroded by the sea. The bay is designated a UNESCO World Heritage site for its “marine-invaded tower karst” geography and its diversity of wildlife. Yet my fellow traveler and I had logged just five black kites, graceful raptors of Southeast Asia. Amazingly, there wasn’t a gull or cormorant in sight.
We might have excused this as an exception, given the developed harbor area, too many ships around us, and obvious pollution in the water. Unfortunately, we had been in country for a week and had visited three other sites, including a mountainous rural area, with similarly disappointing results. While our tour was not a nature-focused trip, we took every opportunity to look for birds in each likely spot, carrying binoculars and using the Merlin app to identify unfamiliar birds. We had noted just 25 species, well below expectations.
Vietnam is a fascinating place to visit, if you set aside preconceived notions spawned by an ugly war between our countries. Our guide gently informed us that the Vietnamese people have moved on from the horrors of “the American war.” The nation is independent after suffering occupations by the U.S., China, France, and Japan. Today, its 100 million citizens flourish under a progressive Communist government with rising living standards thanks to a booming capitalist economy.
The country spans 1,000 miles from the northern capital of Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in the south. It’s as little as 30 miles wide. Before our trip, I read that Vietnam is one of Southeast Asia’s biodiversity hot spots, with roughly 900 recorded bird species across forests, wetlands, coastlines and highland ecosystems. Post-trip research indicates that many visitors report surprisingly few birds, especially compared with countries such as Thailand and Malaysia. Why?
Many factors limit birdlife and other native species. Vietnam has an average monthly income of $350. Farm workers earn just $100 monthly, with rice the primary crop and dietary staple. By tradition, wild primates are captured for food and for traditional medicine. In settled areas, overall abundance and visibility of common species is low. In a phenomenon known as “empty forest syndrome,” habitat may look intact, but wildlife has been severely depleted.
Unfortunately, Vietnam remains active in wildlife trade networks. While most international attention is on mammals and reptiles, birds are traded extensively. Local markets sell wild-caught birds for consumption or as pets. Ongoing demand limits wildlife populations, especially near accessible forests and wetlands. Attempts are made to police this trade, but enforcement struggles in the face of culture and corruption.
Despite extensive forest cover, especially in rugged mountains, much of it is fragmented. Most lowland forests were long ago converted to rice paddies, rubber or coffee plantations, and aquaculture. We saw intensive agricultural methods, particularly in the Mekong and Red River deltas. In the south, farmers grow three crops of rice each year and high-volume fertilizer use seems required to avoid depletion of the soil. There is also heavy pesticide use, with few obvious controls. This has resulted in significant declines in the insect population with inevitable impacts on insectivorous birds.
Vietnam has one of the highest rural population densities in Southeast Asia, with few true wildlife refuges. In contrast, parts of interior Thailand contain extensive, less accessible forest blocks where bird populations remain at higher densities. In heavily hunted landscapes, surviving birds are more wary and quieter, making them harder to detect without an experienced guide. I was told that protected montane forests or well-managed wetlands, especially in some of Vietnam’s national parks, would provide better birding, especially during peaks of migration and breeding.
Sadly, we witnessed a great deal of pollution — both noxious air quality in or near cities and huge amounts of trash in waterways. My experience in the aquaculture business made clear that Vietnam has a history of overfishing, plus aggressive use of antibiotics and other chemicals in nearshore waters. Our guide told us that the government is using education to reign in the worst environmental impacts, but, as in China, headlong growth seems to be the priority.
Over 16 days I recorded just 42 species, with one cormorant and zero gulls sighted — just shocking. While the U.S. has its own checkered history of environmental abuse, we have come a long way in recent decades. We must hope that Vietnam pulls back from the brink of disaster for everyone’s sake.
