The Babbler 37

The Babbler Number 37 - March 2011

Photo: Himalayan Griffon Vulture at Western Siem Pang Jonathan C. Eames

Number 37 - March 2011

CONTENTS

Working together for birds and people

BirdLife International in Indochina is a subregional programme of the BirdLife Secretariat operating in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. It currently has two offices in the region:

• Comment • Features • Regional News

Vietnam Programme Office Room 211-212, D1 building, Van Phuc Diplomatic Compound; 298 Kim Ma street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi, Vietnam P.O. Box 89 6 Dinh Le, Hanoi, Vietnam Tel: +84-4-3 514 8904 Cambodia Programme Office #9, Street 29 Tonle Basac, Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh, Cambodia P.O.Box: 2686 Tel/Fax: +855 23 993 631 www.birdlifeindochina.org

Alleged mortality and trapping of Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor in the Red river Delta, Vietnam Satellite tagged Black-faced Spoonbill in Cambodia and southern Vietnam Vietnam zoo owner jailed for tiger sales Examination reveals fate of rare Javan rhino at the hands of poacher, says WWF Monkey business in Vietnam

• IBA News

Kampong Trach: New threats and developments Boeung Prek Lapouv Sarus Crane Reserve: a new dry grassland?

Ba Be National Park finally makes Ramsar list Ba Hon grasslands under threat

• Rarest of the rare • Project Updates • Reviews

Himalayan Griffon Vulture

• Publication • Profile • Photo spot

An analysis of attitudes and bear bile use in Vietnam Summary of Tiger Trade Investigation Findings, Vietnam 2010 BirdLife leads first biodiversity baseline assessment of a REDD site in Oddar Meanchey Province, Cambodia Arlyne Johnson and Michael Hedemark: Double duty for conservation in Laos

The Babbler 37 - March 2011

Comment

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his year the 2011 International Black-faced Spoonbill Census took place across Asia as usual, aiming to update wintering population numbers and distribution for this Endangered species. A total of 1,836 Black-faced Spoonbills were counted representing a 22% decrease on the 2010 census (2,347 birds). This is the largest decrease since the census began in 1993.

Where have over 500 Black-faced Spoonbills gone? Were they missed because they were wintering at unknown or uncounted sites? Did they succumb to the cold and prolonged winter in parts Asia has experienced this year, including the Red River Delta in Vietnam, or did wetland destruction and hunting take their toll? Is it possible that with the spectacular population recovery shown by this species in recent years, that birds are once again wintering in freshwater wetlands away form the coasts of South-East Asia, as they apparently once did? Four Black-faced Spoonbills (including a satellite tagged bird) did after all spend much of this last winter visiting wetlands in southern Vietnam and Cambodia, including Boeung Prek Lapouv Sarus Crane Reserve.

In this issue we report on the allegation that 11 Black-faced Spoonbills were caught, killed and served-up for food in a hotel located near the spoonbills’ main wintering site in Vietnam. Our investigation was not able to fully substantiate this allegation, but it remains a possibility. We do know that five spoonbills were rescued and released by the local government authorities. Should any further information come to light on this incident we will report it in a future issue of The Babbler.

The Babbler is the quarterly newsletter of BirdLife International in Indochina. This quarter The Babbler was compiled by Tran Thi Thanh Huong Huong@birdlife.org.vn and edited by Jonathan C. Eames, Eames@birdlife.org.vn. The views expressed are those of contributors and are not necessarily those of BirdLife International.

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper is another declining northeast Asian breeding shorebird in the news.

In this issue we summarize a recent paper outlining the conservation actions required to save the species from extinction. One of the options proposed and the dilemmas currently facing conservationists is whether to embark on a captive breeding programme for the species. There are a number of questions for which we do need urgent answers that would inform this debate: Do we know enough about the breeding range of this species? Has the breeding range shifted north (because of milder, longer summers) into areas that are less accessible? Are significant numbers breeding in areas that have not been surveyed for 30 years? Does it even breed in Alaska? Do the flocks that winter in Bangladesh and Myanmar migrate across the interior of the continent? Is captive breeding even feasible given the difficulty in finding nests and the logistical expertise of airlifting a sufficient number of clutches to form a viable founder population of breeding of birds out of remote areas that are frequently fog-bound in the Spring? Is there time to wait on some of these questions being answered first or should captive breeding be undertaken now?

Jonathan C. Eames, Manager BirdLife International in Indochina 3

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The Babbler 37 - March 2011

Feature

Alleged mortality and trapping of Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor in the Red river Delta, Vietnam A mission was undertaken during 11-13 January 2011 primarily to investigate the allegation that 11 Black-faced Spoonbills Platalea minor were killed in the Red River Delta in December 2010. A second objective of the mission was to evaluate and report hunting of wild birds at Tien Hai Nature Reserve, Thai Binh Province. The mission was undertaken by Le Trong Trai, BirdLife International Vietnam programme, Hoang Van Chien, PanNature, and Ngo Van Huan Nong Thon Ngay Nay (“Countryside Today”). No evidence was found that 11 Black-faced Spoonbills had been killed in 2010 but it remains a possibility. During 2010, five Black-faced Spoonbills were confiscated by local government authorities and released. The Lang Viet Hotel is known to have bought and kept Black-faced Spoonbills for human consumption and offered to serve the species to the author during this mission.

A series of recommendations are made including the establishment of a management board for Tien Hai Nature Reserve, seeking funds from the Vietnam Conservation Fund and increased levels of enforcement and awareness raising.

Background On 13 December 2010, it was reported that 11 Black-faced Spoonbills had been killed at Xuan Thuy [National Park] and that one was still in a shop in Tien Hai District, Thai Binh Province (in litt. Le Manh Hung to Richard Craik, 13 December 2010). Later, it was reported that Dinh Van Cao, from the Tien Hai District Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) had twice undertaken rescue and release missions for five Black-faced Spoonbills. All these birds had been trapped by hunters in Tien Hai Nature Reserve (in litt. Le Trong Trai 15 December 2010).

Information from management agencies The mission group interviewed Tran Du, Head of the District DNRE and Dinh Van Cao, Deputy Head of the District DNRE who reported that they were informed by local people that Black-faced Spoonbills were being kept in the Lang Viet Hotel, Tien Hai District, Thai Binh Province. The government officials interviewed were aware that this species is listed as globally Endangered and on the Vietnam Red List and protected under Vietnamese law. They reported the incident and requested guidance from the national and provincial Forest Protection Department of Thai Binh Province but received none. They decided to act and “talked with the hotel owner to explain the scientific values and law protecting the species and later proposed two options. He

could either can voluntarily hand over the birds for release or we would invite the Environment Police and Thai Binh FPD to deal with the case following the Decree 32/2006/ND-CP dated 30 March 2006. Finally, the first option was chosen but the owner asked us to reimburse the money he had spent to buy these birds. So we paid the hotel owner VND 800,000 (US$ 40) for two Black-faced Spoonbills and released them immediately.”

Twice during 2010 the Lang Viet Hotel was discovered to be keeping Black-faced Spoonbills in a cage waiting to sell to customers for food. In total five Black-faced Spoonbills were rescued and released by DNRE at Tien Hai in 2010, three in March 2010 and another two on 14 December 2010.

In the Garden of the Lang Viet Hotel the group observed one Chinese spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha, one Greylag Goose Anser anser and one living Common Coot Fulica atra and two pickled coot in jars in the reception area. When asked, hotel staff reported that they could serve different dishes made from wild birds including Spot-billed Duck, Egrets and even Black-faced Spoonbills. The hotel security guard also confirmed this information and added that the Black-faced Spoonbills were kept at a different location.

When asked, this respondent was unaware that 11 Blackfaced Spoonbills had been killed but was aware that some had been kept at the hotel and later released by the DNRE.

Tien Hai Nature Reserve is located on the north side of the Red River estuary.

Talking about wildlife restaurants in Tien Hai, Dinh Van Cao said “Only Lang Viet hotel serves food made from wild birds and the owner is provided by us information and images of wild birds as well as the Government’s Decree 32 with detailed lists of protected species. We hope they will stop selling wild birds for food in the hotel. We proposed to the DNRE that they request the to sign a commitment with the local authorities to not sell and consume wildlife including 4

The Babbler 37 - March 2011 wild birds.”

Wild bird hunting at Tien Hai Nature Reserve They interviewed some local people fishing and practicing aquaculture in the area and found some common hunting methods of wild birds in Tien Hai. On the afternoon of 12 January 2011, a hunter with a shotgun hidden in a cloth bag was seen driving a motorbike along dykes in an aquaculture area of Nam Phu commune. The cartridges are made by hunters with an aim to shoot big water birds feeding in the aquaculture ponds. A teashop owner said there were four hunters armed with guns in the area. On warm days, people often hear shooting in the area. One hunter is a retired solder and shop owner sometimes met the guy’s friends coming from Hanoi to hunt for refreshment during migration season.

They often caught Grey Heron, wild ducks and other species of Rallidae.

Nets made from fishing-netting are set up near tidal islets or along aquaculture ponds to catch those birds feeding at high tide.. With different size of mesh, the nets are often 2 metres in width and 15-20 metres in length. Sometimes, several nets are set up near each other. This catching method used to be common in the past. We did not observe any hunting nets in Tien Hai during the two-day survey.

Fishing nets set to catch waterbirds.

Feature Red River Delta.

Recommendations 1. Thai Binh People’s Committee should approve the establishment of a management board for Tien Hai Nature Reserve and provide an annual budget.

2. The nature reserve requires investment in increasing staff capacity to conduct protection, conservation and awareness raising activities.

3. Once established the management board should seek funding from Vietnam Conservation Fund.

4. Strengthen the enforcement of forest laws with support from Tien Hai District People’s Committee; Greylag Goose Anser anser (front) 5. Conduct comprehensive research on hunting and Chinese spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha (back) in the Lang Viet Hotel. trading of migrating birds in the Red River Delta; 6. Force all restaurants and hotels in Tien Hai township Bamboo sticks dipped in resin and live or decoys are set to sign commitments not to sell and use wild birds for food. up in feeding areas of water birds. Sometimes hunters use There should be regularly checking and violators punished tape lures to attract wild birds such as egrets and herons or set strictly. nylon leg snares on the ground. However, the mission group 7. Conduct integrated aquaculture and conservation did not observe this hunting method in Tien Hai during the planning in the area with special attention on the feeding and two survey days. roosting areas of migrating birds; 8. Coordinate with Xuan Thuy NP, Nam Dinh Province Management of Tien Hai Nature Reserve to control wildbird hunting and trapping during migration Tien Hai District Department of Natural Resources and seasons.

Environment (DNRE) currently is the management authority for Tien Hai Nature Reserve. Following the Government’s ----------assessment of three categories of forests to 2010, the Source: Le Trong Trai, BirdLife International-Vietnam Nature Reserve’s area is 3,245 ha, of which 2,259 ha are Programme. 2011. covered with mangrove forest and the remaining 986 ha is Photos: Le Trong Trai tidal. Activities that create adverse impacts on mangrove forests and wild birds are forbidden. Prior to 2010, there was a sentry box on the dyke (which presumably facilitated patrolling). There is currently no regular patrolling in the nature reserve creating opportunities for local people to violate forestry law such as cutting trees and hunting birds especially in the migration season. Like many other protected areas in the country, Tien Hai Nature reserve does not receive any conservation funding from the national budget. Thus, there is no staff dedicated to conservation management posted there. The level of protection and conservation activities in Tien Hai Nature Reserve is just minimal, just like in other unprotected wetlands areas in the 5

The Babbler 37 - March 2011

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regional news

Cambodia: Forests under threat

ambodia (17th February 2011) - The Forestry Administration has warned that the government will not meet its goal of achieving 60 percent forest cover nationwide if it continues parcelling out the Kingdom’s territory in economic land concessions.

According to the Forestry Administration’s 2010 annual report, released last week and obtained today, more than 1.3 million hectares worth of economic land concessions have been granted to date. This figure represents roughly 7 percent of Cambodia’s total territory, an area larger than Kampong Speu and Kampot provinces combined.

Citing data obtained via satellite imagery, the Forestry Administration said 56.94 percent of Cambodia is now forested, a decrease of 2.15 percent from 2006.

“This result is a sign to warn the Forestry Administration as well as the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries that the government’s Millennium Development Goal of 60 percent forest cover may not be met because of the trend of loss due to economic land concessions,” the administration said, noting that a number of additional concessions are under consideration.

“A review is much-needed in order to evaluate concession land, and land that has not been used according to the concession contract should be seized for conservation purposes.”

Rights groups have alleged that much of the territory granted in economic land concessions is cleared and left to lie fallow without a clear purpose. In a statement issued last May, the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee called on the government to place a moratorium on economic land concessions until a proper monitoring system was put in place. The new figures on land concession area represent an increase of roughly 300,000 hectares from 2006.

David Emmett, the regional director for Conservation International, said the legal framework surrounding economic concessions needed to be strengthened in order for

Cambodia to preserve its forest cover and take advantage of conservation programmes.

Under the most prominent of such schemes, the United Nations’ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation programme, or REDD, countries can “offset” their own carbon emissions by paying other countries to conserve their forests.

“There’s a lot of donors and governments wanting to invest in Cambodia … [but] they don’t know if they can be sure that the area that is designated, for example, as a REDDfiled demonstration site, will not suddenly have a new, 10,000-hectare economic land concession,” Emmett said.

The Forestry Administration’s forest cover figure of 56.94 percent “sounds about right”, Emmett said, adding that Cambodia’s forestry loss has not been occurring as quickly as in other countries in the region.

He noted, however, that areas of degraded forest or partially cleared land are sometimes tallied as forested. “It doesn’t necessarily fully represent the quality of the forest as well as the quantity of the forest,” he said.“You can look at something and say it’s still forest, but actually 30 percent of the trees are gone.”

The FA reported that at least 7,977 hectares worth of trees were cleared illegally last year, though it said forestry officials “paid attention and played an active role in combating forestry crimes”.

Prime Minister Hun Sen announced a crackdown on illegal logging last year, sacking former Forestry Administration head Ty Sokun in April for his alleged failure to stamp out the practice. Approximately 10,000 cubic metres of illegally wood were ultimately seized in 2010, and 82 Cambodians are now awaiting trial in connection with logging offences, the FA report said.

