Information for School Teachers Environmental Awareness

Information for School Teachers The project focuses on the three key areas of the Biosphere Reserve – U Minh Thuong National Park, Phu Quoc National Park and the Kien Luong Hon Chong Coastal Area, with the overall objective to develop sustainable natural resource management for Kien Giang Province particularly for the protected areas and coastal mangrove forests.

Climate

Waste Biodiversity

Information for

School Teachers

Environmental

Awareness

Ms Fiona Farley, Education Specialist

Editors

Dr Karyl Michaels, Biodiversity Expert

and Dr Peter Dart, Scientific Expert

Published by

Deutsche Gesellschaft für

Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Conservation and Development of

the Kien Giang Biosphere Reserve Project

Address 320 Ngo Quyen Street

Rach Gia City

Kien Giang Province

Vinh Thinh Investment Consulting Ltd., Co

HCM City, Viet Nam

© giz 2011

Information for School Teachers

Environmental Awareness

About GIZ

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) was established on

1 January 2011 It brings together under one roof the long-standing expertise of the German Development Service (DED), the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and InWEnt – Capacity Building International, Germany As a federally owned enterprise, it supports the German Government in achieving its objectives in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development We are also engaged in international education work around the globe.

GIZ operates in many fields, including economic development and employment; governance and democracy; security, reconstruction, peace building and civil conflict transformation; food security, health and basic education; and environmental protection, resource conservation and climate change mitigation.

For many years, Viet Nam has been a priority partner country for German Development Cooperation Projects and programmes cover the following three priority areas of cooperation, which are closely interlinked with the overarching goal of Poverty Reduction: 1) Sustainable Economic Development and Vocational Training; 2) Environmental Policy, Natural Resources and Urban Development; and 3) Health

Acknowledgements

Thanks go to Mr Le Anh Huy, Vice Head of the Primary Division, Department of Education and Training (DoET), Kien Giang, for his enthusiastic support throughout the development of the Resource Book Mr Huy organized the active support of over thirty primary school teachers and district education officers from schools in project areas in the province, including Phu Quoc Island The teachers and education officers participated in workshops which developed the way the material would be used, tested the activities described in the book, provided advice

on the book design and contents, assisted with editing and provided feedback on the use of the book.

Thanks also to Mr Luong Thanh Hai, Director of the Department of Science and Technology Kien Giang Province and to Dr Peter Dart, University of Queensland for their support and advice, particularly for comments on International and local environmental and technical issues and for additional editing

Thanks to GIZ project staff, Ms Nguyen Thi Viet Phuong, Mr Tan Phong Nguyen and Mr Chu Van Cuong and Ms Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy who actively participated in the production of the manual

Foreword

Viet Nam was identified by the International Panel on Climate Change as one of the countries

to be most affected by climate change The Mekong and Red River deltas with their high population density in low-lying lands are threatened by the rising sea level and intensity of natural disasters such as typhoons, storms and floods Further, the rapid population growth has resulted in a very high pressure on the natural resources of the inland and coastal forests which were of very high biological diversity

The Mekong Delta was once renowned for its rich and special biodiversity, especially in the coastal wetlands, mangrove areas and melaleuca forests as well as the few remaining dipterocarp forests These are increasingly under threat both from population pressure and the effects of climate change In 2006, the Kien Giang Man and Biosphere (MAB) Reserve was recognized by UNESCO

In response to the need for assistance to help protect the Mekong Delta against the threats from population pressure and the effects of climate change the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Australian Government (AusAID) signed a memorandum of understanding to work together The Conservation and Development

of the Kien Giang Biosphere Reserve Project was the first project to be developed under this agreement The project is funded by AusAID and implemented by GIZ.

