The running tournament was organised by the Management Board of Thua Thien Hue Province's “Vietnam Biodiversity and Forest Conservation” (VFBC) Project and the implementing unit of WWF Viet Nam’s biological conservation component.
The running tournament was held on World Wildlife Day to honour and recognise the importance of all the world's wild plants and animals to the life and health of the planet.
This is also the first time that a running tournament to raise awareness on wildlife conservation has been held in Bach Ma National Park, Thua Thien Hue. The event calls for a halt to the illegal hunting, trading, and consumption of wild animals.
More than 500 people from many localities participated in runs across three distances, 3km, 13km and 33km. For the longest distance (33km), the "runners" started from the gate of Bach Ma National Park, ran along the trail around five large lakes, then ran to Hai Vong Dai at an altitude of 1450m, then returned. The finish line was placed at the national park gate.
Bach Ma National Park, after adjustment and expansion in 2008, now covers an area of 37,487 hectares and is home to 2,421 species of plants and 1,728 species of animals. Among these, there are hundreds of species of flora and fauna listed in the Red Book of Vietnam in 2007, more than 70 species listed on the IUCN Red List in 2016, and 129 endemic species.
