[Report 15. Full report 2.0 MB. pdf format]

Executive Summary

Prior to 1993, the forest at Phong Dien Nature Reserve was classified as production forest and, as such, was managed by logging enterprises administered by the provincial department of forestry. In 1992, after the value of preserving the area as a water catchment was recognised, a proposal was submitted to central government to change the status of the site to watershed protection forest.

In 1998, following the rediscovery of Edwards's Pheasant Lophura edwardsi at the site, Phong Dien was included on the 2010 list as a 33,900 ha nature reserve (FPD 1998). In June and July 1998, the BirdLife International Vietnam Programme and the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute (FIPI) conducted a field survey in order to assess the feasibility of upgrading Phong Dien and the adjacent Dakrong Watershed Protection Forests to Special-use Forest status. The resulting feasibility study proposed that the total area of Phong Dien Nature Reserve should be 34,406 ha (Le Trong Trai et al. 1999).

In January 2000, after the contents of the feasibility study had been approved by Thua Thien Hue Provincial People's Committee, BirdLife and FIPI worked closely with the provincial forest protection department to prepare a nature reserve investment plan for Phong Dien. This investment plan proposes establishing 41,548 ha nature reserve in Phong Dien and A Luoi districts.

The topography of Phong Dien Nature Reserve is dominated by a ridge of low mountains, which extends south-east from the Annamite mountains, and forms the border between Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue provinces. The highest points within the nature reserve are Coc Ton Bhai (1,408 m), Ca Cut (1,405 m), Ko Va La Dut (1,409 m), Coc Muen (1,298 m) and Co Pung (1,615 m). The nature reserve is drained by three main river systems: the My Chanh, O Lau and Bo rivers.

Phong Dien Nature Reserve, together with the contiguous Dakrong Nature Reserve, supports the largest remaining area of lowland evergreen forest in the Annamese Lowlands Endemic Bird Area (EBA) (Le Trong Trai et al. 1999). Lowland areas are the most extensively deforested elevation zone of Vietnam (Wege et al. 1999), and lowland evergreen forest is perhaps the most threatened forest type in the country. Phong Dien Nature Reserve supports six of the nine restricted-range bird species that occur in the Annamese Lowlands EBA: Edwards's Pheasant, Annam Partridge Arborophila merlini, Crested Argus Rheinardia ocellata, White-cheeked Laughingthrush Garrulax vassali, Short-tailed Scimitar Babbler Jabouilleia danjoui and Grey-faced Tit Babbler Macronous kelleyi (Le Trong Trai et al. 1999, Stattersfield et al. 1998). The table below provides a summary of the species recorded at Phong Dien and Dakrong Nature Reserves that are listed in the IUCN Red Lists of Threatened Animals and Plants (IUCN 1996, 1997) or the Red Data Books of Vietnam (Anon 1992, 1996).

Red-listed Species Recorded at Phong Dien and Dakrong Nature Reserves

The species of greatest conservation importance at Phong Dien is Edwards's Pheasant. Until its rediscovery in 1996, this species was believed to be extinct in the wild. Edwards's Pheasant has a very restricted range in central Vietnam, and is only known to occur at a handful of sites. Rather little information is available about the population of Edwards's Pheasant at Phong Dien but reports from hunters suggest that this species is still relatively common at the nature reserve. Detailed information is also lacking on the status of other key species recorded at the site, such as Annam Partridge and Short-tailed Scimitar Babbler.

The mammal fauna of Phong Dien includes a large number of species of global conservation concern, including two recently described species: Saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis and Giant Muntjac Megamuntiacus vuquangensis. Saola and Giant Muntjac are endemic to Indochina, as are two other mammals found at Phong Dien: Buff-cheeked Gibbon Hylobates gabriellae and Red-shanked Douc Langur Pygathrix nemaeus nemaeus. Recent survey results suggest that the populations of a number of large mammal species at Phong Dien are small in size and scattered, presumably due to the effects of hunting and disturbance (Le Trong Trai et al. 1999).

Historically, the forest at Phong Dien has been threatened by a number of factors. The direct impact of war was dramatic. However, while the indirect legacy of war continues to exert an influence on habitats and wildlife, other threats are now more significant. Hunting levels are now probably lower than in the post-war years, due to lower animal abundance and lower availability of weapons. However, it is possible that hunting patterns have now changed in response to lower animal numbers, with the use of snares now more common than in previous years. Forest fires continue to exert an important and widespread influence on forest cover but clearance of forest for swidden agriculture is now less common.

Different threats have distinctly different impacts on habitats and wildlife. For example, it seems likely that the most direct threat to the wildlife of Phong Dien is hunting, as this has a disproportionate impact on the species of highest conservation concern, notably pheasants and large mammals. Nearly half the mammals known to occur at Phong Dien are listed in the 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals (IUCN 1996), and these are usually the species most vulnerable to hunting. In the case of large carnivores, such as Tiger Panthera tigris and Clouded Leopard Pardofelis nebulosa, heavy hunting pressure on prey species may have contributed significantly to their low population densities at Phong Dien today. Alongside hunting, collection of timber and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) may well represent the most substantive threat to the remaining forest. Further research will be required to understand better whether these practices are being undertaken at sustainable or non-sustainable levels, and to explore ways of addressing these issues effectively.

In summary, the main threats to biodiversity at Phong Dien Nature Reserve are hunting (particularly through use of snares); collection of firewood and other NTFPs (although sustainable levels require assessment); illegal timber cutting (either for house construction or by loggers from outside the area); forest fires (caused by swidden cultivation, deliberate setting of fires to collect metal from bomb and shell casings, and spontaneous detonation of unexploded ordnance); and clearance of forest land for agriculture.

The forest at Phong Dien Nature Reserve may play an important role in protecting downstream water supplies and reducing flooding in the lowlands of Thua Thien Hue province. Poor management of the forest at Phong Dien is likely to have negative impacts on downstream communities, in the form of more severe and more sudden floods, and shortages of water for drinking, irrigation and other uses. These impacts are very likely to be significant in economic terms.

Unfortunately, the low density of large mammals, combined with a lack of prominent landscape features, limits the potential of Phong Dien Nature Reserve for ecotourism. The nearest area of interest for tourism is Hue city, and some residual tourism could be expected to reach the nature reserve from there. With a creative approach to marketing, it may be possible to develop niche aspects of tourism at Phong Dien, especially if combined with visits to other sites in the area. For example, Tam Giang lagoon, Cau Hai lagoon, Bach Ma National Park and the A Luoi valley, as well as sites of historical and cultural interest in Hue city itself.

This investment plan proposes the establishment of a 41,548 ha nature reserve at Phong Dien. This nature reserve will be contiguous with the recently established Dakrong Nature Reserve in Quang Tri province. Taken together, these two sites will form an 82,074 ha block of contiguous conservation coverage in the lowlands of central Vietnam.

Following the official guidelines for feasibility studies and investment plans, this investment plan proposes that management activities for the nature reserve should be grouped into five programmes, with a sixth programme area focussing on socio-economic development in the buffer zone.

[Report 15. Full report 2.0 MB. pdf format]