The project focuses on the three key areas of the Biosphere Reserve – U Minh Thuong National Park, Phu Quoc National Park and the Kien Luong Hon Chong Coastal Area, with the overall objective to develop sustainable natural resource management for Kien Giang Province particularly for the protected areas and coastal mangrove forests

This resource book for teachers developed as an initiative of the environmental awareness component that is part of the Kien Giang Biosphere Reserve Project The aim of the book is to help with building environmental awareness in primary schools The book has been developed along the following steps First a survey of needs in schools was conducted; this was followed by

a trainer of trainers workshop in Rach Gia City attended by over thirty teachers and education officers from all districts within the biosphere reserve The content areas for the workshop were linked to key issues being addressed in the project: Climate change and its impact, issues with waste disposal and conservation of the reserve’s biodiversity The idea for the development of this resource book came as a logical step forward from both the workshop and the information provided by the needs analysis survey From the workshop came the idea that teachers in schools in other areas within Kien Giang and other provinces within the Mekong Delta could make use of the basic information and activities for school children introduced during the workshop if they were compiled together into a book.

From this resource book teachers can learn more about the ways in which climate change has, and can in the future affect Viet Nam and in particular the provinces within the Mekong Delta Practical ideas for saving energy can be shared with students to help understand that

we can address some of the impacts of climate change by changing our attitudes and practices towards the use of energy There is also some practical information about the problem with waste and how adopting the practice of the 3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle can help to clean

up the local environment and reduce the impact of pollutants like plastic bags Information and activities related to the biodiversity within the biosphere areas focuses attention on animals and plants that are threatened or critically endangered and will hopefully help teachers to build up children’s knowledge about these animals and plants and the need to protect them for the future

Original line drawings of plants and animals are provided to allow teachers to photocopy them for use in the classroom

In line with the Vietnamese Government’s laws relating to protection of the environment the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) has issued a number of decisions regarding the teaching and learning about the environment in schools: Decision No 896/BGDT-GDTH (13 th February, 2006) – Instructions for the adjustment of the teaching and learning at primary schools – teachers are given permission to use reference materials in order to develop lessons linked to children’s local knowledge

Decision No 5982/BGDT-GDTH (7 th July, 2008) – Instructions for the teaching and learning of local knowledge at primary schools – teachers are encouraged to provide opportunities for children to learn about such topics as biodiversity within a local context In addition to these decisions the MoET has also instituted two sets of criteria for schools to help them work towards achieving the status of a “Green, Clean and Beautiful School” Both decisions support teacher use of references to provide information about the local area.

This resource book is in line with the MoET’s current initiatives to highlight the importance

of teaching and learning about the environment and will help schools build their capacity to become clean and green Hopefully, teachers will enjoy exploring this book and find it a useful resource.

Introduction to climate change

Impact of climate change in Viet Nam

Protecting our coastline in Kien Giang

Pollution in the ocean

The importance of forests

What can we do?

Introduction to climate changeImpact of climate change in Viet NamProtecting our coastline in Kien GiangPollution in the ocean

Importance of forestsWhat can we do?

CLIMATE CHANGE

Introduction to climate change

To understand what climate change is it’s important to clarify the difference

between the terms weather and climate Weather is something we experience

on a day to day basis - the temperature, humidity levels, rainfall and winds But climate is a concept that deals with information gathered from weather events over a long period of time It’s easy for us to understand what weather

is because we experience it on a daily basis, but it’s more difficult for us to understand ‘climate’ because it’s not something we can actually ‘see’

Many people today do talk about the differences in our weather from the past and talk about such things as the temperatures increasing and the rainfall in some areas increasing or decreasing, and even about the number of times they have experienced floods or very bad storms These changes in the weather are one aspect scientists study when they are looking at climate

As we all know from newspapers and television programs and even from our own experience, climate can change and when it does we call this “climate change” But climate change is more than just changes to weather Climate affects the environment that people and wildlife (plants and animals) depend

on This means that climate change is also about plants and animals and all the other living and non-living things like soil, rocks, oceans and rivers

Climate change could affect EVERYONE and EVERYTHING around the world.

Scientists are working to find ways to help us adapt to these changes

The greenhouse effect and global warming

One of the impacts of climate change is that temperatures in the world are getting warmer Because the entire earth is getting warmer we call this “Global Warming.”