Human Rights Party spokesman Yem Ponharith said, however, that high-level officials

A new report claims economic land concessions are eating into Cambodia’s forested areas. Photo: Phnom Penh Post

involved in the illegal logging trade were seldom prosecuted and continued to profit from it. “There have been a number of raids against illegal loggers, but the smuggling of luxury wood continues because of bribes paid to government officials,” he said.

The HRP, he added, has been consistently ignored in its calls to conserve forests and reduce land concessions. Last May, neighbouring Indonesia declared a moratorium on land concessions in forested areas in a bid to increase its forest cover and preserve territory for use in potential REDD projects, though this move was delayed earlier this month.

Chan Sarun, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, could not be reached for comment today, while Forestry Administration director Chheng Kim Sun declined to comment.

----------Source: Phnom Penh Post

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The Babbler 37 - March 2011

REGIONAL NEWS

Satellite tagged Black-faced Spoonbill in Cambodia and southern Vietnam

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Black-faced Spoonbill E12. Photo: Kisup Lee

Recent movement of the satellite tagged Black-faced Spoonbill in Vietnam and Cambodia. Image: Kisup Lee

or the first time, a satellite tagged Black-faced Spoonbill has been recorded in southern Vietnam and Cambodia. At the time of writing it is not completely certain which of the two pulli ringed and affixed with satellite tags at the colony on Guji do islet, near Yeonpyung do, Korean peninsula on 1 July 2010, was involved. According to Kisup Lee a project researcher from the Water bird Network Korea, the sighting related to E12, which bears blue and white colour rings on its left leg. However, according to photographs taken by Jonathan C Eames and later by Robert Overtoom and also examined by Robert van Zalinge, the bird in Cambodia appears to be carrying a ring combination that includes a red colour ring on he left leg ruling out E12 and making it E09. According to Kisup Lee (who agrees the ring appears red) E09 stopped transmitting shortly after its arrival at Hangzhou China on 22 October 2010. We can be sure that during the autumn and winter of 2010 at least one of these two birds flew over 4,000 km to locations in China and arrived in Khanh Hoa Province, southern Vietnam on 11 November 2010. This bird was later seen with two other Black-faced Spoonbills in Hon Cau-Vinh Hao, Tuy Phong district of Binh Thuan Province on 19 November 2010. In January 2011, a satellite tagged bird was recorded moving through coastal provinces of southern Vietnam including Can Gio, Hau Giang, Ca Mau, Kien Giang and An Giang. During the latter half of January, the bird spent most time in Takeo Province, Cambodia flying back and forth between Vietnam and Cambodia. On 11 and 12 February, it was recorded and photographed by Jonathan C Eames with three other Black-faced Spoonbills at Boeung Prek Lapouv Sarus Crane Reserve. Later on 19 March, Robert van Zalinge and Robert Overtoom observed and photographed five Black-faced Spoonbills, including a satellite tagged bird carrying a red ring just outside Boeung Prek Lapouv.

-------Source: This account was compiled by Jonathan C Eames with contributions from Le Trong Trai, Bou Vorsak, BirdLife International in Indochina; Kisup Lee Waterbird Network, Korea, Robert van Zalinge, Wildfowl and Wetland Trust and Robert Overtoon.

Four Black-faced Spoobnbills at Boeung Prek Lapouv Sarus Crane Reserve. Photo: Jonathan C. Eames

The satelitte antenna can be seen on the left bird as can its red colour ring on its left leg. Photo: Jonathan C. Eames

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The Babbler 37 - March 2011

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regional news

Climatic extremes lead to the demise of Angkor, Cambodia

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he “hydraulic city” of Angkor, the capitol of the Khmer Empire in Cambodia, experienced decades-long drought interspersed with intense monsoons in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that, in combination with other factors, contributed to its eventual demise. The climatic evidence comes from a seven-and-a-half century robust hydroclimate reconstruction from tropical southern Vietnamese tree rings. The Angkor droughts were of a duration and severity that would have impacted the sprawling city’s water supply and agricultural productivity, while high-magnitude monsoon years damaged its water control infrastructure. Hydroclimate variability for this region is strongly and inversely correlated with tropical Pacific sea surface temperature, indicating that a warm Pacific and El Niño events induce drought at interannual and interdecadal time scales, and that low-frequency variations of tropical Pacific climate can exert significant influence over Southeast Asian climate and society. Read full paper.

----------Source: Brendan M. Buckley, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Daniel Penny, Roland Fletcher, Edward R. Cook, Masaki Sano, Le Canh Nam, Aroonrut Wichienkeeo, Ton That Minh, and Truong Mai Hong. 2010. Climate as a contributing factor in the demise of Angkor, Cambodia. PNAS Early Edition.

Further Records of Stripe-backed Weasel from Laos

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he Stripe-backed Weasel (Back-striped Weasel) Mustela strigidorsa of the eastern Himalayas, southern China and northern South-east Asia has conventionally been considered a rarity, but a recent review concluded that it is quite possible that “the species is neither particularly rare nor preferentially threatened, rather that it is an inconspicuous denizen of chronically under-surveyed regions.” Because these conclusions were based on only c.80 dead animals (not all preserved), 22 sightings or camera-trap photographs of wild animals, and a number of vague reports, the same authors concluded with “all [further] records, even single incidental ones, merit publication”. This short note presents three further records from Lao PDR, including apparently the first biometrics of a living individual from anywhere in the species’s world range. View full paper.

-------Source: Uli Streicher, John W. Duckworth and William. G. Robichaud. Tropical Natural History 10(2): 199-203, October 2010. Chulalongkorn University.

Photo: Stripe-backed Weasel Mustela strigidorsa, Nakai plateau. A: dorsal view and B: ventral view.

Angkor Wat from the air.

Photo: Matthew Laird

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The Babbler 37 - March 2011

regional news

Traditional salt-pans are important for overwintering shorebirds in South-EastAsia

The International Black-faced Spoonbill Census 2011

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he 2011 International Black-faced Spoonbill Census took place at various locations across Asia on 21-23 January.

This year yielded a total of 1,836 Black-faced Spoonbills in this region, being a 22% decrease on the previous year’s census of 2,347 birds.

This is the largest decrease of this species since the commencement of this census in 1993, and also the fourth time the census has shown a decline. Though the biggest wintering population of 843 birds was still recorded at Taiwan, Taiwan also showed the largest decrease among all other wintering sites, with 437 fewer birds than in 2010. The Deep Bay area (including both Hong Kong and Shenzhen) recorded a total 411 birds, a decrease of 51 birds on the 2010 count, but remains the second largest wintering flock. The full report can be downloaded here.

--------Source: Hong Kong Bird Watching Society

The locations of the 20 focal sites with their estimated total shorebird abundance.

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horebirds are declining worldwide due to loss and degradation of critical breeding and wintering habitats. Some human modified habitats, particularly salt-pans which are used by shorebirds in many regions of the world, may help substitute for natural habitats lost for a wide range of species during migration.

The authors studied the influence of landscape characteristics on species richness, abundance, and diversity of shorebirds at 20 sites covering most of the Inner Gulf of Thailand, a landscape with a long history of salt farming. Sites with salt-pans present held significantly higher species richness, abundance and diversity of shorebirds. Areas with larger proportions given

over to aquaculture tended to have lower species richness, abundance and diversity. Generalized additive models indicated that landscapes with a larger proportion of tidal flats in conjunction with salt-pans were the best predictors of sites with higher species richness, abundance and diversity.

Landscape configurations with higher richness, abundance and diversity of shorebirds also tended to be less fragmented and contained slightly larger patches. Shorebirds appeared to use ponds with exposed mud in salt-pans as both roosting sites and supplementaryfeeding grounds during high tide.

Traditional salt-pans therefore proved to contribute significantly to maintenance of overwintering shorebird populations in this landscape and should be investigated else-where in Asian coastal zones.

Collaboration between researchers, salt farmers and planning authorities as to how best to maintain saltpans as potential shorebird roost sites such as in the Inner Gulf of Thailand is urgently needed in order to maintain habitat for shorebird populations in critical wintering and staging areas of this flyway.

Download the report here.

-------------Source: Biological Conservation 144 (2011) 526– 537

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The Babbler 37 - March 2011

regional news

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ientiane, 22 September 2010 - The Mekong River Commission (MRC) received the official notification for a proposed mainstream Mekong hydropower development project in Xayaboury Province from the Government of Lao PDR. The Xayaboury hydropower project would be the first such project on the Mekong mainstream downstream of China and would be capable of generating 1260 megawatts of electricity, mainly for export to Thailand. In total, six hydropower projects are being proposed for the Mekong mainstream between Chiang Saen and Vientiane. Although preliminary information on the project has been shared earlier among MRC member countries, this notification will, for the first time, trigger the MRC’s Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNPCA) process.

tee in the event they wish to engage in any major infrastructure developments (such as hydropower schemes) on the mainstream Mekong or tributaries, particularly if those developments may have significant trans-boundary impacts on people or the environment downstream.

PDR notified the MRC to begin the PNPCA process. During the Xayaboury PNPCA process, the MRC Joint Committee, consisting of representatives from the four Member Countries, will consult to try and reach a common position on the proposed mainstream dam development. This consultation process is one of a number of protocols in the 1995 The Xayboury project is however only one of a Mekong Agreement to promote cooperation in susnumber of proposed projects for the mainstream tainable management of the basin’s water resources and so last year, the MRC commissioned a Strategic and avoid regional disputes developing.

Environmental Assessment (SEA) of all the proposed mainstream projects including the effects of As with any major infrastructure project, there dams built and being planned in China upstream. will be a consideration of trade offs in benefits and impacts. One role of the SEA has been to consider “The SEA was part of MRC’s preparation for the the extent to which any negative impacts can be PNPCA process and its final report will be available avoided, minimised or mitigated. The Joint Comin early October. It will provide a much-needed mittee will consider the developers’ proposals in

MRC Receives f irst Notif ication of Mainstream Mekong Project “The prior consultation process is a requirement of the 1995 Mekong Agreement for countries to jointly review any dam proposed for the mainstream with a view to reaching consensus on whether or not it should proceed, and if so, under what conditions. We expect it to take about 6 months to undertake the detailed analysis of all the related issues and for the countries to come to a conclusion,” said Mr. Jeremy Bird, CEO of the MRC Secretariat.

The 1995 MRC Mekong Agreement established the Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNPCA), which states that Member Countries must notify the MRC’s Joint Commit-

analytical framework of the benefits, costs and impacts of the full set of proposals including cumulative impacts and information on the distribution of costs and benefits,” said Mr. Bird “The SEA is one of the most extensive studies of its type and will be available in time to inform the discussions of the four countries under the PNPCA process for Xayaboury.”

The PNPCA process itself is the formal mechanism in place to enable one or more individual Member Countries to submit an individual project for the 4-country regional consideration. In the case of the Xayaboury dam project, the Government of Lao

this regard before coming to its conclusion.

Until now, a number of projects on the tributaries of the Mekong have been considered under the PNPCA notification process, but for the mainstream projects the higher level of interaction among countries through the ‘prior consultation’ process is needed before any national regulatory approvals are finalised. This distinction reflects the more extensive potential environmental and social impacts of proposed mainstream dams, such as on fish migration and peoples’ livelihoods.

----------Source: Mekong River Commission Photo: Jonathan C. Eames 10

The Babbler 37 - March 2011

MRC council endorses agreements to sustain Mekong

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meeting from the four member states, international financial institutions and donors, the release said. Participating observers at the event included environmental experts and other regional stakeholders.

The meeting agreed to grant rights to the members of a joint committee under the MRC to consider and approve plans and budget for the MRC’s working plan for 2011.

The meeting also reviewed the progress of several frameworks and assessed the MRC Some key endorsed documents include i) secretariat’s progress in implementing its Adoption of a strategy that outlines a set work over the past year, implementation of of strategic priorities for the basin-wide sustainable development of water resources, the Huahin declaration, and cooperation with development partners. introducing a five-year action plan that The council meeting is the top level summit addresses both economic opportunities and of the MRC administration, and its ordinary potential environmental and social impacts; meeting is held once every year to discuss ii) Commitment to protect the river’s frameworks and related documents aiming water quality against emerging threats by to sustain the world’s 12th longest river, and endorsing the Procedures for Water Quality Asia’s seventh longest. that defines mutually-recognised standards for measurement, monitoring and assessment The Mekong is a prime regional water of quality of water resources in the basin; iii) resource that plays a significant role in The launch of an innovative new assessment preserving biodiversity. tool that helps identify, in as little as a week, Only the Amazon River Basin has greater the most sustainable sites, designs and diversity of plant and animal life, according operation rules for hydropower development to the MRC. in the lower Mekong River Basin; and iv) --------------Approval of MRC Strategic Plan 2011-2015. Source: Vientiane Times and MRC. Photo: tashandsmoked.

Some 119 representatives attended the ater and environment ministers of the Mekong River Commission (MRC)’s four member countries recently endorsed five agreements aimed at sustaining the vital regional water resource.

The endorsements were made at the 17th meeting of the commission’s Council and 15th Donor Consultation Group (DCG), held recently in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

regional news

Rapid and continued population decline in the Spoon-billed Sandpiper indicates imminent extinction unless conservation action is taken

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he Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus (IUCN category: Critically Endangered) is a migratory shorebird whose breeding range is restricted to the Russian far north-east in Chukotka and Koryakya, where it nests along a discontinuous narrow strip of 4,500 km of coastal tundra. It migrates to the south-west and passes through key staging sites such as Kamchatka, Korea and Japan to winter across a wide area in South China, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Indications of a major decline in the breeding population since the first population estimate in 1977 were found in 2000, and this led to a series of expeditions to the breeding areas between 2000 and 2009 to monitor numbers and collect information on breeding ecology. In this paper the authors use count data to assess the rates of decline and determine the current population size. Using resightings of individually marked birds to estimate adult survival and recruitment and studies of individual nests and broods to estimate productivity, they diagnose the demographic causes behind the observed declines. The analysis indicated that after fledging, survival during immaturity must be very low,leading to a low (or no) recruitment into an ageing population. Recent observations collated from thenon-breeding areas confirm

the declining trend observed in the breeding areas and imply that the main threats to the population lie along the migration route or in the wintering areas. These are poorly known although hunting in the wintering areas has been identified as a major mortality factor. Other threats include major loss of their intertidal habitats, and collection of birds on the breeding areas by specimen collectors. Improved monitoring in both the breeding and non-breeding areas as well as research on juvenile survival is recommended. Concerted international conservationaction is essential if this species is to avoid extinction. This requires (i) improved understanding of the main wintering and staging areas and associated threats; (ii) addressing those threats that can be tackled with immediate effect, such as hunting; (iii) continued long-term monitoring on the breeding areas; (iv) an exploration of other potential breeding areas; (v) conservation action at all important stop-over and wintering sites along the entire flyway and (vi) consideration of a captive-breeding programme to ensure the survival of this species. Read full paper --------------Source: Bird Conservation International (2010) 20:95–111. BirdLife International, 2010 11

The Babbler 37 - March 2011

regional news

Long-term change within a Neotropical forest: assessing differential functional and floristic responses to disturbance and drought

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isentangling the relative roles of biotic and abiotic forces influencing forest structure, function, and local community composition continues to be an important goal in ecology.

