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BirdLife International in Indochina
The Babbler December 2008 1
December 2008 Number 28
Welcome Jonathan C. Eames Features CEPF-RIT December 2008 update
A successful project: Natmataung NP Regional news Two new species
of fish discovered Two new species of shrew discov-ered Four new
species of frog discovered New population of Tonkin Snub-nosed
Monkey discovered Rafetus swinhoei held hostage Tay Za logging in
Karen State Vietnam embassy staff possibly in-volved in illegal
rhino horn traffick-ing Important Bird Area news Permian visit
Western Siem Pang IBA, Cambodia Rarest of the rare Project updates
Bengal Florican White-shouldered Ibis Publications Reviews Staff
news BirdLife International in Indochina is a subregional programme
of the BirdLife Secretariat operating in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar
and Viet-nam. It currently has two offices in the region: Vietnam
Programme Office, N6/2+3, Lane 25, Lang Ha Street, Ba Dinh
District, Hanoi, Vietnam. Tel: +84(0)43 514890 Cambodia Programme
Office, #61B, Street 386, Sangkat Boeung Keng Kang III, Khan
Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh. Cambodia. Tel/Fax: +85523993631
www.birdlifeinindichina.org
The Babbler is the quarterly newsletter of BirdLife
International in Indo-china. This quarter it is complied by Simon
Mahood and edited by Jona-than C. Eames [email protected]. The
views expressed are those of contributors and are not necessarily
those of BirdLife International.
As 2008 draws to a close it is customary, if somewhat clichd, to
ponder what was our greatest achievement in the old year. Without
doubt our single most important achievement in 2008 was in securing
an agreement with the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund to
deliver its conservation investment in the Indochina region. This
opportunity will propel BirdLife from being a small player on the
conservation scene to becoming a donor. I hope that we will be able
to meet the expectations of CEPF, its donors and beneficiaries and
repay the trust shown in BirdLife. The great opportunity presented
by CEPF is that the money is for civil society ex-clusively! Of
course working successfully with government is always our wish but
it is not the only way to achieve conservation in our region. If
anyone needed a better reminder of the distance we still must
travel to ensure effective government-led conservation in our
region one need only look no further than Vietnam. 2008 will be
remembered as the year the Government of Vietnam decided to build a
surfaced road through the Cat Loc sector of Cat Tien National Park.
Cat Loc supports (it is believed) one of only two remaining
populations of Javan Rhinoceros, and the only population on the
South-east Asian mainland. This is a tremendously disappointing
outcome after the years of conservation investment at this site by
the international community. How could it happen? Not content with
failing to adequately conserve its own rhinos, the Vietnamese
gov-ernment is now complicit in poaching South Africas world famous
rhino populations it labored for a century restoring. Vietnam
emerged in 2008 as a major player in the smuggling of rhino horn
from South Africa. It then emerged that a Vietnamese embassy
staffer Mrs. Vu Moc Anh was recalled by Hanoi after receiving a bag
containing rhino horn. The South African authorities went on to
accuse Vietnamese embassy staff of using diplomatic pouches to
smuggle rhino horn out of the country. Clearly, Vietnams Javan
Rhinos cannot count on the support of the government and it is time
to hand their custody over to the NGO conservation com-munity, a
position for which I have long argued. If this happened, CEPF funds
could be used to catalyze the conservation effort.