The effects of Global Warming in our environment include rising sea levels, an increase in the number of floods, longer times for flood waters to drain and an increase in the number of strong tropical storms

Global warming leads to an increase in the temperature of water and as water gets warmer it expands and this causes sea levels to rise

There are many places around the world that are frozen (like glaciers) or have snow or ice Warmer temperatures mean that the ice will melt into water which will rush into rivers and lakes and eventually into the sea This is causing the sea levels to rise

Warmer water in our oceans pumps more energy into tropical storms making them stronger and potentially more destructive As ocean temperatures increase, more water evaporates and this results in more clouds with more

Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina

!

water vapour in them This leads to more and heavier rainfall events Tropical

cyclones which have their beginnings close to the equator may become more

frequent with global warming

Global warming will also leads to changes in rainfall patterns The weather is

affected by the increased evaporation of water from the sea, rivers and lakes

causing more clouds to form The pattern of wind movements will affect where

rain occurs from these clouds Some regions will have more rain and others

less Scientists have predicted this from studying the global weather patterns

from weather records collected over the past 100 years

The periods of rain are predicted to be shorter but heavier because of the

way global warming has affected the way clouds are formed There will also

be less rain in the summer in some regions such as the Lower Mekong Basin

in Viet Nam The higher temperatures will cause more evaporation from the

soil and plants and this will result in more droughts and also increase the risk

of wildfires These changes in the weather patterns and climate are already

happening as scientists have predicted

Global warming is caused by our increasing use of energy

The production of food needs energy The factories that make our clothes

need energy The factories that produce the plastic we use in our homes need

energy The motorcycles we drive need energy All of the electrical things in

our homes need energy Most of the energy sources we are using release a gas

known as CO2 (carbon dioxide) It is this gas that is causing the global warming

CO2 works like the glass in a greenhouse – under the glass the temperature

stays warm due to the energy of the sun That’s why CO2 is called a greenhouse

gas The more CO2 we release the warmer our earth will get

Global warming

is caused by our increasing use of energy.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Our motorbikes use energy

! A few examples about the

possible impact of climate change

Weather

Some countries will become drier and others wetter Although most areas will

be warmer, some areas will be cooler There may be many storms, floods and prolonged drought but we don’t know which areas in the world will be affected

Farming

All over the world these weather changes will affect the kind of crops that can

be grown Plants, animals and even people may find it difficult to survive in changed conditions

Some crops will be affected by increased temperatures more than others Climate change will affect overall crop production

In the Delta regions, salt water intrusion into the coastal farming land as sea levels rise is already affecting crop growth

Farmers will need to grow salt tolerant varieties of crops or change the crop varieties they grow to suit the new conditions For example salt affected rice-lands may be converted to shrimp production Changes in rainfall patterns will also affect crops The likelihood of more severe storms and cyclone events will cause flooding resulting in the destruction of plants

These reductions in crop production are likely to increase food prices affecting poor people throughout the world the most Reduction in crop production could even lead to some countries not having enough food

Sea levels

Higher sea levels are threatening the low-lying coastal areas of the world Some Pacific islands and the Maldive Islands could disappear completely Throughout the world millions of people will have to leave their homes and large areas of farmland will be ruined because of floods

East Asian countries such as Viet Nam, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Cambodia could be badly affected as most farming takes place in these countries on low-lying deltas

Viet Nam

could be

badly

affected

Erosion in Kien Giang Province

Storm surge in Hon Dat

Rice Farming in the Delta

Water

Climate change will affect water availability in many parts of the world Scarcity

of water will be a major problem to deal with There are already conflicts over

water supply and many cities in the world are finding it difficult to obtain enough

clean water Agriculture will be affected as in many parts of the world there will

be less rainfall with global warming, and less water will come from glaciers that

provide water for large rivers such as the Mekong River and Yangtze River in

China This will result in less water for irrigation of crops Dam building on the

Mekong River for crop irrigation and hydro electricity generation will also affect

the flow of water in the Mekong River to Viet Nam especially in the summer

season Parts of the world are likely to receive more rainfall, but it may be very

heavy leading to flooding

CLIMATE CHANGE

Sluice Gate Kien Giang Province

Red Mangrove

Butterfly Asian small clawed otter

Painted Stork

In danger

Plants and animals

It has taken millions of years for life to become used to the conditions on Earth

As weather and temperature changes, the homes of plants and animals will be affected all over the world

The ability of many animals to adapt to changes in climate depends on their ability to move to more suitable habitat However some animals may not be able to move if there is no more suitable habitat or people have already used the land for farms, cities and roads

