IBA support group up and running on Hanam island

Kenh Trap Important Bird Area (IBA) Support Group on Ha Nam island is now up and running. Kenh Trap is Vietnam's first IBA support group: a group of stakeholders who develop local solutions to locally identified environmental problems. The establishment of the IBA support group was prompted by the results of a recent survey, which identified Ha Nam island in Yen Hung district as the most important site for bird conservation in the coastal zone of Quang Ninh province.

During October 2002, with financial support from Danida, BirdLife International in Indochina, the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR) and Quang Ninh Department of Science, Technology and the Environment (DOSTE) collaborated to run a training course to built the capacity of IBA support group members to monitor bird populations, habitats and threats. The training course was attended by about 30 members of the IBA support group, including representatives of the Distrcit People's Committee (DPC), the Forest Protection Department (FPD), police and all shrimp pond owners in the Kenh Trap area. During the training, all participants were invited to participate in discussions concerning key conservation issues on Ha Nam island and were encouraged to think of solutions.

The training course proved to be a considerable success, and, in the future, Kenh Trap IBA Support Group can become an example for Quang Ninh province and Vietnam as a whole of how local communities can take responsibility for managing their own environment for the long-term benefit of both people and biodiversity.

Although the training course took place at a very busy time for all shrimp pond owners, they still attended the training course every day. The participants were very enthusiastic about the course, and strongly supported the idea of protecting their own environment by themselves.

One of the participants, the 72 year old Mr. Don, said "I am very happy to attend this traning course, which has helped me to understand the value of the environment. Thank you BirdLife for bringing such a great opportunity for the local peoples of Ha Nam, and for making me aware that all of us have a very important role to play in environmental protection. I will tell all my children what I have leant today, and I strongly believe we, the people of Ha Nam can do something to protect our rich natural heritage."

"We now understand the values of and threats to this area. We will not allow any hunter to come to our shrimp ponds, and it is our responsibility to educate other people to stop using nets to catch birds," another participant said. "The proplem is that everybody, except the members of the IBA Support Group, doesn't know that hunting birds and using mistnets are illegal activities. I hope the regulations will finalised soon, which will help local people to understand what they should or shouldn't do in order to protect our environment."

In the one month since the establishment of Kenh Trap IBA Support Group, nearly 400 waterbirds have been confiscated and released from hunters, including watercocks, common coots, and ducks. In the future, BirdLife, IEBR and Quang Ninh DOSTE hope to work closer with the FPD and DPC in order to build on the initial successes of the IBA support group, and make it a model for stakeholder participation in conservation in Vietnam.