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2009 promises to be a challenging year for our BirdLife
programme. The effects of the global financial crisis and the slide
into economic recession will inevitably have implications for
conservation. In the short term, donors may have less to spend on
conservation and securing financial support for the pro-gramme will
remain our biggest challenge throughout 2009. One hopes that there
may also be a positive side to global recession too: perhaps fewer
large infrastructure projects of dubious provenance will now go
ahead? In our region this might include the dams planned for the
Srepok River by the Chinese and Vietnamese. One can also hope that
the fall in the price of oil palm may result in reduced rates of
low-land forest clearance in Myanmar as new plantation investments
are put on hold. As I write this we are only days away from the
inauguration of a new American President. Mentioning the need to
heal a sick planet was amongst the first issues he mentioned in his
acceptance speech follow-ing the 2008 election and caught my
attention. We can only hope that 2009 will mark the year the world
finally gets serious about climate change. New evidence from
Australia now strongly suggests that tropical forest species have
far less tolerance for shifts in temperature (because they evolved
in stable tropical ecosystems) that will be associated with
continuing climate change. As the world gets hotter tropical forest
species, especially those in the humid lowlands have fewer options
and nowhere to go. Never mind, the birds and mammals of Cat Tien,
once they have crossed the Dong Nai River can make quick progress
through the hills of Cat Loc along the new road.
Jonathan C. Eames, Programme Manager
BirdLife International in Indochina
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BirdLife International in Indochina
The Babbler December 2008 3
Features Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund-Regional
Implementation Team : December 2008 update In mid August 2008, the
Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) was officially launched
for the In-dochina region and BirdLife International in Indochina,
in the role as CEPF-Regional Implementation Team (CEPF-RIT), issued
the first Call for Letters of Inquiry (LoIs) for Cambodia and
Vietnam with a deadline of 30th November 2008. Further information
about CEPF and the RIT is available at www.cepf.net or
www.birdlifeindochina.org or summarised in the previous BirdLife
newsletter, the Babbler 27
(http://birdlifeindochina.org/report_pdfs/babbler27.pdf). First
call for Letters of Inquiry for Cambodia and Vietnam In preparation
for a first call of LoIs, CEPF-RIT BirdLife International in
Indochina developed a list of civil society organisations active in
environmental conservation in Indochina that could potentially be
inter-ested in applying for CEPF funds. These all receive BirdLife
CEPF-RIT press re-leases, calls for Letters of Inquiry, and
supporting information about CEPF funding and application processes
(to sign up, please email [email protected]). Prior to the
deadline for LoI submission, the CEPF-RIT pro-vided assistance in
English, Vietnamese, and Khmer to more than 50 potential
ap-plicants through in-person meetings, tele-phone calls and
emails, answering ques-tions about eligibility criteria, priorities
for funding, and application procedures. At the closing date of the
first round of applications, more than 70 LoIs from nearly 60
national and international civil society organisations had been
re-ceived. One third of those are for small grants (US$20,000 and
less), with slightly more applications for Cambodia than Vietnam
and five multi-country or re-gional proposals. There will be future
calls for LoIs after assessment has been completed of the many LoIs
submitted so far to identify gaps in geographic or the-matic
coverage.
The CEPF-RIT produced a poster to inform potential appli-cants
and interested parties about the project
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The Babbler December 2008 4
First successful grant applicants Among the few organisations
submitting applications well before the deadline, the Harrison
Institute and Missouri Botanical Garden have become the first
successful CEPF grantees in Indochina. BirdLife International in
Indochina view their approval of these two small grants as a small
but significant step forward for nature conservation in
Indochina.
The Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) has received almost USD
5,000 to support 20 junior botanists and students from Vietnam to
attend the first international symposium of the Flora of Cambodia,
Laos and Vietnam in Phnom Penh, Cambodia this month, thus helping
to build a strong network of academics, researchers, conservation
professionals, and institutions working together to generate
scientific knowl-edge and primary baseline data for sound
decision-making on the conservation of threatened plant di-versity
in Indochina. The CEPF-RIT Project Officer for Cambodia was invited
to attend this symposium and presented a poster to introduce CEPF
to participants and potential applicants. CEPF has identified a
major need for investigation of the status and distribution of
globally threatened plant species in Indo-china. The MBG Vietnam
Botanical Conservation Program, a scientific collaborative program,
between the MBG (www.mobot.org), the oldest operating botanical
garden in the United States and the Vietnam In-
Sapria himalayana, a member of the family Rafflesiaceae is found
in southern Vietnam. Unlike this species which should have 10
lobes, true Rafflesia all have seven lobes. (Photo: Jonathan C.