For example, if the ice in the Arctic melts polar bears and seals will not be able to find new land for hunting and living Birds such as the Sarus Crane and the Lesser Adjutant and small mammals such as the hairy nosed otter that are dependant on wetlands may also lose their homes if wetlands dry up due to climate change or are inundated with salt water due to sea level rise

The habitat range of some butterflies may shift as temperatures increase but the plant species they require for food may not be able to spread to the same areas due to human impacts

Birds are breeding and laying their eggs earlier in the season and migratory species have changed their wintering and stopover habitats but the growth

of the chicks may no longer coincide with the availability of their insect food sources

Changes to coral reefs and mangroves will affect sea turtles and fish

CLIMATE CHANGE

Getting ready to replace a broken dyke in Hon Dat District.

Many animals and plants may not be able to cope with these changes and

could die This could cause the loss of some animal and plant species in certain

areas of the world or everywhere on Earth

People

The changes in climate will affect everyone, but some populations will be at

greater risk For example, populations in some low lying regions may have to

move inland to avoid flood risk and damage to agricultural land In Viet Nam,

the Lower Mekong and Red River Deltas have large areas that are low lying and

are already affected by sea

In the Mekong Delta, a large network of canals has been built to reduce

flooding, but during the flood season salt water mixes with fresh water and

floods coastal regions during high tides, storms and typhoons During the dry

season fresh water levels are lower and this allows sea water to enter the

canals and flow upstream

This salt water intrusion means that the canal water cannot be used for

irrigation of rice crops However there are sluice gates on many of the larger

canals and if they are operated properly the salt water is kept out of the canals

The Central and Provincial Governments are also planning a series of dykes and

mangrove forest rehabilitation programs to help keep sea water from flooding

the coastal land during storms

Plastic bag litter in the sea

Storm over U Minh Thuong

Impact of climate change in Viet Nam

From an interview with Nguyen Huu Ninh, scientist and author of a book on Climate Change, Viet Nam News, August 8, 2009

Impacts of climate change on Viet Nam were clearly demonstrated by tides which caused flooding in coastal regions, particularly Ho Chi Minh City Temperatures have increased by 1 degree C in the past 10 years In 2007 the cold spell was most unusual as was the heat wave of last summer (2008).

The expectation for the future includes rising sea levels By 2050 sea water levels could rise by 33 cm and by 1 metre at the next century If these predictions are accurate then about 22 million people in Viet Nam would be affected

Destroying the forests has affected the climate causing heavy rains With deforestation, water is not retained in the soil and so floods occur Landslides are more common as the tree roots are not there to hold the soil together on the hill slopes More than 100 mm of rain in several hours is enough to cause landslides and floods

22 million

people in

Viet Nam could

be affected

Dyke washing away in Kien Giang Natural mangrove forest has been cut for shrimp farming

Home flooded after dyke is broken

CLIMATE CHANGE

Despite hearing about climate change and global warming and natural disasters

many people still leave litter anywhere and indiscriminately cut down trees,

while many businesses discharge waste water into vital waterways and harmful

gases into the atmosphere Many people wonder about natural disasters and

disease outbreaks but never question how they themselves may have harmed

the environment.

Research has shown that more than 90% of the blame for climate change points

to greenhouse gas pollution, heat absorption and radiation from buildings and

roads in cities and towns

Vietnamese people must change attitudes to ensure the safety of the

environment and atmosphere If not, nature will get ‘angrier’ and we will be

victims of what we have done Habit changes such as not cutting down trees,

reducing use of plastic and nylon bags are vital

People living in coastal areas are in danger from storm surges.