Here, utilizing two forest surveys 20year apart from a Central American dry tropical forest, the authors assess the relative role of past disturbance and local climatic change in the form of increased drought in driving forest dynamics. We observe: (i) a net decrease in the number of trees; (ii) a decrease in total forest biomass by 7.7 Mg ha−1 but when calculated on subquadrat basis the biomass per unit area did not change indicating scale sensitivity of forest biomass measures; (iii) that the decrease in the number of stems occurred mainly in the smallest sizes, and in more moist and evergreen habitats; (iv) that there has been an increase in the proportion of trees that are deciduous, compound leaved and are canopy species, and a concomitant reduction in trees that are evergreen, simple-leaved, and understory species. These changes are opposite to predictions based on recovery from disturbance, and have resulted in (v) a uniform multivariate shift from a more mesic to a more xeric forest.

Together, our results show that over relatively short time scales, community composition and the functional dominance may be more responsive to climate change than recovery to past disturbances. Our findings point to the importance of assessing proportional changes in forest composition and not just changes in absolute numbers. Our findings are also consistent with the hypothesis that tropical tree species exhibit differential sensitivity to changes in precipitation. Predicted future decreases in rainfall may result in quick differential shifts in forest function, physiognomy, and species composition. Quantifying proportional functional composition offers a basis for a predictive framework for how the structure, and diversity of tropical forests will respond to global change.

-----------Source: Brian J. Enquist and Carolyn A. F. Enquist. Global Change Biology.

Volume 17, Issue 3, pages 1408–1424, March 2011.

Vietnam: zoo owner jailed for tiger sales

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he world has been turned upside down on long-time suspected tiger trader Huynh Van Hai, owner of the Than Canh Tourism Park in Binh Duong Province. Hai was sentenced on March 10 to three years in prison for selling tigers out the back door of his park, fourteen other people linked to Hai’s illegal activities, including his son, received sentences ranging from 18 months’ probation to 30 months in prison.

In addition to imprisonment, Hai and two other subjects were fined more than VND 1.4 billion (about US $ 70,000.00).

The Thanh Canh Tourism Park is one of eight private zoos and establishments in Vietnam that keep tigers. In 2010, a major investigation carried out by ENV found that the Thanh Canh Tourism Park was suspected of involvement in the illegal trade of tigers born at the park.

Suspicions were based on inconsistencies in records maintained by the park and observations during regular inspections carried out by ENV and police.

Tiger kept in Thanh Canh private zoo. Photo taken in July 2010 by ENV

Park and four other private establishments keeping tigers in Vietnam are known to have obtained their original tigers illegally from the trade. Read full press release.

-------------Source: Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV)

ENV’s 2010 investigation also indicated that at least two other major tiger farmers in Vietnam were involved in illegally trading live tigers or selling off the remains of tigers that had reportedly died on their farms. The Thanh Canh Tourism 12

The Babbler 37 - March 2011

V

regional news

Examination reveals fate of rare Javan rhino at the hands of poacher, says WWF

ietnam, January 2011 - A team of experts have uncovered information surrounding the death of the Javan Rhinoceros in Cat Tien National Park discovered in April 2010. An examination of the skeleton and the site where the skeleton was found, by international veterinary, forensic, and wildlife crime experts deduced that the rhinoceros probably died as a result of the bullet injury. Aged at 15-25 years old, the team confirmed that the rhinoceros did not die of old age. Javan rhinoceros are estimated to live for up to 40 years in the wild.

WWF and Cat Tien National Park supported officials from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Freeland, and two veterinarians, one a pathology expert from the University of Cambridge, UK, to conduct the examination in September. Preliminary results were presented to Lam Dong and Tan Phu Police at the time, with a final report released today. The report outlines how the rhinoceros was shot in the leg probably two or more months before it died.

The injuries caused by the bullet were extensive, resulting in severe damage, infection and impaired mobility for the rhinoceros, for several months before it died, said Dr Ulrike Streicher, Wildlife Veterinarian and member of the investigation team, “Although it is not known exactly what factor ultimately caused the death of the rhino, it is most likely that this rhino died as a result of the bullet wound, either through an infection, or a fall”.

The experts suggest that an injured rhino would also have been easier for poachers to track and the possibility that the animal was shot a subsequent time cannot be ruled out.

“This is such a sad time for conservation in Vietnam, the shooting of this emblematic species is a national tragedy which has resulted in global concern for the fate of this globally threatened species,” said Tran Van Thanh, Director of Cat Tien National Park.

It is a criminal offence under Vietnamese law to kill, trade,

Left: WWF and Cat Tien National Park authorities reconstruct the dead rhino’s skeleton to help determine the cause of death.

Photo: WWF

Right: The bullet found in the front left leg bone of the rhino’s leg. Photo: WWF

or consume any part of the Javan rhinoceros and other Endangered species listed in the Vietnam Red Book.

WWF and Cat Tien National Park urge the police to continue their investigation to identify any individuals who may have been involved in the poaching of potentially Vietnam’s last Javan rhinoceros, and the possible trade of its horn.

“The results of the DNA analysis into the status of the Javan rhinoceros population should be available soon, to confirm whether this tragic event really does represent the extinction of Vietnam’s unique Javan Rhinoceros population’ said Sarah Brook, Species Coordinator for WWF Vietnam.

Although the reason why the rhino was killed is currently unknown, it is likely to be for the supposed medicinal

properties of its horn.

Throughout their African and Asian ranges, all species of rhinos are facing increasing pressure from poachers, targeting the animals for their horns. “Several seizures and other incidents indicate most of these horns, particularly those from southern Africa, are being smuggled to buyers in Vietnam”, says Tom Milliken, Regional Director for TRAFFIC in East and Southern Africa. “No single country can tackle the rhino crisis alone: it is an international problem, requiring both producers and consumers to commit to collaborative law enforcement action along the entire trade chain,” he added --------------Source: WWF

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regional news

Monkey business in Vietnam The shrieks and plaintive cries of monkeys when hunted or trapped can send a chill down the spine of the most seasoned hunter. Baby monkeys, not realizing that their mothers are dead and oblivious of the carnage around them, continue to clutch them tightly. When they fail in a trap, a large troop of 30-40 monkeys is decimated, with only a few of the strongest surviving the ordeal while most will be plundered for meat.

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ietnam (9th March 2011) - To locate a regular hunting area for monkeys, hunters thread their ways through natural forests not too far nor too close from farms or residential areas. Signals could be prints of monkey on tree trunks or their feces. After finding such an area, hunters hang some smelly fruit or corn on bushes to attract monkeys frequenting the place.

A week later, predators come back to the area to check if their fruit are taken and again, and hang others for the second time to make the animals get used to it. Fruit and corn are sometimes offered as bait three times in a fortnight.

A day of destiny comes soon later when 3-4 hunters bring scissors, choppers and other necessary devices to net the monkeys. The trap is easy to set up. Hunters clear all high trees on an area of 50 square meters and only leave some bushes in the centre to hang fruit and corn as usual. Nets as high as two meters are spread to surround the whole area. Some branches are chopped down to make bridges so that monkeys can climb on them to enter the trap area. The trap is fininshed. The last job hunters do is to hide themselves in a big hole dug a meter deep in the earth and wait. The hole and shelter is covered above by a pile of cutdown trees and branches to disguise the hunters’ presence.

Usually, monkeys go foraging from the early

morning soon after sun-up. When the monkey family discover the fruit and corn, the head male monkey enters first to eat and check. He leaves after filling his stomach full and sits high on the top of a big tree to alert his “disciple” members. When most of the family’s members fall inside the area, hunters will pull down the rope to withdraw the ‘bridges’ and trap the animals in. Hunters open a narrow window on the net to enter while the trapped animals run wildly inside the net. Hunters throw other pieces of net upon the heads of the trapped and bound them up and catch them alive. When they can’t catch them alive, they will shoot them.

A hunter said monkey of less than 2kgs and mother monkey breeding babies are the favorite in the market, especially by the Chinese. On the dining table, a live monkey is tied hands and feet inside a cage; only its head protrudes outside.

Restaurant waiter uses a big, sharp blade to slice open the money’s head while it is still alive to reveal the poor animal’s brain. Diners can put some seasoning onto the brain and use a spoon to scoop out the brain and eat it. The body of the monkey will be cooked later.

-------Source:www.tuoitrenews.vn and www.sgtt.vn Photos: Le Hoai Phuong

Traps with corn in the forest

One male lured....

Collecting.....

Breaking teeth off from aggressive monkeys....

The trap fell down and the mother tried to escape with her child

Collecting.....

Terrified eyes from lucky escapees....

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regional news

Vietnam: Illegal logging

on the rise in parks

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A NOI (3 rd March 2011)— Illegal logging and other forestry violations are on the rise and the operations of criminals are becoming more complex, leading to concerns that forestry authorities need more help in protecting forests.

Officers from the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry’s Directorate of Forests handed out about 2,000 forestry violations last year, nearly 200 more than the previous year, according to Tran The Lien, director of the Nature Conservation Department under the directorate.The violations occurred in 23 out of 26 national parks across the country, with hot spots including Yok Don National Park in the Central Highlands and Cat Tien National Park in the south-eastern region, said Lien.

Illegal loggers and poachers usually targeted areas with high levels of biodiversity or border areas between provinces that are difficult to police.“The criminals use small vehicles including bicycles and three-wheeled vehicles to carry forestry products along narrow and meandering paths that are difficult for authorities to trace,” said Lien.

Cat Tien National Park’s director Tran Van Thanh said he was increasingly concerned about poachers who used firearms to hunt animals and attack forestry officers. Last year, the park reported 147 violations that involved the use of firearms, with officers seizing 19 hunting guns. However, most violators who used firearms for poaching activities only received fines. Director of Yok Don National Park Truong Van Truong said he shared Thanh’s concerns over attacks on forestry officers. “On average, there was one forestry violation in the park each day,” Truong said. “Last year there were nine cases in which violators did not follow the orders of forest officers and even attacked them.”In 2010 alone, the local authority fined 397 violations, seizing 93 motorbikes used to transport illegal products and detaining four people involved in two criminal cases.

The 115,000-ha Yok Don National Park was a hot spot for forest violations because of its prized trees in the forest whose timber fetches high prices.

In addition, many of the 42,000 people living in seven communes around the forest were poor, and had little option but to derive their incomes from the forest as resources in buffer zones had run out, Truong said. “Consequently, local residents enter the conservation area to illegally exploit the resources,” Rangers check cam xe Xylia xylocarpa wood illegally he said. Truong said living conditions cut down by loggers in a forest on the border in the area had seen few improvements between Vietnam and Cambodia in the Central during the past several years, and five- Highlands province of Gia Lai. — VNA/VNS. Photo Sy Huynh year-old plans to expand irrigation works to facilitate local agriculture production have not been carried out.

Truong said forestry officers could not deal with the problem alone and urged local authorities at communes to boost co-operation. In addition, forestry protection forces needed to improve consultation with local authorities about forestry management and protection.

-------------Source: Vietnam News Left photo: Phuong Phuong

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regional news

Decree ‘a win for forests’ in Vietnam

A NOI (1 st March 2011)— The issuing of Decree 117 on the organisation and management of Special Use Forests (SUF) was an important step in the fight to protect our environment, said Hua Duc Nhi, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in the capital city yesterday. “The Decree will also help to strengthen Viet Nam’s legal framework for biodiversity preservation and conservation,” said Nhi. “The new document will allow Vietnamese laws and international conventions to operate side by side while avoiding overlapping and inconsistency,” he added. According to Nhi, Vietnam’s SUF system was established nearly 50 years ago under the Law on Forest Protection and Development and the Land Law. The system’s main function is to preserve and conserve the diverse forest ecosystems and biodiversity as well as the natural landscape, cultural and historical value and the environment.

In the period under review, with the government’s efforts and support from the international community, about 2.2 million hectares have been identified as SUF. In that area, roughly 160 zones have been marked off as examples of important eco-systems on land, wetland and by the sea. Vietnam has been recognised as one of 16 countries with a high level of biodiversity in which many precious and endemic animals live. Deputy Director General of the Directorate of Forest Ha Cong Tuan pointed out difficulties and challenges facing Vietnam in preserving and conserving the rich bio-diversity of the SUFs.“Illegal logging and hunting as well as the harvesting of nontimber products have seriously undermined the flora and fauna in the forest, particularly those listed in the Red

Book of Endangered Species,” said Tuan.“The increase in population, the import of exotic animals, serious pollution and climate change pose threats to the SUFs.” “The issuance of Decree 117 will help with the decentralisation from central agencies to local agencies in managing SUFs while enabling people who live in the buffer zones to enter the forest to exploit non-timber products and at the same time, protect the forest. Such a benefit sharing mechanism is very useful,” said Tuan.

Juergen Hess, Co-ordinator of the GIZ Programme on the Management of Natural Resources in Vietnam said the natural resources portfolio of the GIZ had been working with the Department of Nature Conservation under the Vietnamese Directorate of Forestry in a project which started in November 2010. The project will last 10 years with objectives to improve the effectiveness of the institutional, legal and policy framework for biodiversity conservation on forest eco-systems in Vietnam.

“There are three pilot areas at local levels, including Ba Be National Park in northern Bac Can Province and Na Hang Nature Reserve in northern Tuyen Quang Province; Pu Hu and Pu Luong Nature Reserves in the central province of Thanh Hoa; and the Bach Ma National Park in the central province of Thua Thien Hue,” said Hess.

He expressed his conviction that Decree 117 would make forest conservation more efficient and effective. Full version of the Decree in Vietnamese and English.

-------------Source: Vietnam News.

