IDENTIFYING IMPORTANT BIODIVERSITY AREAS TO SUPPORT LAND-USE PLANNING IN PROTECTED AREAS IN LAO P.D.R.

BirdLife International and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), in collaboration with the Forest Inventory and Planning Division and the Division of Forest Resource Conservation of the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and with financial support from Danida, conducted an analysis of all available data on bird distributions in Lao P.D.R., in order to identify Important Bird Areas (IBAs) within each protected area. This analysis was part of the worldwide IBA programme of BirdLife International, which aims to identify and protect a network of critical sites for the conservation of the world's birds. IBAs were selected as the basis for this analysis for several reasons. Firstly, it was considered essential that the criteria and systems of evaluation used were objective. Secondly, birds were the only major taxonomic group for which the available data were sufficiently comprehensive to allow an analysis that was nationwide in scope.

During the analysis, a total of 44 IBAs were identified and mapped. IBAs were identified within all protected areas for which data were available, with one or two being identified in each. Regarding species, 86% of the globally threatened and near-threatened species confirmed to occur in Lao P.D.R. are found within at least one IBA. Similarly, 93% of the biome-restricted species are found within at least one IBA. Most of the species that are not found within an IBA are species for which there are no recent confirmed records from Lao P.D.R., such as Indian Skimmer Rynchops albicollis and Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni. By the end of 2002, the results of the analysis will have been collated into a directory, and distributed to the institutions responsible for land-use planning within protected areas at the national and provincial levels.

The analysis was successful in identifying a network of sites that, if adequately protected, would support significant populations of most bird species of global conservation concern currently extant in Lao P.D.R. The results can be used as a basis for identifying restricted zones within protected areas. Of course, other factors must also be taken into account in the land-use planning process, including the location of existing villages and agricultural land, patterns of forest resource exploitation by local communties, and national development plans. However, now that information on conservation importance is available in an easily accessible format, it will be possible to zone protected areas in a way that balances the needs of conservation with those of local communities who depend on their natural resources.