Most of the fish, shrimps, prawns and crabs caught by fishing boats started life among the coastal mangroves

The mangrove forests have been greatly reduced In the past they were up

to 300 metres wide In many places they have been cut for agriculture and for aquaculture (eg fish ponds), the sea has also been eroding the mangrove forests

Many households have cut some of the mangrove trees to build ponds to grow fish, prawns, shrimps and crabs This has to be done carefully It should be done

in a way that enables the mangroves to continue providing protection for the land from the sea and for the sea animals that live and breed in the mangroves

Mangroves and dykes washed away, Kien Giang

There have been many efforts made to plant mangroves so that they provide a

good barrier to the sea But it is difficult to do this The young seedlings need

to be strong enough to survive the tidal flows and storms

Mangrove seedlings are often smothered by plastic waste that floats in from

the sea or is dumped by people

The water hyacinth that grows in the canals is carried by the canal water flow

out to sea and can also smother the young seedlings

Because of this pollution and the action of waves, the young seedlings need to

be protected if they are to survive

Many mangroves have big seeds that drop into the mud and start growing If

these are collected and transplanted into sea mud, they grow quickly

! When our

oceans become

polluted then all

the living things

in the ocean are

affected.

Pollution in the ocean

A lot of our waste ends up in the ocean Pollution in our marine environments

is becoming an increasing problem Most of the waste we produce on land eventually ends up in the oceans through run off from rivers and drains or

through deliberate dumping This waste includes: oil, fertilisers, solid garbage,

sewage and toxic chemicals.

Oil spills cause huge damage to the marine environment Oil pollution can

come from oil rigs, large tankers and small fishing vessels It also comes from the runoff from factories and cities that flows into drains and rivers and ends

up in the sea

Fertiliser runoff from farms and people’s gardens is also a huge problem in

coastal areas The extra nutrients in this runoff encourage dangerous algae

to bloom The algae sometimes release toxins that are poisonous to marine animals and also to humans The algae can grow over corals and smother them When the algae die they are broken down by very small living organisms This uses up all the oxygen in the water and ‘suffocates’ other animals such as fish and shrimps that also need the oxygen

Solid waste from careless disposal of our litter is an increasing problem Plastic

bags, glass bottles, broken fishing nets, packaging material and hard plastic items are regularly being dumped in the sea by humans who do not think about the consequences of their actions

Sewage dumped directly into the sea or delivered untreated by pipelines can

stimulate the growth of harmful algae and bacteria in the water which results

in lack of oxygen and fish deaths and can also create serious health problems for humans

Waste in the ocean

Waste can smother young mangroves Waste in waterways

CLIMATE CHANGE

When Toxic chemicals enter the oceans every marine organism from the

tiniest plankton to the largest whale will be contaminated Some of these

chemicals enter the sea by deliberate dumping Chemicals also enter the sea

from land activities Once the chemicals are in the environment they can travel

long distances in the air and water, including the ocean currents It was once

thought that because the ocean was so large these pollutants would be diluted

and dispersed and cause no harm But they have not disappeared

Tiny plankton in the sea absorb these chemicals and this will have an impact on

all the larger animals in the food chains Small shrimps called krill (about 5 cm

long) eat these plankton and they are the main food for most creatures living

in the Antarctic including whales Krill stocks have decreased by 70% since the

1970’s probably due to global warming and chemical contamination This will

cause reduced fish stocks

Oil pollution may come from fishing boats

! Forests

absorb

carbon dioxide

The importance of forests

Forests help to protect the Earth from climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas The trees need the carbon dioxide in order

Preserve water and improve water quality and quantity

Provide us with natural resources such as timber products and medicinal plants.

Are home to some of the world’s most endangered wildlife species

Logs Mobile sawmill

CLIMATE CHANGE

Natural forests store carbon

as they grow

When forests are destroyed or degraded by activities such as logging and

conversion of forests to agricultural land they release large quantities of carbon

dioxide into the atmosphere upsetting the natural balance of greenhouse gases

and contributing to climate change

Deforestation is continuing at an alarming rate Where we once had forest

covering a half of the land on Earth, forests now only cover a quarter of the

land and if deforestation continues this will have very bad consequences for

the amount of greenhouse gases going into the Earth’s atmosphere

Reducing deforestation and degradation of forests must be part of the

solution to the climate change problem.

House made of wood store carbon

! use

ENERGY

EFFICIENT ways

to travel

What can we do?