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iba news

Kampong Trach: New threats and developments

D

uring a visit to Kampong Trach Sarus Crane Reserve on Saturday 26 March and Sunday 27 March 2011 a number of new threats and unwelcome developments were observed.

The Ministry of Environment has erected a checkpoint at the roadside of the road bisecting the reserve, displaying a sign reading “Community Nature Protected Area Check-point.” Why and on what grounds did the Ministry of Environment erect this building on a protected area under the management authority of the Forestry Administration, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries? What are they hoping to check? The site is also not a “Community Nature Protected Area” a designation that does not exist under Cambodian law. Boundary marker posts have been placed along the margin of the reserve in several places. Who placed these markers? Did the Forestry Administration place them? Do they conform to the reserve boundary as stated in the prime ministeral decree establishing the reserve?

The building in the photograph has been built close to and possibly inside the reserve boundary. It is immediately adjacent to Sarus Crane habitat and its close proximity will doubtless cause disturbance to birds on the reserve. Although superficially resembling a house closer inspection reveals that it is not but is in fact a “land claim.” The exclusively male inhabitants of all the same age (i.e. not a family) appears to have little to do because this is what they are paid to do: Nothing but site tight on the land. It needs to be determined whether this building is inside the reserve or not.

It is also doubtless that over the coming years other new properties, some of them even houses will be built close to the reserve. In the management plan should include a buffer zone that excludes habitation within an exclusion zone around the reserve.

Otherwise disturbance levels on the reserve will increase.

During the visit up to six dogs on the reserve at any time. The dogs are catching rodents on the reserve. On Sunday 27 March dogs flushed over 100 Sarus Cranes off the reserve by 07h30, which flew off towards Vietnam. By 16h00 the same day 60 Sarus Cranes were feeding in the same area. That domestic dogs cause disturbance to birds, including ground nesting birds, such as Oriental Pratincoles, which were nesting 150 m from this building, is well documented. Clearly measures must be taken to raise

Is this a house or land claim? Is it within the reserve boundary. The management plan should include an exclusion zone preventing building construction within the reserve. Photo: J C Eames

people’s awareness about domestic dogs and measures taken to exclude them from the reserve.

Trees, probably including a species of fast-growing Acacia have been planted along the roadside through the reserve. Who did this and on whose authority? Within five years we can expect these trees to grow to at least 5 m in height. Will such a barrier prevent or affect the manner in which Sarus Cranes feed on the reserve?

Previously BirdLife has drawn to the disturbance caused by boats that use the open water channel across the reserve. During the latest visit one boat was noted unloading probably smuggled merchandise in the reserve.

This reserve is small and small-protected areas face particular management challenges that frequently require intensive management actions. Kampong Trach remains a small, vulnerable and highly threatened site at which conservation actions need to be stepped-up.

Jonathan C. Eames Programme Manager BirdLife International in Indochina 17

The Babbler 37 - March 2011

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ambodia (13th March 2011) - The Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen, has approved a 9,000 hectare (22,200 acre) rubber plantation in Virachey National Park despite its status as a protected area, reports the Phnom Penh Post. The park is also listed as an ASEAN Heritage Park.

Spanning 332,500 hectares in Ratanakkiri province, Virachey National Park, is Cambodia’s largest. The concession to clearcut the forest and establish a rubber plantation was awarded to Srun Sovannaphoum Investment Co Ltd.

iba news

Cambodia approves rubber plantation in national park

“It is good because that area is uninhabited, so when the company comes to invest they will also construct a road,” Ratanakkiri provincial governor Pav Hamphan told the Phnom Penh Post. Villagers in another region of Cambodia are protesting the loss of their forest, known as Prey Lang, to rubber plantations. “Cutting some part of Virachey National Park may not affect villagers, but it seriously affects the forest and this province will lose even more forest land,” Pen Bonnar, coordinator for local rights group Adhoc, told the Phnom Penh Post.

The World Bank has invested $5 million into managing Virachey National Park, which has suffered from illegal logging. The rubber plantation concession is not the first time Cambodia has handed parts of the park over to private industry. In 2007 the government granted Australian gold-mining company, Indochine Mining, rights to exploratory mining in half the park.

The wildlife of Virachey National Park have been little studied, but a Rapid Assessment Survey (RAP) in 2007 found evidence of healthy populations of dholes—listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List—inhabiting the park, in addition to gaur, yellow-cheeked gibbons, stump-tailed macaques, Asiatic black bears, Malayan sun bears, and Asian small-clawed otters. The short survey also found a number of species that may be unknown to science.

-------------Source: Jeremy Hance. Mongabay.com.

The above map shows the north-east corner of Virachey National Park with approved rubber plantations. Source: G. Brown

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iba news

Boeung Prek Lapouv Sarus Crane Reserve: a new dry grassland?

A

recent visit to Boeung Prek Lapouv Sarus Crane Reserve revealed lower water levels than previously recorded at that time of year. Water levels were so low in the canals that boat navigation was restricted. The two accompanying photographs of the reserve taken two years apart are typical (although are not of the same view). The photograph taken on 14 February 2009 shows a typical photograph of the reserve at the time with a high water table supporting many pools and large numbers of water birds. The second photograph taken on 13 February 2011 reveals a much drier landscape with fewer pools and fewer birds. The reasons for the lower water table are unknown and could reflect differing rainfall patterns during the period in the Mekong basin affecting in-turn, water levels in the Bassac River. The intensification of irrigated rice cultivation in the surrounding landscape by increasing numbers of Vietnamese migrants, who pump water from the canals into their rice fields, may be another factor. Whichever the explanation, the reserve is under going change and is frequented by fewer Sarus Cranes for an ever shorter period each dry season. Understanding the hydrology of the reserve and surrounding landscape and taking measures to control the water levels manually in the reserve will be required if the future of the reserve is to be secured.

By 13 February 2011 the water level in the main canal was so reduced that only small shallow draft boats could navigate the waterway. The water level was too low for the irrigation pumping pipes to reach into the water.

Jonathan C. Eames, Programme Manager BirdLife International in Indochina Photos: Jonathan C. Eames

February 13 2011 and much of the reserve is totally dry underfoot

Contrast this photograph of the reserve taken on 14 February 2009.

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iba news

Ba Be National Park finally makes Ramsar list

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ietnam (9th March 2011) - Ba Be National Park in the northern mountainous province of Bac Can has been named by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands List as a Wetland of International Importance. The biodiverse 10,048-ha park is home to 1,268 species of flora and fauna. The site earlier was recognised as an ASEAN Heritage Park in

2004.

As summarised by Marian Gwilliam, Regional Assistant Advisor for Asia-Oceania, Ba Be National Park supports the only significant natural mountain lake in Vietnam and is the most important wetland in the country’s protected area system because it is the only site that has a natural lake surrounded by a mountainous karst ecosystem.

Ba Be National Park is the third Wetland of International Importance in Vietnam, joining the Xuan Thuy National Park in Nam Dinh Province and Bau Sau in the Cat Tien National Park across the provinces of Dong Nai, Lam Dong and Binh Phuoc.

According to director of the Ba Be National Park, Nong The Dien, the decision will mean that the site will join an international network of wetlands that are important for the conservation of global diversity.

The Convention on Wetlands - known as the Ramsar Convention - is an intergovernmental treaty that 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. Viet Nam first participated in the Ramsar Convention in 1989.

-------------Source: Vietnam News Photo: Ba Be lake by Binh Giang

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iba news

Ba Hon grasslands under threat

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ietnam (14th March 2011)- As farms and construction sites keep on expanding and encroaching upon flooded forests and wetlands, the Sarus Crane Grus antigone sharpii, has made their visits to Kien Giang less and less frequent, despite the fact that the area has been their favorite roosting place for decades.

Classified as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the cranes usually migrate from northern Cambodia and [previoulsy] the forests of Vietnam’s Central Highlands to the wetlands in the Mekong Delta for food during the dry season from December to May. Their presence has long been an assuring sight and a source of pride for local people not to mention the inspiration for many memorable prize-winning photographs.

But this season is different. The birds may come to [sites around] Cambodia’s giant Tonle Sap lake instead of Vietnam. Surveys by the International Crane Foundation showed that 321 Sarus cranes migrated to Kien Giang in the 2009 dry season. It fell to 134 in 2010 and only 30 of the birds visited the place as of the end of last month.

Local authorities attributed the decline to the birds’ shrinking habitat caused mainly by more and more people invading the sedge fields and turning them into farmlands.

Dr. Tran Triet, director of the ICF’s South-East Asia Program, said the wetlands in Kien Giang had been well protected as the feeding ground for the cranes from the year 2000 and before.

In 2004, 3,000 hectares of the area home to various wild grass such as “co bang” Lepironia articulate which grows in the area and acts as a shelter and feeding habitat for the cranes were converted into farmland. Another 5,000 hectares were transformed into farmland two years later. Recently, the provincial authorities granted another 2,000 hectares to Holcim, a cement company, to build infrastructure and earmarked a different plot of land for Tai Phong granite firm. In addition, farmers have also occupied a total area of 200,000 square meters and brought machines to dig canals and build embankments for irrigation. It devastated the living habitat of the crane, Triet said firmly.

Besides the large-scale encroachment by humans, fires also pose a threat to the cranes’ habitat, with 13 blazes destroying around 200 hectares of sedge last year alone.

“If the current trend continues, we may never see the cranes return in the next three years,” he warned. The Sarus crane is one of 15 species of cranes worldwide and is

The grass field of “co bang” in Ba Hon of Kien Giang, which had been a favourite roosting and feeding place of the Sarus Crane and inspiring many memorable prize-winning photographs, was turned to construction site of the Holcim cement firm. Photo: Tuoi Tre News

found mainly in India and Southeast Asia. It is the tallest of them all, standing at six feet tall, with a wingspan measuring eight feet.

The Sarus crane feed on aquatic plants, grains, insects, invertebrates, and small vertebrates.

-------------Source: Tuoi Tre News.

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iba news

Access road to the Ta Nung valley. Photo: Nguyen The Luyen.

Pine plantation harvested in the Ta Nung Valley. Photo: Nguyen The Luyen

Ta Nung valley under threat

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a Nung valley, around 10 km from Dalat holds pockets of remnant evergreen forest where many of the Dalat mid-elevation bird specialities still can be found including Orange-breasted, Black-hooded and White-cheeked Laughingthrushes, Blue-winged Minla, Grey-crowned Crocias, Blacked-headed Parrotbill and Black-throated Sunbird. It is a favourite haunt of birdwatchers and a stake-out for the grey-crowned crocias. However, it is said that an eco-tourism resort of about 20 villas and restaurant is being built right in the place by a private investment company.

-------------Source: Claire Boobbyer. Footprint Vietnam; Nguyen The Luyen The two photographs show part of a pine plantation that will be cleared. This is a non-native tree species that has no biodiversity conservation value. Ed.

A Collared Laughingthrush, an Endangered species, not found at Ta Nung, recently displayed for sale in a bird shop in Dalat, Vietnam. Photo: Richard Craik

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Himalayan Griffon Vulture

Rarest of the rare

Gyps himalayensis

T

hese photographs of a first winter Himalayan Griffon Vulture Gyps himalayensis (or Himalayan Vulture or Himalayan Griffon) were taken at Veel Kreel, Western Siem Pang in Stung Treng Province on 14 March 2011. Either this or a second bird of the same age was also photographed at the Western Siem Pang vulture restaurant on 10 March 2011. Prior to this one or possibly two Himalayan Griffon Vultures were seen in flight over Siem Pang on 20 February 2011 by Hugh Wright.

In 2010 two Himalayan Griffon Vultures were recorded (and filmed) at the Western Siem Pang vulture restaurant between 8-10 March by Martin Bleeker. These are the only know records of the species at this site.

Prior to these we have been able to trace three published records of the species from Cambodia.

These were: 30 December 2004 Chhep (Preah Vihear) 1 juvenile Gilbert et al. (2006), 24 February 2007 Chhep (Preah Vihear) 1 juvenile P. D. Round in litt. 2008, and 11 January 2008 Chhep (Preah Vihear) 1 juvenile J. Eaton in litt. 2008, B. W. Low in litt. 2008. These records and citations are published in Yong Din Li and Chaiyan Kasorndorkbua (2008) The status of the Himalayan Griffon Gyps himalayensis in South-East Asia. Forktail 24: 57-62.

--------Photos: Jonathan C. Eames

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o far, three years into a five-year program of CEPF investment in the Indo-Burma Hotspot, 36 large grants and 49 small grants have been made in the region. In total, over US$ 7.4 million USD of grants has now been contracted. The list of funded projects and map showing their locations is available here.

In this quarter, 12 more small grants and three large grants were made, seven of which were for Cambodia and the other six for Vietnam. Eight large grant applications are at the contracting stage.

New large grants

A grant of US$ 120,000 was made to the World Wide Fund for Nature (www.panda.org/greatermekong) to conserve the population of Mekong Giant Catfish spawning in the upper Mekong River of Thailand and Lao PDR by supporting moratoria on catch, improving the understanding of the species’ life cycle and the condition of its spawning grounds, and improving fisheries management in and around the spawning grounds via the establishment of fishery management committees and fish conservation zones.

The Henry L. Stimson Center (www.stimson.org) was granted over US$64,000 to implement a project entitled “Mekong Decision Points: Building a Dialogue between Policymakers and Civil Society on Water Management”. In one year, the project will help civil society organizations engaged on the issue of hydropower development on the Mekong River to penetrate policy circles with accurate and relevant information designed to promote regional cooperation on sustainable development. They also improve linkages and relations between these organizations and governments in the region and enrich public dialogue regarding the full environmental and socioeconomic costs of mainstream Mekong hydropower.

In Vietnam, the Center for Water Resources Conservation and Development (www.warecod.org.vn) received US$50,000 to utilize the mass media to raise awareness among decision makers, opinion formers and the general public in An Giang and other Mekong Delta prov-

CEPF-RIT Updates

Project updates PROJECT UPDATeS

inces about the potential impacts of mainstream dam development on the lower Mekong River. They also provide stakeholders with opportunities to voice their concerns, and channel these voices to decision makers and donors at different levels through public dialogues.