Eames)
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stitute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR), has
conducted several botanical and conservation training programs
aimed at developing in-country expertise since 1994. These programs
take a multi-tiered approach to develop competence and capacity for
conservation and sustainable use of plant diver-sity for Vietnamese
young scientists, technicians, students, forest protection officers
and park rangers. The Harrison Institute will receive USD 20,000 to
carry out field research to assess the status and distri-bution of
the poorly-known Wroughton's Free-tailed Bat (Otomops wroughtoni)
in Chhep District, Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia. This species is
known only from two sites in India, and one record in Cam-bodia.
Workshops and targeted media outreach during the project will aim
to build capacity of local communities, students and
conservationists in bat research and conservation and raise
awareness of the important role bats play in ecosystems. The
Harrison Institute (www.harrison-institute.org) was founded in 1930
as a zoological museum in the United Kingdom. Today, it is CITES
listed and seeks to increase capacity in mammal and bird taxonomy
in order to promote and facilitate biodiversity conservation. They
provide training and academic super-vision of UK and overseas
postgraduate students, conduct collaborative research programmes
and field surveys, and publish scientific resources. BirdLife and
CEPF expect to make many further grants to fur-ther biodiversity
conservation in Indochina in the coming time.
Wroughton's Free-tailed Bat Otomops wroughtoni: one of the first
species in the region to benefit from the funding provided by the
CEPF (Photo: Niranjan Sant)
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Grant Decision-Making Process The CEPF grant decision-making
process is based on the evaluation of Letters of Inquiry by
internal and external applicants against the Strategic Directions
and investment priorities of CEPF, as listed in the Ecosystem
Profile for Indo-Burma. Small Grants of up to $20,000 are awarded
by the BirdLife CEPF-RIT under a small grants program. Decisions on
submitted LoIs are made on the basis of financial and pro-grammatic
reviews and reviewer comments. Completed LoI forms are sufficient
as proposals for all grants of this size. The RIT will award grants
of $20,000 or less on a regular schedule, inform applicants about
its decisions, and support grantees to document and monitor the
projects as they are implemented. Core Grants of more than $20,000
are awarded by CEPF. The same review process is used for core grant
LoIs as for small grant LoIs, but if core grant LoIs are positively
reviewed, the applicant will be invited to submit a full Project
Proposal application. The CEPF-RIT coordinates review and is
available to assist applicants as necessary. Full Project Proposals
will also receive review, and grantees again supported during
implementation by the CEPF-RIT. CEPF and the CEPF-RIT aim to give
applicants in Indochina feedback within three months from the
sub-mission date. For those submitting LoIs close to deadlines,
responses may be delayed. National Advisory and Technical Review
Groups In order to oversee the strategic evolution of the CEPF
portfolio in each country, the CEPF-RIT is in the process of
setting up National Advisory Groups (NAGs) in all five countries
eligible for CEPF funds in the Indo-Burma region (Cambodia, China,
Laos, Thailand and Vietnam). NAGs consist of representatives from
nationally-represented CEPF donors, the GEF Small Grants Programme,
leading national academic institu-tions, and leading national and
international NGOs. NAGs will help review the CEPF portfolio in
each country annually, providing guidance and comments to the
CEPF-RIT based on this review, participate in a more detailed
mid-term assessment of the investment portfolio, and review and
endorse lists of small grants approved by the CEPF-RIT. The NAGs
are also an important avenue for dissemination of awareness of CEPF
and its goals and achievements among senior decision-makers and
other stakeholders in each country. Similar steps have also been
taken to develop Technical Review Groups (TRGs) in Cambodia and
Viet-nam, comprising experienced international and local
conservation practitioners or academics. Each group, which has four
to 10 core members and additional supporting members, lends their
expertise to reviewing LoIs received by CEPF. They also review,
where occasionally necessary, full proposals and justification
memos.