On these pages you will read just some ideas for ways in which we can help to save our planet from the effects of climate change

Travel

We can reduce the energy that we use by using energy efficient ways to travel

Instead of using motorcycles or cars to

travel to work we should try to use a

bus Buses can carry more people in

one trip This considerably reduces the amount of gaseous pollution produced

in the atmosphere and the green house warming effect they produce

Walking or cycling whenever you can

will be even better as it doesn’t create any pollution It is also good for your body giving you exercise and keeping you healthy

If people must use motorcycles

en-courage them to drive SLOWLY as

this produces less pollution and less carbon

When replacing your motorbike look into alternatives such as electric bikes

When you lea ve

a room turn off

the light s witch

Turn the TV off

if no one is watching it.

Turn off appliances a t the wall when the y are not being used.

We can reduce the amount of electricity

we use by following these steps:

When taking things

out of the fridg e

open the door as

little as possible

Keep the fridge in a cool place away from the cooking stove and the sun

To save energy:

To help save water we should remember the following:

• Don’t leave taps running when you clean your teeth

• Take shorter showers and only use a little water in a bath.

• Check to make sure water is not leaking from your taps or toilet.

• Reuse water from the shower or bath to water plants or clean your

motorcycle You can do this by using a bucket to catch water as you shower

• Don’t leave the tap running as you wash dishes.

• Don’t waste water by using a hose to clean the front of the house – sweep

up the rubbish and put it into the bin

• Use a bucket to wash a motorcycle and then use a bucket of clean water to

rinse – save the rinsing water to put into plant pots or on the garden

• Wash floors using a bucket of water instead of turning on the tap and

letting it run over the floor

• Water your plants in the morning or in the late evening This is the best

time for them to get full benefit from less water because there is less evaporation from the surface of the pot

• Pull out the weeds in your garden regularly as weeds compete for water

and nutrients with the plants you are growing The weeds pulled out can be left on the surface of the soil to reduce drying of the soil and to return the nutrients they contain to the soil when they rot

In the home and at school we must learn to use WATER efficiently and not waste it.

Plant trees

We can plant trees Which help use up carbon dioxide which is one of the greenhouse gases that contributes to climate change

!

CLIMATE CHANGE

Alternative energy sources

Using alternative renewable energy sources will help reduce the amount of

carbon dioxide we produce About half of the greenhouse effect in the world is

caused by inefficient use of energy, especially fossil fuels (coal and oil) Better

sources of energy could be, for example hydro electricity, wind power and solar

power There is much effort being made today to develop these alternative

sources of energy

Waste

Our homes produce tons of garbage per year After collection it is buried in

soil pits known as landfill sites Some people burn their waste but if they burn

any plastic or styrene foam this will cause some dangerous gases to pollute

the air

By disposing of waste correctly we can reduce stress on the natural environment

so that it can adjust to climate change

Try to reduce your family’s waste by taking actions such as:

• use your own bags when you go shopping and avoid plastic bags as much

as possible

• do not burn leftover food and litter from the garden (leaves and twigs)

These are best composted to make fertiliser for your garden You could also

feed leftover food to animals such as chickens and pigs

• recycle as much as you can – paper, cardboard, glass, plastic bottles,

aluminum cans

• try to buy things that don’t have a lot of packaging

• DO put your waste out for collection and recycling

DON’T throw it away into the street the road or into the water

PLANT TREES

Use bicycles or electric bikes

Seagrass habitats

pond weed snail frog snake

towns and cities – urban ecosystems

All the living things in each ecosystem have some things in common:

they all need air, food and water to survive, they all grow and reproduce, and they all die

When we talk about living things we usually think of animals and plants But there are also two other groups of living things – fungi (mushrooms are in this group) and bacteria

One important characteristic shared by all living things is that they respond to change in their environments Some of these changes have put many animals and plants in a situation where they have become endangered Although a number of changes in ecosystems occur naturally, it is the changes brought about by human actions that create the greatest threats to animals and plants

in an ecosystem

Food Chains

We can start to understand a little of how an ecosystem works when we look

at the food chains in that system – we find out who is eating who Food chains show how plants and animals are linked together by their eating habits

At the beginning of a food chain are plants They take energy from the sunlight and produce ‘food’ in the form of fruit and leaves Small animals then eat the plants and are in turn eaten by larger animals

In the model of a food chain below the arrow between the plants and animals shows the direction of the source of energy

!