New small grants

The Sam Veasna Centre for Wildlife Conservation (www. samveasna.org), a Cambodian national conservation organisation received a small grant to protect the Black-shanked Douc through community-based ecotourism. Over one year, the project will work with three communities in the core area of the Seima Protection Forest in eastern Cambodia to develop tourism from the Mondulkiri provincial capital to see Black-shanked Douc and other wildlife in the wild; help train and improve capacity for local communities and service providers to manage tourists and provide other services and guiding.

Another small grant was made to the Wildlife Conservation Society (www.wcs.org) to prevent poisoning of Cambodia’s three vultures species in three provinces of Preah Vihear, Stung Treng and Mondulkiri. The project aims at preventing local extinction of vultures by raising awareness with local communities about the threat

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he Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (www.cepf.net) is a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the World Bank. A fundamental goal is to ensure civil society is engaged in biodiversity conservation.

CEPF began a $9.5 million five year investment plan in Indochina in July 2008, in partnershipwith BirdLife International, who provide the Regional Implementation Team (www.birdlifeindochina.org/ cepf). As the RIT in Indochina, BirdLife International will: raise awareness of CEPF; solicit grant applications and assist organisations to make applications; review applications; give small grants and jointly make decisions with CEPF on large grants; and monitor and evaluate progress with the investment strategy.

Not Wild Water Buffalo! Photo: John White

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CEPF-RIT Updates from pesticides to vultures; maintaining the population size by supplementing food supplies and monitoring adults and nests; and banning the use of some pesticides from entering the vulture food chain.

“Conservation of the Siamese crocodile in Cambodia” is the title of the second small grant made to the Wildlife Conservation Society in this quarter. An assessment of the current crocodile population in the Prek Toal core area of the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve, an evaluation of the trial release of crocodiles in the area, with an analysis of the potential for larger-scale releases as part of a national crocodile conservation program me and identification of critical habitats used by crocodiles in the area to be used as part of a WCS project to recommend future changes in the management of Fishing Lot No.2 are major activities that the project are planning to carry out.

The Wild Water Buffalo Bubalus arnee in Mondulkiri Protected Forest (MPF), Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia becomes the target species of a small grant made to the World Wide Fund for Nature (www.panda.org/ greatermekong). Through examination of photographic evidence of extant Wild Water Buffalo, the project will try to understand the distribution and movements of Wild Water Buffalo in MPF relative to the distribution of domestic buffalo adjacent to the protected area in order to mitigate threats from genetic swamping and disease transmission.

It also targets to raise awareness of the conservation significance of MPF for Wild Water Buffalo in the wider conservation community and investigate genetic variation within the wild water population in MPF and quantify gene introgression from domestic buffalo adjacent to the protected area.

The Westfälischer Zoologischer Garten Münster GmbH (Münster Zoo www.allwetterzoo.de) received a small grant to study some ecology and conservation aspects of Green Peafowl Pavo muticus in Cambodia including: habitat selection and abundance in different habitats; calling behaviour, ranging behaviour, social structure, and

mating system; role of hunting pressure, local attitudes, and livelihoods in peafowl conservation and estimate of total population size in Cambodia.

The Zoo also received a second small grant to carry out a census of the Bengal Forican Houbaropsis bengalensis in grassland patches surrounding the Tonle Sap in seven provinces in Cambodia in 2012 to determine the current distribution and an up-to-date number of the species remaining in Cambodia. The project will undertake a thorough assessment of grassland loss since 2005 and to identify any remaining grassland sites outside of the protected areas in Kompong Thom that should be prioritised for conservation action.

PROJECT UPDATeS Tien and Yok Don National Parks, thus providing a coherent reassessment of the status of the Green Peafowl in southern Vietnam, and determine survival prospects and identify longterm conservation needs.

The surveys for additional information on Edwards’s Pheasant in Dakrong Nature Reserve and North Huong Hoa, Quang Tri Province are supported by a small grant to the Quang Tri Centre of Education and Consultancy on Agriculture and Rural Development. A population distribution map and an outline species conservation strategy will be developed in order to ensure the advancement of species conservation from survey and strategy to action.

Another small grant was made to the Centre for In Vietnam, the Wildlife Conservation Society Vietnam Environmental and Rural development, Vinh University Programme (www.wcs.org) received a small grant to analyse (www.vinhuni.edu.vn) to organise the second technical and provide detailed analysis of illegal trade dynamics in meeting of the Saola Working Group in Vinh City and a CEPF priority and other endangered species in the Ho Chi second, wider meeting, co-hosted by WWF in Hue, gathering Minh City Metropolitan area, and use these to raise political national and international technical expertise from Vietnam, awareness and commitment to eliminate the illegal trade, and Lao PDR and further afield, to update and review actions and plan strategies to prevent and suppress these crimes. strategy, and develop a fund raising strategy and work list in order to ensure the advancement of Saola conservation.

Meanwhile, two applications from the World Pheasant Association (WPA) (www.pheasant.org.uk) were granted At last, the Russian Society for Conservation and in this quarter. The first project entitled “Assessing the Studies of Birds received support to intensively survey conservation status of Edwards’ Pheasant Lophura edwardsi” all potential habitat of the Critically Endangered Spoonwill intensively survey all suitable habitat for the species in billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus in the Mekong selected Important Bird Areas in the Annamite Mountains, Delta, Vietnam, one of key remaining wintering sites of the Vietnam, using a method that will permit future monitoring. species, and evaluate the threats and propose mitigating An outline species conservation strategy, will be developed, actions. Vietnamese observers will also be trained to be able drawing on the experience of the IUCN Species Survival to conduct future survey and monitoring work on the species Commission approach to Strategic Planning for Species under supervision of BirdLife in Indochina.

Conservation.

Tran Thanh Huong. CEPF-RIT Administrator

The second WPA project will address conservation of Green Peafowl at key sites in Vietnam. The applicant will conduct a quantitative assessment of the status of the only Vietnamese protected populations of these species in Cat

With thanks to all grantees who provided information for this update.

Background photo: Spoon-billed Sandpiper.

Photo: Kjetil Schjolberg

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PROJECT UPDATeS

Journey down the Mekong: 5th CEPF supervision visit to Laos and Cambodia

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he 5th CEPF supervision mission trip to Laos and Cambodia was conducted during January and February 2011. Amy Gilbert and Jack Tordoff were joined by Nguyen Hoang Long, Sun Vann and Jonathan C. Eames. During the trip Amy learnt how to drink hard liquor through a straw, Jack joined a Khmer dance troupe, whilst Long, Sun Vann and Jonathan were well behaved throughout the trip.

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PROJECT UPDATeS

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e would like to thank our colleagues at the WWF Laos and Cambodia Programme and the WWF Greater Mekong Programme, Cambodia Rural Development Team and Community Economic Development for being such good hosts and providing insight into their projects. The mission also provided an opportunity to discuss with representatives from the MacArthur and Cargill Foundations possible future options for future re-capitalization of the programme.

Photos: Nguyen Hoang Long and Jonathan C. Eames

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Project updates PROJECT UPDATeS

CEPF-RIT Updates Projects in Cambodia University of East Anglia (UEA) (www.uea.ac.uk): Conservation Ecology of Bengal Florican in Cambodia

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he Bengal florican is under imminent threat of extinction.

The florican is restricted to two disjunct populations, with small numbers surviving in India and Nepal and a second population in Cambodia, where it was only re-discovered in 1999. In the Cambodian dry season, florican breed in alluvial grasslands surrounding the Tonle Sap lake. In the wet season, the breeding grasslands flood as the Tonle Sap lake expands.

Very little is known about the location or habitat of florican in the wet/non-breeding season, and there is therefore a very high risk that threats to the species will not be detected and necessary interventions will not occur. Labour intensive non-breeding surveys conducted by WCS have located a small number of individuals during the wet season, in areas

Non-breeding florican habitat. Photo: Charlotte Packman

bordering the floodplain.

However, whether these are representative of the full range of locations used is not known. Habitats bordering the floodplain are being encroached and converted by plantation concessions and expanding agriculture. Conservation NGOs currently lack sufficient information to reliably target key non-breeding areas or advocate their protection. Whilst florican have been successfully radio-tracked during the breeding season, our ability to locate individuals in the wet season by radio telemetry is limited, as they move beyond the detectable range of radio receivers into unknown areas. Access into potential non-breeding sites along dirt tracks and paths is very difficult at this time, as much of the land is flooded. Furthermore, there is a bias towards detecting birds only at those locations that are accessible and that are searched, thus excluding unexpected habitats or inaccessible localities. Therefore, there is an urgent need to obtain an unbiased sample of nonbreeding, wet season locations from birds from across a suite of breeding subpopulations/sites.

A leucistic female florican with a battery-powered satellite transmitter. Photo: Charlotte Packman

Satellite transmitters enable florican movements to be tracked over large areas, overcoming the practical and logistical problems associated with following movements of this species, and can provide unbiased information on timing of movements, non-breeding sites and habitat use. Further information about the research is available in the Wet Season Movements, Habitat & Threats (2008-2010) - Preliminary Report – November 2010 by Charlotte Packman with supervisors Dr. Paul Dolman (both from University of East Anglia) and Prof. Nigel Collar (from BirdLife International).

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Source: Charlotte Packman, University of East Anglia

A male florican with a solar radio transmitter. Photo: Charlotte Packman

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PROJECT UPDATeS

CEPF-RIT Updates Fauna and Flora International (www. fauna-flora.org): “Raising Awareness and Building Capacity to Manage Human Elephant Conflict in Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia.”

wildlife at large is all but forgotten. Vital habitat is under threat from the proposed extraction of newly found mineral deposits and the conversion of lowland forests into vast monoculture plantations of rubber.

People, who are often newcomers to the area, are coming into increasingly close contact with the resident pachyderms, and the encounter is not always a pleasant one.

awareness on the need for elephant conservation and to address the problem of Human Elephant Conflict (HEC) in eastern Cambodia.

HEC is by no means a new phenomenon, and has probably occurred at low levels ever since man began converting elephant habitat The eastern plains of Cambodia were once into agricultural land. However, a rapid rise know as “Asia’s Serengeti”, with wildlife, in development and land use change over the especially large mammals such as Banteng, past few years has led to a significant rise in Gaur and Elephant abounding, not to mention But all is not yet lost. If decision makers in the frequency and intensity of HEC events. government and industry can work together Tiger, Leopard and the now likely extinct This presents significant challenges for the national animal of Cambodia – the Kouprey. with conservation actors to select the most appropriate sites for development, impacts to local people of Mondulkiri Province, as well Mondulkiri is still home to approximately half of Cambodia’s remaining Asian Elephant the environment and endangered species such as the Phnong ethnic minority whose culture is inextricably tied to the elephant. Elephants as the Asian Elephant can be minimized and Elephas maximus population, but with frequently raid crops and damage property, mitigated against. With this in mind, Fauna development and economic growth now often at a substantial financial loss to local & Flora International (FFI) was awarded at the forefront of many peoples’ minds, farmers who can ill afford disruptions to their a CEPF small grant in early 2010 to raise the conservation of elephants and indeed income. This scenario can often increase the risk of elephants being killed or maimed in retribution – something that needs to be avoided at all costs if the fragile Cambodian elephant population is to survive in the longterm. This project has enabled people to manage HEC at the local level by providing a range of simple mitigation strategies at key conflict flashpoints, as well as establishing locally-led elephant “Guarding Groups” – teams of farmers who share the duties of crop protection during the night around harvest time when crops are at their most vulnerable.

Teaching school children about the value of conservation. Photo: FFI Cambodia

Training local elephant Guarding Groups on noisemakers as HEC mitigation tools Photo: FFI Cambodia

with a workshop in the provincial capital of Mondulkiri, Sen Monorum. The workshop was attended by forty-five participants, including the Provincial Governor, delegates from the Ministries of Industry Mines and Energy; Agriculture; Rural Development; Tourism; as well as representatives from local Police; Army and the rubber industry.

FFI delivered presentations on elephant evolution, ecology and status as well as conservation action to date in Cambodia. In addition, WWF, WCS, provincial departments of the Forestry Administration and Ministry of Environment delivered a range of presentations on current conservation efforts After a year-long programme of presentations in the area. This gave attendees, valuable to primary and high-school children and to information on the current status of elephants village and commune officials in areas where and efforts to conserve them at both the local conflict between people and elephants is and national level. high, the project culminated in February 2011 29

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There was keen interest and enthusiasm from all government departments in working to conserve elephants, but significant concerns were raised as to how this is to be achieved given the current rapid levels of ad-hoc developments going ahead across the province, some of which even the government are not fully aware of. There were shared concerns about the potential escalation of HEC if elephant habitat continues to be lost and how this will affect both local and commercial farmers.

Representatives from the provincial Forestry Administration and Department of Environment also voiced fears of Cambodian elephants being displaced into Vietnam and potentially lost to poachers.

Information gathered and relationships established under this grant will be used to inform future conservation action on the Asian Elephant in eastern Cambodia and also feed into the planned development of a Cambodian National Elephant Strategy and Action Plan.

FFI established the Cambodian Elephant Conservation Group (CECG) in 2005. It is a unique partnership between the Royal Government of Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry Administration and FFI, which acts in unison to help secure a future for the remaining wild Asian elephants in Cambodia.

For further information please contact Matthew Maltby at matt.maltby.ffi@gmail.com or Tuy Sereivathana at vathana.t@gmail.com.

PROJECT UPDATeS

CEPF-RIT Updates Harrison Institute (www.harrison-institute.org)- “Increasing in-country capacity and regional co-operation to promote bat conservation in Cambodia with particular reference to Otomops wroughtoni.”, A recent field survey in Preah Vihear, northern Cambodia (15 February-4 March, 2011) collected 29 species representing five families of bat. Nine of these species are thought to be new records for Cambodia and include a horseshoe bat, a leaf-nosed bat, a myotis, two pipistrelles, three tube-nosed bats and a woolly bat.

This represents a significant increase in our knowledge of the bat fauna of Cambodia and, if follow-up studies confirm their provisional identities, increases the number of bat species recorded from the country from 49 to 58.

No Wroughton’s Free-tailed bats Otomops wroughtoni were encountered directly in the field in either harp traps or mist nets.

However, many bat echolocation calls were recorded and have yet to be analysed. It is just possible that these could provide evidence of this rare species, the first and only record of which (for Cambodia and South-East Asia) was from Chhep District, Preah Vihear in December 2000.

In general, this has been another busy three months for the Cambodian bat project. In addition to the field survey, highlights include continued capacity building of in-country bat researchers.

