Eleven new animal and plant species have been discovered in a remote area of central Vietnam, conservation group WWF announced Wednesday.

Scientists have found a snake, five orchids, two butterflies and three other plants new to science and exclusive to tropical forests in the Annamites Mountain Range, known as the Green Corridor, in Thua Thien Hue Province, WWF said in a press release.

The new snake, the white-lipped keelback, tends to live by streams where it feeds on frogs and other small animals, the WWF said, adding it can reach 80 centimetres (31 inches) in length and has a distinctive yellow-white stripe along its head and red dots covering its body.

"Discoveries of so many new species are rare and occur only in very special places like the Green Corridor," said Chris Dickinson, WWF's chief conservation scientist there.

"Several large mammal species were discovered in the 1990s in the same forests so these latest discoveries may be just the tip of the iceberg."

Of the five new orchid species, three are completely leafless -- a very rare characteristic for an orchid. Like many fungal species, they contain no chlorophyll and live on decaying matter.

WWF is also examining 10 other plant species, including four orchids, which also appear to be new species.

"The area is extremely important for conservation and the province wants to protect the forests and their environmental services, as well as contribute to sustainable development," said Hoang Ngoc Khanh, director of the Provincial Forest Protection Department.

The Green Corridor is home to one of the world's most endangered primates -- the white-cheeked crested gibbon -- and the best location in Vietnam to conserve the saola -- a unique type of wild cattle discovered by scientists in 1992.

The WWF said the Green Corridor's significant population of threatened species is at risk from illegal logging, hunting, unsustainable extraction of natural resources and conflicting development interests, despite commitment for preservation by local authorities.

As well as supporting threatened species the Green Corridor also helps preserve water supplies for thousands of people who depend on the region's rivers and contains vital non-timber forest resources for local ethnic groups who earn a significant proportion of their income from the products.

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