Ecosystems can be made up of hundreds or thousands of plant and animal

species which means a lot of interconnecting food chains Often animals will

eat more than one source of food just like humans

Some animals eat plants and some animals eat other animals Each link in a

food chain is a food for the next link For example: A fish eats the plants in a

pond A heron then eats the fish

Plants are called producers and they are at the beginning of the food chain

Animals cannot make their own food so they must eat plants or animals They

are called the consumers.

BIODIVERSITY

A food chain shows how each living thing gets its food.

There are three groups of consumers:

1 Animals that eat only plants or algae are called herbivores

They are considered the first level consumers

in the food chain e.g mussel

Examples of herbivores include:

caterpillar, dugong, adult green turtle, rabbit, fruit bat, elephant.

2 Animals that eat meat are called carnivores

They are considered the second level consumers

in the food chain

Examples of other carnivores include:

shrimp, small fish, herons, otters, lesser adjutant birds.

snakes, forest cats, pangolins

3 Carnivores that eat other carnivores (like Eagles)

are considered the third level consumers

in the food chain

Other examples of third level consumers include:

hawks, tigers, sharks, dolphins

Animals and People that eat both plants and animals are called omnivores

They are also consumers in the food chain

Examples of animals that are omnivores:

dragonfly nymph, water snails, hawskbill turtles,

sarus cranes.

Living things which feed off dead plants and animals and reduce their

remains to minerals and gases are called decomposers

Examples of decomposers are: fungi (like mushrooms) and bacteria.

In a food chain, energy is passed from one link to the next When a herbivore eats green plants it takes in energy produced by the plants The herbivore will use this energy to look for food, run away from predators and reproduce Only

a small amount of energy (about 10%) is used to help it grow bigger, the rest of the energy is used up in daily life activities or lost as waste

When a carnivore eats a herbivore it takes in all of its stored energy It uses some of this energy for its regular daily life activities (e.g., breathing, digesting food, moving) and some of the energy will be wasted Predators also use large amounts of energy to chase after food So only a small amount of the energy it originally consumed is used to grow its body

As the energy is passed along the food chain much of it is either used or lost Because most of the energy is lost in each step there must be smaller numbers

of individuals at each step That is why each food chain has many herbivores but few second level consumers and a very small number of third level consumers

Here are some examples of food chains

in different ecosystems:

Woodland Forest

tree caterpillar small bird eagle

(producer) (1 st order consumer) (2 nd ) (3 rd )

Wetlands

phytoplankton zooplankton shrimp large fish

(producer) (1 st order consumer) (2 nd ) (3 rd )

!

BIODIVERSITY

Peoples actions can affect food webs.

Food webs

Few animals eat or are eaten by only one type of animal Each one is therefore

linked into several different food chains When we want to look at all the food

chains in an ecosystem we call this a Food Web Part of a forest food web is

shown below

If one type of animal or plant in a food web were to increase or decrease in

number, it would affect the entire web For example, if the trees were cut down

then the animals that eat parts of the tree would die out This in turn would

affect larger animals in the food web Unfortunately, it is often humans who

cause problems in food webs This can happen through deforestation, water

pollution, over fishing or introducing foreign animal and plant species

In Viet Nam the creation of coastal fish and shrimp ponds has also contributed

to the decline in the area of mangrove forests A lot of forest ecosystems have

been affected when land has been reclaimed for farming activities or trees

have been cleared for rice production A number of animals and plants in Viet

Nam are now endangered because they have been hunted unsustainably or

because their ecosystem has been disturbed

We can help to maintain Viet Nam’s biodiversity for the future

We can help by respecting and caring for the animals and plants in the

different habitats all around us.

Example of a food web

Introduction to

special animals of Kien Giang

Within the Kien Giang Biosphere Reserve, there are a number of animals that are important in terms of Conservation of Biodiversity in Viet Nam

These are the animals that we must encourage our children to protect in order for there to be a future for these special animals

In the following pages you will find some basic information on the animals below:

Asian Small Clawed Otter

IUCN Red List – Vulnerable to extinction Sighted in U Minh Thuong National Park

Hairy Nosed Otter

IUCN Red List – Critically Endangered Sighted in U Minh Thuong and U Minh Ha National Parks