Principal amongst these is Mr Ith Saveng of the Royal University of Phnom Penh who continues his detailed studies of aspects of the Cambodian bat fauna as part of his PhD. In this he is supported by a team of international supervisors, two of whom, Dr Gabor Csorba of the Hungarian Natural History Museum and Dr Neil Furey of Fauna & Flora International, Cambodia joined him on a recent field survey to Preah Vihear Protected Forest.

The bat team is most grateful to the forest rangers of the PVPF and staff of WCS Cambodia and Forestry Administration, Cambodia for their invaluable assistance. We are indebted to the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Darwin Initiative and John D. and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation (USA) for their financial support.

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Source: Dr Paul Bates, Director, Harrison Institute.

Photos: Dr Gabor Csorba

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Source: Matthew Maltby, Projects Officer and Tuy Sereivathana, Cambodian Elephant Conservation Group Manager, Fauna and Flora International, Cambodia Programme

Megaderma_lyra

Kerivoula picta

Cynopterus sp.

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CEPF-RIT Updates Projects in Laos

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lefantAsia (www.elefantasia.org): Securing and protecting Asian elephant populations in Laos through the microchipping of core populations.

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he 5th annual Elephant Festival was recently held in Laos. The small town of Paklay was this year’s host city, with tens of thousands of visitors attending the three-day celebration. Only six hours from Vientiane and Luang Prabang, many locals, ex-pats and visitors to Laos took advantage of Paklay’s relative close proximity, transforming the town from a sleepy riverside city into a bustling hub of markets, funfairs, concerts and elephant enjoyment.

The residents of Paklay embraced the festival spirit by holding traditional dances, ceremonies and school performances. Other events included daily elephant logging demonstrations, monk blessings, elephant baths, rides and nightly entertainment. The Vientiane Circus gave amusing acrobatic performances, while the Sayaboury Province held a fashion parade on the main stage. Bands played, fireworks cracked, beer was poured, music was loud and everyone revelled in the Lao style of ‘more is merrier’ The Asian elephant conservation group ElefantAsia were joint festival managers, teaming with district and provincial government departments to form the Elephant Festival

PROJECT UPDATeS

Organising Committee. Paklay is located in the north-west province of Sayaboury, the cultural heartland of Lao working elephant ownership. Elephants have been used in this region for centuries, with ancient rituals and ceremonies still bestowed upon elephants today.

Fifty working elephants rolled into Paklay for this year’s festival, making it the largest elephant gathering since 2009. All elephants attending the festival had an obligatory health check by ElefantAsia and livestock veterinary staff. ElefantAsia is pleased to report that most elephants at the festival were in very good condition. The most commonly observed disorders were abscesses and worming problems, all easily treated onsite by ElefantAsia’s Mobile Veterinary Unit. Elephants were registered and microchipped with their details entered into the national domesticated elephant database. Elephant owners and mahouts had ample opportunity to discuss any concerns or seek veterinary advice from livestock or ElefantAsia staff if necessary.

The youngest elephant attendee was a two-ear old male, still unnamed by his mahout.

A crowd favourite, the calf got into the festival spirit by happily accepting lashings of sugarcane, big bananas and even money from besotted onlookers.

Guests to the 2011 Elephant Festival included attendees from the Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) Mitigation workshop, held by ElefantAsia days before the festival. National and international HEC experts were invited to the festival to observe Lao working elephants and meet government departmental representatives. Delegates present at the festival included staff from WWF Laos, Nepal and Thailand, Flora & Fauna International Cambodia, WCS Laos and IUCN. ElefantAsia hopes all guests enjoyed their time in Paklay and return for future festivals and collaborative skills transfer.

Importantly, it’s the locals of Paklay and the elephant owners (mahouts) that ultimately benefit from the Elephant Festival. The provincial Tourism Department estimates the Elephant Festival injected 26 billion kip (US$3,250,000) into the local economy. This is through food and beverage sales, transportation, accommodation and sales of goods and services. Mahouts were able to receive free veterinary treatment for their elephant and make money from rides and donations offered by visitors. Without the annual Elephant Festival many people in remote regions of Laos would miss out on a very valuable incomegenerating activity.

The Lao Elephant Festival continues to receive more and more publicity each year.

However the meaning behind the festival firmly remains the same: to raise awareness of the plight of this endangered species. With only an approximate 1,200 elephants remaining in Laos, it’s time the nation banded together to protect and cherish this country’s mascot.

-----------Source: Ingrid Suter, Communications Officer, ElefantAsia.

Photo: ElefantAsia 31

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Project updates PROJECT UPDATeS

CEPF-RIT Updates Projects in Vietnam Westfälischer Zoologischer Garten Münster GmbH: “Cat Ba Langur Conservation Project” (www.catbalangur.org)

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he Cat Ba langur Trachypithecus poliocephalus poliocephalus is a leaf-eating monkey endemic to Cat Ba Island in North Vietnam. Due to poaching, habitat fragmentation and disturbance through an increasing number of immigrants and enhanced tourism activities, the population of the Cat Ba langur decreased from approximately 2000-3000 individuals in the 1960s to merely 53 animals in 2000. The species is listed as one of ‘The World’s Top 25 Most Endangered Primates’ and is classified in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as ‘Critically Endangered’.

In 2000, the ‘Cat Ba Langur Conservation Project’ (CBLCP) was established on the initiative of Münster Zoo, the Zoological Society for the Conservation of Species and Populations (ZGAP), both from Germany, and Vietnamese partner authorities.

Several protection measures aim to conserve the Cat Ba langur and its habitat. The CBLCP strongly believes that the pride of local people will be the most effective longterm protection measure for the biodiversity of the island.

Therefore, all activities take place in close cooperation with local authorities and communities. Almost 200 local people are involved in the day-to-day protection work. A number of subprograms aim to have a positive impact on Cat Ba’s nature as well as the daily life of local people in order to increase the number of dedicated individuals who are willing to engage in the community based protection work. Currently, the CBLCP is responsible for forest protection groups in all communes of Cat Ba Island, capacity building for staff of the National Park,

an education program including ‘conservation clubs’ for all 6th and 7th grades, a CO2 compensation program and population management of the Cat Ba langur.

The funds provided by CEPF were mainly spent for the capacity building for staff of the National Park.

In the last quarter, GPS devices were introduced to all ranger stations and the Science Department of Cat Ba National Park. A workshop including two days of theory and one day of practical training was held in which the staff of the National Park learned the handling of GPS devices and the analysis of the collected data in order to increase the quality of ranger patrols as well as to identify hotspots inside the National Park. One staff member of the CBLCP (also funded by CEPF) continuously supervises the work performance of the rangers and helps the ranger main station with data analysis.

Since communication and cooperation between all stakeholders is essential for efficient protection work, CEPF also supported several activities to intensify the information exchange between these stakeholders.

Rangers of the National Park were invited to all meetings between community-based protection groups and the CBLCP. In one commune also district rangers and representatives of the People’s Committee of the commune participated in the meetings.

Additionally an educational field trip to the langur sanctuary took place. The boat trip was used to visualize the worth and the needs of Cat Ba’s nature to high authorities from Cat Hai District, Hai Phong Province and Hanoi. Even though most of these authorities are already involved in protection work, for most of their representatives it was the first time to actually experience the langurs. The supporting programme included speeches to explain more about the current situation on Cat Ba

GPS training for local rangers. Photo: Pieter Levelink

Island. This event was followed by a meeting of local stakeholders on a district and provincial level. It focused on the exchange of different experiences while working for conservation on Cat Ba Island. All parties shared their opinions and promised to involve themselves even more efficiently when it comes to the protection of Cat Ba’s nature.

----Source: Daniela Schrudde, Project Manager, Cat Ba Langur Conservation Project

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CEPF-RIT Updates

PROJECT UPDATeS

Fauna & Flora International (www.fauna-flora.org) “Promoting Community-Based Collaborative Management To Strengthen Long-Term Conservation Of Globally Threatened Primates And Trees In Priority Sites Of Northern Vietnam”

sort of non-selective fishing where only the most valuable it’s a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time for individuals are kept, and everything else is killed, wasted. We the Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey. no longer feel like we are somewhere that would be called remote.

This same forest is also vitally important for a number of highly threatened Magnolia species. CEPF support has enaSoon banishing your children to Mu Cang Chai will be much bled us to support the Centre for Plant Conservation to survey u Cang Chai and Muong La easier. A road currently under construction will connect Che the forest for these trees for the first time, and has revealed Parents in Hanoi will threaten their badly behaved Tao village, in the heart of the protected area, with towns to exciting results. The trees are also at risk, because they are offspring with sending them to Mu Cang Chai, so remote and the north. From Son La Province to the south another road large and have good timber. In addition, they are felled indisunforgiving are those distant mountains. This remoteness, will bring construction teams for up to four hydropower stacrimately to reduce the canopy for cardamom and Lysimachia combined with the hard work of the community patrol group tions near to Na Hang village. This will bring new challenges production. These important trees will also be included in our supported by FFI has ensured the continued survival of the to which we must respond. With the support of CEPF FFI conservation action plan for Tung Vai. western black crested gibbon. On some still mornings the are developing a plan for conservation of the last of the formournful cry of the gibbons is carried on the wind from hill est in Muong La, immediately to the south of Mu Cang Chai. * Fauna and Flora International recently release the report of tops to Na Hang village, deep the remotest part of Mu Cang Even with its remoteness gone, we hope that the sound of the “Primate Status Survey at South Xuan Lac Species and HabiChai. Perhaps nowhere else in Vietnam can you rise from a gibbons will always be heard in this, one of Vietnam’s most tat Conservation Area, Bac Kan Province” by Dong Thanh bad night sleep on a compacted earth floor under a roof of important forests.

Hai and Vu Tien Thinh (July 2010). Full paper can be downPo Mu, black and sticky from the constant fires which warm loaded here.

-----the home on the inside and clean and weatherbeaten on the Khau Ca and Tung Vai Source: Simon Mahood, FFI Vietnam Primate Programme outside and hear that sound. In those same hills lurk species In terms of distinctiveness, and comic appeal, the Tonkin Manager rarely seen: the White-throated Wren-babbler, shaped like a Snub-nosed Monkey is perhaps the pinnacle of Vietnam’s miniature kiwi, probes the leaf litter under dense Arundinacea impressive array of primates. It is also one of the rarest. With Photo: Sun rise in Mu Cang Chai. Nguyen Hoang Long/ bamboo. The simple structure of cardamom is not sufficient BirdLife International in Indochina support from CEPF, FFI are reinforcing their conservation for this specilaised creature, which is now classified as Enof the largest population in the world, and making a plan for dangered and may occur at no other site, owing to the spread conservation of the second largest. These are the only two of this lucrative herb. populations of this species with more than a handful of individuals, so are vital for its continued survival.

We walk through the forest all day, along ridges where magnificent Po Mu trees stand tall like space rockets among the At Khau Ca, where there are approximately 90 Tonkin Snubstunted moss covered vegetation. In the evening the H’Mong nosed Monkeys a community patrol team efficiently reports huddle around a fire lit with a strip of Po Mu, fill themselves violations to FPD, who respond accordingly. In Tung Vai with rice wine and then curl up together in a nest of leaves where the conservation action plan is being formulated the for a few short hours sleep in the wintery cold. The rice wine process revealed new threats about which we previously did has worn off and the cold awakens the patrol team well benot know. We discovered that people have begun to cultivate fore dawn. We go out to a ridge to listen for gibbons and Lysimachia, an understory herb which thrives on limestone look south into Son La Province. We don’t hear gibbons but slopes useless for cardamom cultivation. This crop can be people instead. To the south the forest has been burnt as far harvested up to four times each year, so people spend a lot of as the eye can see. The valuable Po Mu is easier to find and time in the forest. They bring no meat with them when they extract if the rest of the forest is destroyed first. It’s like the go to tend their crops and as is their habit they carry a gun, so

M

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CEPF-RIT Updates

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PROJECT UPDATeS

ildlife Conservation Society Vietnam Programme (www.wcs.org)

Building Awareness and Capacity to reduce the Illegal Cross-Border Trade Of Wildlife From Vietnam To China During this period of the project, WCS focused much of the time on implementing the advanced training programme “Wildlife Crime Investigations” for Quang Ninh law enforcement agencies. In this training, trainees were guided through a number of simulation exercises investigating a fictional wildlife trade network. Actors were brought in to play the roles of the criminals and scenes were arranged in a wildlife restaurant, trader’s house, coffee shop and interrogation room for the trainees to practice skills of surveillance, house raids, interrogation and vehicle searches.

The training gathered more than 30 trainees from national and provincial law enforcement agencies with the aim to improve knowledge and practical experiences for law enforcement agencies tackling wildlife crime in key border crossing areas. This training encourages trainees to use the interactive participatory approach in tackling wildlife crimes, which is increasing and occur in a more sophisticated manner and international scale. This also creates opportunities for tightening informal cooperation and sharing experiences in tackling wildlife crimes among Quang Ninh law enforcement agencies with national agencies and international organizations.

Under this project, on 18th March 2011, WCS will support Vietnam Directorate of Forestry (CITES Management Authority and National Forest Protection Department) to host the 2011 Inter-agency Workshop on Strengthening Control of Transnational Wildlife Crime in Vietnam. The objectives of this workshop is to share the significant developments, achievements and challenges of wildlife crime control in 2010 at provincial, national, regional and global level. It is also the good chance to develop a priority enforcement plan

Trainees practice vehicle search for wildlife products. Photo: WCS VN

to address transnational wildlife crimes in Hai Phong, Quang Ninh and Lang Son in 2011 as well as to enhance informal co-operation between provincial agencies.

Leverage support from Vietnamese corporate sector to reduce illegal consumption of protected threatened species The first successful activity of this project is getting the commitment of FPT corporation and PVEP (PetroVietnam Exploration Production Company) to join the project, branded as “Go for Zero”. WCS and FPT have created a

plan for the years of 2011 and 2012 to equip FPT staff with interesting information to encourage reduction in illegal consumption of protected wildlife.

On 13th of March 2011, within the Community day of FPT, WCS launched the program with FPT and announce activities of program in the whole coming year. The following activitiy will be a launching event at a larger scale with the participation of senior leaders of both FPT and PVEP with press invited.