Huong Tran Thi Thanh CEPF-RIT
December 2008
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Livelihood inputs as a tool to deliver on conservation
objec-tives in Natmataung National Park, Chin State, Myanmar
Project context Myanmar is one of the South-East Asian countries,
with land area of 677,000 square kilometers and a coastline of 2229
kilometers. The elevation of the land surface varies from sea level
along the south-eastern coastal section, to about 6000 meters on
the snow-capped mountain ranges in the North. Myan-mar possesses a
fauna and flora of unusual diversity. It is one of the biodiversity
hotspots of the world and belongs to the Indo-Burma Hotspot, which
includes Indo-China, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar) and north-eastern
India. Lack of clear-cut land use policy; land use conflicts;
deforestation; habitat loss and fragmentation; poaching; and
illegal trade of wildlife and forest products along trans-boundary;
lack of funds, trained staff, researchers, and lack of adequate
political will are common issues of biodiversity conservation in
most of mainland South-East Asian countries and Myanmar is of no
exception. Natmataung National Park (NNP) encompasses 279 km2 of
verdant mountainous landscape in the Chin Hills of western Myanmar.
The peak, that is, Natmataung (Mt. Victoria) is 3053 meter high.
NNP and its buffer area comprises dipterocarp forest, pine forest,
laurel and stone oak forest, oak forest, oak and rho-dodendron
forest and the meadows ( Fujikawa et al. 2008). In addition to the
conservation issues identi-fied below, BI/BANCA had observed that
the area lies in Eastern Himalayas EBA 130 (Stattersfield et
al.1998), and is IBA 39 or the Natmataung National Park IBA
(BirdLife International 2004). It is also one of the centres of
worlds plant diversity (WWF and IUCN 1995). Also NNP is the
important catchment of 2 big rivers and 9 medium and small rivers,
on which about 3 million people are depending for their
livelihoods. Therefore this area was chosen to implement the
project. Natmataung National Park and its surrounding buffer zone
are populated by about 120 villages, thirty-two of which are
located inside the park. Villagers in this remote mountainous area
are among the poor-est in the country, and are dependent on
shifting cultivation and use of natural resources found in the park
and its buffer zone for their livelihoods. Direct causes of
degradation of the IBA and buffer zone include forest fires,
encroachment for shifting cultivation and farm crops, encroachment
of government-promoted plantations, poaching of wildlife and birds,
illegal extraction of timber and non-timber forest products. Root
causes include poverty, low levels of formal education, and
environmental awareness. Adequate political-will may resolve the
main conservation / forest/ wildlife issues in Myanmar (Uga 2001).
Communities in this NNP area are food-insecure subsistence farmers,
and most households are able to grow only enough food for a six
months supply for the family from their shifting cultivation plots.
As populations grow, land becomes less available, and fallow
periods are no longer long enough to sustain soil fertility. During
the village discussions, farmers stated that agricultural yields
have halved in some areas over the last 20 years. As a result,
communities are falling into a cycle of rice debt, and be-coming
dependent on high-value resources collected from the forest, such
as orchids and tubers, and fuel-wood. Increased areas of shifting
cultivation are encroaching on the park, and contributing to the
spread of wildfires. These practices are destructive to the IBA, as
they cause human disturbance, en-croachment of agriculture, severe
fire damage, and destruction of resources such as when trees may be
cut to access orchids on higher branches. The project This success
story began in 2004. It was a collaborative effort between BANCA
(Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association) and BirdLife
International (BI), Indochina Programme. Most of BANCAs
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members in 2004 were former staff of Nature and Wildlife
Conservation Directorate (NWCD) of Forest Department (FD).
