Mui Ca Mau (Ca Mau Cape) National Park in Vietnam’s southernmost province of Ca Mau will be a new Ramsar site of the world and the fifth in Vietnam.

The World Environment Organization will announce the official recognition of the park on December 13, said Le Dung, vice chairman of Ca Mau Province People's Committee.

As of November, there have been 2,062 recognized Ramsar sites internationally, according to the Ramsar official website at www.ramsar.org.

“This is a great opportunity for us to channel more investments to promote eco-tourism potentials of our province,” he added.

The 41,860-hectare site, including 15,262 hectares of land and 26,600 hectares of coastal areas, is a flooded saline land.

It boasts 93 species of birds, 26 species of mammals, 43 species of reptiles, 9 species of amphibians, 233 fish species, including many rare ones such as gray-foot pelicans, otters, and black-back box turtles.

Currently, Vietnam has four Ramsar sites including two in the northern region and two in the south.

The northern region-based Ramsar sites are Xuan Thuy Natural Wetland Reserve in Nam Dinh Province and the site in the Ba Be Lake in the mountainous province of Bac Kan which were recognized in 1988 and 2011, respectively.

The southern region-based ones are Bau Sau (Crocodile Lake) Wetlands and Seasonal Floodplains in Cat Tien National Park in Dong Nai Province and Tram Chim National Park in southern province of Dong Thap which were recognized in 2005 and 2012, respectively.

Tram Chim National Park in late February this year was recognized by Ramsar Convention as the 2000th Ramsar site of Wetlands of International Importance in the world. Tram Chim covers an area of 7,588 hectares, which is home to 130 species of plant, 100 species of vertebrate animals, 40 species of fish, and 147 types of water birds – of which 13 are listed as endangered.

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, and has continued to provide a national framework for wetland preservation ever since.

The convention embodies the commitments of its member countries to maintain the ecological character of their Wetlands of International Importance and to plan for the "wise use", or sustainable use, of all of the wetlands in their territories.