-------Source: Le Minh Thao, Programme Officer, WCS VN programme 34

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ebruary 2011 -BirdLife’s presence in Vietnam dates back to early 1990s, in the then undeveloped civil society. Over the past 20 years, BirdLife Vietnam Programme has been recognized as a major contributor to biodiversity conservation in Vietnam with tangible conservation outputs: i) Conservation prioritization (Important Bird Areas, Protected Areas system planning); ii) Discoveries of four new bird species; and rediscoveries of another eight species; iii) Catalyzing the establishment of six protect areas; and iv) Publication of authoritative materials on the avifauna of Vietnam (Birds of Vietnam, and over 40 technical reports, etc.).

In accordance with BirdLife’s philosophy of being a grass-root based organization, working through national NGO partners and responding to major changes in the socio-economic situation in Vietnam (for example more conducive environment for civil society in Vietnam nowadays; Vietnam is moving up into a middle income country and thus expected to strengthen and use its domestic capacity and resources to take care of its own conservation needs to ensure sustainability of conservation efforts), BirdLife International has decided to transform its operation in Vietnam, facilitating the evolution of a future national BirdLife partner in the country.

PROJECT UPDATeS

Evolution of the BirdLife Vietnam Country Programme towards a future BirdLife Partner

PanNature reviews their own experiences operating as a local NGO

Group discussion on the niche of conservation in Vietnam..

Brainstorming ideas.....

Summarising group discussion results..

A workshop with representatives from conservation NGOs, biodiversity management agencies and independent conservationists was conducted in late February 2011 to work out the niche for the future national BirdLife partner in Vietnam – the areas of work that the organization could add the most value. Five main opportunities and also challenges are: conservation action on the ground (species and sites); biodiversity monitoring; biodiversity and sustainable resource use with link to human well-being and in context of climate change; conservation science capacity building; and environmental awareness raising and education.

The transformation process which is supported by BirdLife International, Arcadia Foundation and AAGE V. Jensen Fonde Foundation started since 2010 and is expected to complete in the coming five years with support from the wider BirdLife partnership.

Pham Tuan Anh, BirdLife Vietnam Programme Manager.

Photos: BirdLife International in Indochina

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ambodia is one of the contracting parties to the Ramsar Convention. This convention is a global intergovernmental treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. 2011 is a specially year for the organization because 160 contracting parties have jointly celebrated the World Wetlands Day and 40th anniversary of the convention (2 February 1971 – 2 February 2011). With support from Ramsar Regional Center – East Asia through a project entitled “Minimizing border encroachment of Ramsar sites through clarification of boundary location and public awareness “, BirdLife International in Indochina - Cambodia Programme and some Non Governmental Organization (NGO) partners have supported the Department of Wetlands and Costal Zones (the national Ramsar Administration Authority in Cambodia) and other governmental stakeholders to organise some public awareness raising activities on wetlands conservation and to celebrate 40th Anniversary of Ramsar Convention.

On 18 January 2011, a national meeting was organised among national governmental agencies, private sectors, and NGO partners in Phnom Penh to mobilise funding sources as well as to provide opportunity to open discussions about the theme of the World Wetlands Day 2011. The meeting got fruity results (! Ed.) with US $ 5400 raised and 13 governmental agencies, local and international NGOs and academic institutes strongly providing collaboration and supporting ideas. The theme of 2011 World Wetlands Day is “Forest for Water and Wetlands,” which is closely linked to that of the International Year of Forestry of the United Nations. In order to promote this year’s wetlands theme, 1,000 posters, 550 t-shirt and 25 banners were made in Khmer. They were idsplayed in public areas and circulated

PROJECT UPDATeS

World Wetlands Day 2011: 40th Anniversary of the Ramsar Convention to relevant governmental agencies, NGO stakeholders, local communities, students from secondary schools and universities and local administration authorities in five provinces of Kampong Thom, Stung Treng, Battembang, Kok Kong and Pursat in Cambodia.

The World Wetlands Day and 40th Anniversary celebration was organised on 20th February in Kampong Loung Secondary School. Over 500 people attended this event including H.E. Pech Horn, Deputy Governor of Pursat Province and Dr. Srey Sunleag, Director of Department of Wetlands and Costal Zones, Ministry of Environment, some governmental stakeholder representatives at national and provincial levels, university and school students as well as local residents. All speeches at the events emphasized the significance of wetlands towards human’s lives. Following a public forum, all participants joined a parade to demonstrate their commitments to conserve the wetlands eosystem and help local communities realise about the wetlands’ values in daily lives. Leading by H.E. Pech Horn, parade people walked about four kilometers from Kampong Loung secondary school to floating village areas and showed their care to wetlands by collecting rubbish in the area.

Parade to protect wetlands.

Photo: Liam Costello/BirdLife International-Cambodia programme

least two times by those media stations would finally reach to and help promote actions from policy decision makers, governments officers, private sectors and local communities in twenty four provinces and capital of Cambodia to protect wetlands. An article about this event will soon be printed in the official magazine of the Ministry of Environment.

Later, 140 university students and 250 primary and secondary Bou Vorsak, BirdLife International in Indochina – Cambodia school kids actively participated in a section called “Wetlands Programme knowledge sharing” where they can learn from each other about the Ramsar Convention, biodiversity, wetlands and forests values and practical protection methods. This public awareness event received attention from several media agencies such as Cambodian National TV, Bayon TV, and some radio stations from Phnom Penh, Stung Treng, Kratie and Rattanakiri. It is expected that the event news aired at 36

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PROJECT UPDATeS

MacArthur and Cargill Foundations visit Cambodia

D

uring January and February 2011 we were delighted to host a visit by Jorgen B. Thomson Director of Conservation and Sustainable Development, MacArthur Foundation and David Gordon, Senior Environment Program Officer for the Margaret A Cargill Foundation to Western Siem Pang. Together with Cristi Nozawa, Head of Birdlife’s Asia Division and Gordon Congdon Manager of WWF Cambodia Programmes’ Central Mekong project, they attended the monthly vulture restaurant, and later saw Giant and White-shouldered Ibis, Eld’s Deer and Indochinese Silvered Langur. They also witnessed our local enforcement team disrupt poachers hunting Siamese Hares. Hopefully they came away with a clearer understanding of the global conservation values of this site and the threats it faces and the opportunities it presents.

Jonathan C. Eames Programme Manager BirdLife International in Indochina A delegation form the Margaret A Cargill Foundation joined forces with colleagues from the MacArthur Foundation, BirdLife, CEPF and WWF recently in Laos and Cambodia for their first exploratory visit to the region. Left to right: Paul G. Busch, Trustee, Alan Holt Director, Environmental Program, David Gordon, Senior Environmental Program Officer and Terrence R Meersman, Vice-President, Programs.

Jorgen B. Thomson test drives a motorbike purchased under a MacArthur Foundation grant to BirdLife at Western Siem Pang. The bike is powered by a revolutionary new bio-fuel G&T (Gin and Tonic).

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PROJECT UPDATeS

Rehabilitated vulture controlled at Western Siem Pang after one-year

O

n 16 March 2010 two vultures, rehabilitated following a poisoning incident, were released at Western Siem Pang. Both birds, a Slender-billed Vulture and a White-rumped Vulture were wing-tagged and colour ringed prior to release (see The Babbler 33). Despite monthly monitoring of all vultures attending restaurants by the Cambodian Vulture Conservation Project team, neither vulture was subsequently recorded. However, at the January vulture restaurant at Western Siem Pang on 1 February 2011, the White-rumped Vulture in question was controlled. The bird, carrying two yellow wing-tags marked number 11 was also carrying a red colour ring on its right leg and a black colour ring on its left leg, was photographed by Gordon Congdon and his photographs are reproduced here. Later, at the vulture restaurant at Western Siem Pang on 10 March, we controlled a ringed and wing-tagged White-rumped Vulture, presumably the same bird. This bird also appeared to carry a red ring on the right leg but the wing tags were broken and unreadable.

The Cambodia Vulture Conservation Project was established in 2004 as a coalition of Government agencies and NGOs, including BirdLife International in Indochina, the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity (ACCB), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Ministry of Environment (MoE), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). Support for these efforts is provided by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF)/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), WWF-US and the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF). The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. A fundamental goal is to ensure civil society is engaged in biodiversity conservation.

----------Source:Jonathan C. Eames, Programme Manager, BirdLife International in Indochina Photos:Gordon Congdon 38

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implications for tropical wetlands and fisheries. The social implications are considerable.

T

he annual flood pulse in response to the South West Monsoon during the months between July and October is the key hydrological characteristic of the Mekong River and drives the high ecosystem productivity in the Lower Mekong floodplains, both in the Cambodian lowlands and the Delta in Vietnam. Climate change has the potential to modify the water balance of the river basin which, combined with higher sea levels, could have considerable physical and socio-economic implications. Changes in the frequency and amplitude of seasonal flooding driven by higher monsoon rainfall and stronger backwater effects will have significant

The theme of Annual Mekong Flood Report 2009 is ‘The Potential Impacts of Climate Change on the Flood Regime of the Mekong.’ The report begins with a review of the main regional studies that have been undertaken in recent years. There is broad agreement on the direction of the changes to the rainfall, climate and the subsequent hydrological consequences that are likely to occur. There is less agreement with regard to the magnitude of the changes, which is not surprising. The two most common predicted findings are: an increase in the inter-annual variability of the South-West monsoon; and an increase in the incidence of severe tropical weather systems such as typhoons. The latter have historically been associated with some of the most extreme and damaging flood episodes. Read full report.

------------Source: MRC (2010) Annual Mekong Flood Report 2009, Mekong River Commission, Office of the Secretariat in Phnom Penh, 80 pages

T

he waters of the Mekong River and its tributaries, flowing through one of the world’s largest river basins, are used mainly for hydropower and irrigation but they also the life-giving waters of the amazing basin ecosystem that provides livelihoods of millions. Thus the river flow regime will be affected by climate change and by hydropower or irrigation developments in the Basin. The Basin Development Plan (BDP) Scenarios take account of development and management of water and related resources such as hydropower generation and irrigation expansion. Adaptation Options to Reduce

ReviewS impacts. Read full report.

------------Source: Mainuddin, M., Hoanh, C.T., Jirayoot, K., Halls, A.S., Kirby, M., Lacombe, G., Srinetr, V., 2010. Adaptation options to reduce the vulnerability of Mekong water resources, food security and the environment to impacts of development and climate change. CSIRO: Water for a Healthy Country National Research Flagship. 152 pp.

the Vulnerability of Mekong Water Resources, Food Security and the Environment to Impacts of Development and Climate Change report

presents: (i) the framework of the climate change analysis and its application to the BDP Scenarios; (ii) the results of the Decision Support Framework (DSF) models for the analysis of the climate change impacts and the selected BDP Scenarios on flow regimes; (iii) the results of the impact of climate change on floods and fisheries, (iv) the results of climate change impact on agricultural productivity and its consequences on food security; (v) adaptation strategies related to agricultural productivity; and recommendations for further studies to identify suitable adaptation strategies for dealing with such

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AN ANALYSIS

OF ATTITUDES AND BEAR BILE USE IN VIETNAM

V

ietnam is home to two species of bears, the Asiatic Black bear Ursus thibetanus and the Malayan sun bear Helarctos malayanus.

Both of these species are under serious threat mainly from illegal hunting and trade to support the demand for bear bile used as a traditional form of medicine.

This study An analysis of attitudes and bear bile use in Vietnam focuses on the social and geographic profiles of bear bile consumers. More than 3,000 people from three major cities in Vietnam; Hanoi (north), Da Nang (central) and Ho Chi Minh (south) were randomly selected and interviewed to analyse the motivation of bear bile consumers and evaluate demographic differences between respondents in their attitudes 2010 toward the use of bear bile. The results indicate that 22% of those surveyed have used bear bile in the past. Hanoi (35%) has a much higher percentage of people who have used bear bile than both Da Nang (15%) and Ho Chi Minh City (16%). Both men and women consume bear bile, but the percentage of men (29%) using bear bile is much higher than women (17%). Most bear bile consumers (73%) use bear bile to cure specific health problems, while only a small percentage (14%) use bear bile for entertainment purposes. While women tend to use bear bile to treat specific ailments (88%), the study showed that men use bear bile for many different purposes, including entertainment. The study also showed that bear bile consumption tends to increase with age. These results suggest that the most effective means to reduce bear bile consumption in Vietnam is to promote more effective and readily available medical alternatives. Read full report in English and Vietnamese.

-------Source: Vu, Quyen Thi, 2010. An analysis of attitudes and bear bile use in Vietnam.

Education for Nature – Vietnam (ENV), Hanoi.

ReviewS

C

limate Change Vulnerability Mapping for Southeast Asia

provides information on the sub-national areas (regions/districts/provinces) most vulnerable to climate change impacts in South-East Asia. This assessment was carried out by overlaying climate hazard maps, sensitivity maps, and adaptive capacity maps following the vulnerability assessment framework of the nited Nations’ Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The study used data on the spatial distribution  of various climate-related hazards in  530 sub-national areas of Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Cambodia,  Malaysia, and the Philippines. Based on    this mapping assessment, all the regions of the Philippines; the Mekong River Sida Delta in Vietnam; almost all the regions of Cambodia; North and East Lao PDR; the Bangkok region of Thailand; and West Sumatra, South Sumatra, West Java, and East Java of Indonesia are among the most vulnerable regions in South-East Asia.

View full paper.

Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia

SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION AGENCY

Canadian International Development Agency

Agence Canadienne de Développment International

-------Source: Arief Anshory Yusuf, Herminia A. Francisco. Climate Change Vulnerability Mapping for Southeast AsiaClimate Change. 2009. Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA)Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA). 32 pages.

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Summary of Tiger Trade Investigation Findings, Vietnam 2010

A

ccording to tiger experts, there may be fewer than 30 wild tigers remaining in Vietnam, surviving in a handful of parks and protected areas mostly along border areas in the central provinces. Over the past 15 years, tiger populations in Vietnam, as well as across the tiger’s native range have steadily declined as a result of poaching, shrinking habitat, and hunting and reduction of their prey base. The International Tiger Coalition (ITC), representing organizations worldwide working to protect tigers, estimates that about 3,500 tigers remain in the wild globally, most of these in India where efforts at some tiger reserves have been successful in curbing hunting, and protecting habitat and the animals that tigers prey on.

EDUCATION FOR NATURE - VIETNAM

Summary of Tiger Trade Investigation Findings Vietnam 2010

In 2009, Education for Nature - Vietnam (ENV) initiated a 12 month investigation in Vietnam aimed at examining links between tiger farming and illegal trade. In addition, they sought to develop a better understanding of the illegal trade networks and the key individuals who are responsible for the bulk of the illegal tiger trade in Vietnam.

