Fair Chance for the Asian Unicorn to Escape Extinction, as Vietnam Creates New Nature Reserve

The forests of Khe Nuoc Trong have been upgraded to a Nature Reserve. It is one of the last ecosystems in Vietnam and home to more than 40 endangered species, including one of Earth’s rarest mammals: the Asian unicorn.

“Whilst the watershed protection status already protected the trees from logging, it didn’t have any mandates for wildlife conservation,” says Tuan Anh, president and co-founder of Viet Nature, a local conservation body that worked for close to ten years to save the forests. “The new status puts biodiversity protection as a key objective – the level that its outstanding biodiversity deserves.”

The Saola antelope – or Asian unicorn – was discovered in 1992 and the reserve may be its last chance to survive. The 22,132 hectares (54,689 acres) of the forest is also a climate powerhouse as their protection could offset close to 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year over the next 30 years. The reserve’s protection falls within the Trillion Tree Campaign where one trillion trees are regrown, saved from loss, and better protected around the world by 2050.