During the investigation, ENV worked closely with key partners in the National Environmental Police, provincial police agencies and Forest Protection Departments, as well as independent investigators. This interim briefing is intended to highlight some of the key findings of the investigation to date. Later in 2010, a comprehensive, confidential report will be produced for law enforcement agencies and key government representatives detailing the findings thus far. Download the summary in English and Vietnamese.

ReviewS

Conservation of Primates in Indochina

I

ndochina is a hotspot of primate diversity, endemism and threat. In all, 28 primate taxa are currently recognized as occurring in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and southern China.

Of these, 19 are endemic. Based on the Red List workshop for Asia’s primates conducted in 2006, 8 taxa are considered Critically Endangered and 7 Vulnerable.

Much of the most up-to-date work relating to the species of the region in included in this volume. The contributions provide an overview of the status of primate taxa and findings on their biology and life histories that will offer a basis for future interventions.

-------Source: T Nadler, B Rawson and Van Ngoc Thinh. Conservation of Primates in Indochina. 2010. 288 pages

-------Source: Education for Nature - Vietnam, 2010. Summary of Tiger Trade Investigation Findings, Vietnam 2010. Education for Nature - Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam.

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Reviews

Forest cover trends in the Northern Plains of Cambodia 2002-2010

T

he report presents results of an analysis of forest cover trends in the Northern Plains landscape in Cambodia from 2002 to 2010. This report will be used to inform development of a REDD project although the impact of this report will be influenced by the REDD methodology selected. The study focuses on two protected areas, a logging concession and an adjacent unzoned area in Preah Vihear province (together referred to as the CALM landscape), all of which have been under conservation management since 2002 with more intensive management since 2006. The study also focuses on six adjacent sectors (together referred to as the Buffer Area), which are not managed intensively for conservation. Satellite imagery was compiled from four points in time (2002, 2006, 2009 and 2010) to assess forest cover at each time period. The mosaic method was used to combine the various images from different sources into one single image for each year. Imagery was combined with other datasets to estimate annual deforestation rates across the landscape and for each sector. View full report.

----------Source: Rainey, H.J., Heng, B. & Evans, T.E. 2010. Forest Cover Trends in the Northern Plains of Cambodia, 2002-2010. Wildlife Conservation Society, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Khao Dinsor Thailand Raptor Migration Summary 2010

T

his interim report summarizes the southbound migration of raptors and other birds from 6 September through 5 November 2010. Daily observations were made from Khao Dinsor, also known as Pencil Hill, approximately 350 meters elevation at its highest point. Khao Dinsor is north of the city of Chumphon on Thailand’s east coast (Route 3201) along the South China Sea. In all, an international team of observers identified (and photographed) at least 26 raptor species and more than 210,000 individuals heading south towards Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Sulawesi and even the Philippines. On the ground, the first steps were completed in building the Chumphon Raptor Study and Education Centre that will be located at the foot of Khao Dinsor. View full paper.

-----------Source: Chukiat Nualsri, Martti Siponen, Henk J. Smit, Deborah Allen, and Robert DeCandido PhD. Khao Dinsor-Thailand Raptor Migration Summary 2010.

Photo: Oriental Honey-buzzard (adult male); October 2010 – Martti Siponen

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publication

BirdLife leads first biodiversity baseline assessment of a REDD site in Oddar Meanchey Province, Cambodia

P

hnom Penh (25 March, 2011) – A survey released today confirmed the presence of several critically endangered bird and mammal species in Oddar Meanchey Province, Cambodia. Pact Cambodia and BirdLife International, in partnership with the Cambodian Forestry Administration and supported by the United States Department of State, collaborated to complete the survey, the country’s first in-depth biodiversity assessment in Oddar Meanchey.

“Taken together these community forestry areas represent important places where the efforts and enthusiasm of the local communities hold great promise for affording protection to several species of high conservation value,” according to H.E. Chheng Kimsun, Director General of the Forestry Administration.

The survey found evidence of seven globally threatened bird species and nine globally threatened mammals. In total, researchers recorded 174 different bird species and 26 mammal species. Some of the rare finds included the Green Peafowl, the Greater Adjutant, the Banteng, the Sunda Pangolin, and the Pileated Gibbon.

Lead researchers from BirdLife International conducted the survey during November 2010 in four Community Forestry (CF) areas. The CF areas surveyed are part of the larger Oddar Meanchey Community Forestry REDD Project. REDD, or Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, is a program aimed to protect forests by generating carbon credits for sale on the international voluntary carbon market.

The biodiversity assessment complies with Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance standards. The alliance certifies the environmental and social co-benefits of REDD projects for the voluntary carbon market.

The survey results will be integrated into long-term monitoring and conservation plans to ensure that the Oddar Meanchey Community Forestry REDD Project supports the conservation and development goals of key stakeholders and local communities.

Threats to wildlife in Oddar Meanchey, even within CF protected areas, include hunting and deforestation.

The Oddar Meanchey Community Forestry REDD project addresses these threats by using revenues from the sale of carbon credits to support better forest protection. Local communities will play a key role in patrolling and protecting the remaining forest areas and their biodiversity.

The four CF sites surveyed include: Sorng Rokavorn CF, Sangkrous Preychheu CF, Andong Bor CF, and Prey Srorng CF. Researchers highlighted Sorng Rokavorn CF in particular as containing significant populations of important conservation species, including the Banteng, Hog Deer and Green Peafowl. These sites represent the major forest habitat in Oddar Meanchey Province and combined cover a total area of 34,773 hectares.

The Oddar Meanchey Community Forestry REDD Project, led by the Forestry Administration, started in 2008 and will run until 2037. The project will generate an estimated $30 million for local communities and conservation efforts. Pact Cambodia is an Implementing Partner in the first five years. Other partners include Terra Global Capital and the William J. Clinton Foundation. Download the report here.

---------Source: Pact Cambodia

Biodiversity Assessment of the REDD Community Forest Project in Oddar Meanchey Cambodia

January 2011

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The Babbler 37 - March 2011

PROfile

Double Duty for Conservation in Laos Arlyne Johnson and Michael Hedemark have led field research and conservation projects with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Latin America and Asia since 1988. They have been the WCS Country Program Co-directors in Lao PDR since 1998. The program today includes 40 staff and over 150 government counterparts working on six major projects covering three landscapes in northern, central and southern Laos. Here is a brief story of what the couple has done and thinks of conservation in the country. They will return to the USA later this year to follow new interests.

“T

Arlyne Johnson and Michael Hedemark

here have been a lot of opportunities and needs for applied research and conservation in the newly established national protected areas as well as to grow the WCS program in Laos. The country is also a lovely and friendly place to live,” said Arlyne when asked about the reasons that have kept the couple staying in Laos over the past 12 years.

Arlyne has a Ph.D. in Conservation Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a focus on land use planning for wildlife conservation in tropical ecosystems.

While working in Laos, she led several WCS projects providing training for Lao professionals in wildlife and protected area research and management. Among these were the Nakai Elephant Project from 2001 to 2010, which

included the first systematic studies on the abundance and distribution of elephants on the Nakai Plateau, monitored human-elephant conflict (HEC), and tested innovative HEC mitigation techniques and the Nam Et-Phou Louey (NEPL) Tiger Conservation Project from 2002-present, which included the first systematic monitoring of the abundance and distribution of tigers, their prey and human-tiger conflict in the country. From 2005-2008, she worked with WCS colleagues and government staff in the Nam Kading and Nakai-Nam Theun National Protected Areas to design, train and put into place the country’s first long-term wildlife monitoring programs that continue to regularly assess the status of large mammals (ungulates, primates, felids) and forest hornbills in these protected areas. In the Biodiversity Conservation Project with the National University of Laos from 2002-present, she worked with WCS colleagues and the faculties of Science and of Forestry to develop curricula and train national park staff in protected area management and wildlife monitoring. Arlyne also established a student research program that has mentored and supported over 50 Lao national undergraduates to undertake wildlife research projects with WCS at protected areas in Laos. “The young people we work with are eager to learn and to make a career in the new field of biodiversity conservation. I think our student research projects have been especially rewarding for young women who see Arlyne as a role model in a field that is traditionally dominated by men,” said Mike.

Mike has a MSc. in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a focus on protected area management in developing

countries. While working in Laos, he coordinated three WCS projects in protected area management. These include: the Nam Kading National Protected Area Project from 2005-present, which was expanded in 2009 to the larger Bolikhamxay Province landscape including two Provincial Protected Areas in the Annamites. This expansion resulted in the most recent documentation of saola- an endangered mammal that was last recorded in 1998; the CommunityBased Siamese Crocodile Recovery Project in Savannakhet province from 2005 to the present. This project has pioneered a public-private partnership with MMG / Lane Xang Minerals resulting in a biodiversity offset improving habitat for recovery of the endangered Crocodylus siamensis; and finally the Xepon Landscape Project in Savannakhet province from 2009 to the present,

Arlyne training Nakai elephant survey team in mineral lick data collection methods.

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The Babbler 37 - March 2011

STAFF NEWS

Double Duty......(cont.) which builds off of the landscape planning experience in Bolikhamxay Province and works closely with MMG / Lane Xang Minerals to conserve the upper watershed of the Xe Bang Fai and the Xe Bang Hiang in the Annamite Mountains above the mine.

“We are extremely proud of our many staff and counterparts who over the years have acquired exceptional skills, advanced degrees and invaluable experience to continue to move ahead on improving wildlife and protected area management in Laos,” shared Arlyne. “However, biodiversity conservation and sustainable natural resource management is still a relatively new idea. Many in the country are still of the mindset that Lao’s natural resources are endless and can never be depleted. It troubles us to think that Laos may repeat the same mistakes many countries have made by not managing resources sustainably today so that the resources are lost for the future.

We work with many good people in the Lao government who understand this and are trying hard to make sure this does not happen,” added Mike.

Engagement of Ma Danik and Kruy David

F

ebruary 2011- Happy smiles on the occasion of the engagement of Ma Danik, Finance/Administration Assistant in BirdLife International Cambodia Programme Office to Kruy David in Phnom Penh on the 12th, only two days before Valentine’s Day.

However, the challenges of conserving the extraordinary biodiversity of Laos continue to grow. “This is because the world wide community has globalized the demand for these resources while localizing the management. We are concerned that local officials and villagers will not be able to regulate this trade and that our capacity building efforts in natural resource management are too little too late. We are encouraged however by the ‘multiplier effect’ as a growing number of concerned Lao citizens and professionals continue to engage in biodiversity research and conservation” Mike explained. Both Arlyne and Mike look forward to continuing to support wildlife and protected area management in Laos and the region. They will be working with their Lao colleagues to synthesize and publish results from their collective work so that these findings can guide future conservation efforts. Arlyne will also continue to engage with WCS colleagues in her ongoing research on wildlife hunting and management.

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The Babbler 37 - March 2011

STAFF NEWS

BirdLife recognised in British Honours List

J

Jonathan C Eames (centre) has been awarded an OBE in the British New Year Honours List

onathan C. Eames, programme manager for BirdLife International in Indochina has been awarded an OBE

by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the British New Year’s Honours List. The award has been given for services to biodiversity, conservation and civil society development in Vietnam.

“This is a great recognition of the work of Jonathan and the entire Indochina Programme, acknowledging the impact that BirdLife is having in the region”, said Dr Marco Lambertini, BirdLife’s Chief Executive.

Eames first went to Vietnam in 1988 and then 1990 on expeditions when access to the country was very limited for foreigners. In 1993, he set up BirdLife’s Vietnam Programme which has not only grown within Vietnam but has expanded to a region wide programme including work in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.

“In the early days a major conservation success was being able to play a leading role in the formulation of the biodiversity action plan. At that time we worked with the Ministry of Forestry with the focus on increasing the size of the protected areas system and eventually succeeded in getting first one

then finally about 12 new protected areas gazetted. Despite resourcing and enforcement issues several of these sites have developed, thanks to the Vietnam government’s commitment and with continued BirdLife support, into established protected areas. For example the size of Yok Don NP was doubled in part because of BirdLife lobbying”, said Jonathan Eames.

Eames and the staff of the Indochina programme’s work and knowledge of the avifauna of the region has also led to the discovery of four new bird species (Black-crowned Barwing Actinodura sodangorum, Golden-winged Laughingthrush Garrulax ngoclinhensis, Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush Garrulax konkakinhensis and Limestone Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus calciatilis) and 13 new sub-species, plus the rediscovery of several species about which almost nothing was previously known.

BirdLife in Indochina is also the Regional Implementor for the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand which has provided civil society in the region with US $ 8.5 million over the last two years.

“The conservation challenges in the region are still huge.

Protected areas and wildlife management laws need better enforcement in order to avoid encroachment and eradicate poaching of wildlife and trees”, said Eames.

OBEs are given for distinguished regional or county-wide roles in any field, through achievement or service to the community.

The British honours system is one of the oldest in the world.

It has evolved over 650 years as the country has found alternative means of recognising merit, gallantry and service.

Honours lists are published twice a year at New Year and in mid-June on the date of The Queen’s official birthday. Anyone can receive an award if they reach the required standard of merit or service, and honours lists contain a wide variety of people from different backgrounds.

-------Martin Fowlie, Communications Officer BirdLife International

New CEPF Project Officer for Cambodia

M

eas Rithy joined BirdLife in March 2011 as a CEPF Project Officer for Cambodia. He has a Master degree on Agriculture Economic and Rural Development (Chamroeun University of Poly-Technology, Cambodia) and Bachelor on Science of Forestry (Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia). Meas Rithy has worked as project coordinator, manager and consultant, for many national and international projects in Cambodia. His career goal is to work with poor people for poverty reduction and nature conservation.

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photo spot

Nicobar Pigeon Caloenas nicobarica

O

n 5 and 7 February 2011, I visited Island number four in the Similan Islands National Park, Thailand. This is a well known site for the Nicobar Pigeon Caloenas nicobarica. Although I have visited this site several times previously over the last 25 years, I saw may more Nicobar Pigeons than on any of my previous five visits. I saw up to 20 birds daily and in groups of up to five birds together. They were attracted to fallen figs and at times showed considerable aggresion towards one another.

Jonathan C. Eames, Programme Manager BirdLife International in Indochina

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