According to their analysis on protected areas, effective
biodiversity conservation in Myanmar was not possible unless
socio-economic situation of the poor rural people living in and
around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, was brought into
due consideration. There are 42 existing and proposed protected
areas in Myanmar (Uga 2008), but only 22 are being managed by
wardens and their staff appointed by the ministry of forestry as
the latter has the mandate for biodiversity conservation. Most of
these protected areas are not well looked after because the Forest
Department has constraints, namely, institutional, financial and
human capacity constraints. Therefore as recommended before, after
reviewing the current situation of gaps and shortcomings of the
protected area system in Myanmar, the crucial and appropriate
immediate actions must be carried out in time (Uga 2002). BANCAs
other obser-vation was that the domain concept was still being
adopted and practiced in many government agen-cies. Now it is 21st
century and the current situation in and outside of the country is
very much different from the situation of the last century.
Regarding the protected area management, BANCA had observed the
paradigm shift, that is, from domain concept to stakeholder
concept, which was worth trying in one of the existing protected
areas in the country. This paradigm shift (IUCN 2004) was reflected
in the out-comes of two recent global events, namely, the 5th World
Parks Congress (Durban 2003) and the 7th con-ference of parties of
the Convention of Biological Diversity (Kuala Lumpur 2004). As the
stakeholder concept is not yet well accepted, the involvement of
the Warden and his staff in this project has been in-formal.
Residents of villages close to Natmataung National Park .
Tattooing is a cultural traditional that per-sists today. It
identified a womans tribe and village. (Photo: Jonathan C.
Eames)
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A member of BANCA and the Warden had done a rapid assessment of
buffer area of the park in 2003. The socio-economic data of this
assessment was the very basis of this project. In October 2004, a
stake-holder workshop was held in Mindat comprising BANCA, NNP,
CBOs, LCGs, observers and interested persons and District and
Township level authorities. Stakeholder concept and bottomup
approach were given priority during workshop sessions. The workshop
resulted in, an agreement between BANCA and LCGs that the former
provides livelihood inputs and conservation inputs and the latter
in turn, patrols against poaching, shifting cultivation, forest
fires and illegal extraction of forest products including wild
orchids. In 2004, a series of meetings were continued with local
villagers and district and township au-thorities to identify the
development priorities in each village. BANCA/BI/NNP staff made the
villagers aware of their obligations as stakeholders in maintaining
the integrity of the NNP. As a result the vil-lages elected
representatives to form LCGs to take the lead in promoting village
development initiatives and anti-poaching patrols around the park.
The project initially focussed on two villages, Hiloung (Mindat
Township) and Okpo (Kanpetlet Town-ship). In each village BANCA
provided a water storage tank (1500 gallons capacity), a nursery
(40 feet x 40 feet, 10000 coffee and avocado seedlings), and
distributed rice and improved variety potatoes. In turn LCGs
arranged patrol teams, 10 villagers of each village and patrolling
equipment was provided by BANCA. In 2005, Khunein (Mindat) and
Hlalaungpan (Kanpetlet) villages were included in LCG network by BI
and BANCA. No more distribution of rice took place because we did
not want to destroy the mentality of the villagers. However
instead, there were distribution of corn and improved variety
potatoes (transported from Shan State) for the two villages. A
water storage tank and a nursery of avocado and coffee seedlings
were provided for each village. In 2005/2006, two more villages
were included in our LCG network by BANCA/BE (British Embassy).
Makyauk Ar and Yalaungpan villages were provided with water storage
tanks and nurseries. BE provided school equipment and to Okpo,
Hilaung, Makyauk Ar and Yalaungpan villages. Patrolling equipment
were also provided to 4 LCGs of these villages by BE. Up to this
stage, patrolling was being carried out in 6 villages by respective
LCGs (10 villagers of each LCG) with the assistance of a few staff
of BANCA and NNP. In implementing the TMF project (with Dutch
Governments funding), there was an agreement among BANCA/care/and
UNDP during a workshop attended by personnel from BANCA/UNDP/care/
NNP/CBOs/LCGs in January 2007. Livelihood inputs were provided by
UNDP/care and conservation inputs (patrolling equipment to LCGs of
10 more villages) by BANCA/TMF. Now altogether there were 16 LCGs
in the project area. A training course on Wildlife Law (SLORC 1994)
and rules, Forest Law (SLORC 1992) and rules, systematic
patrolling, biodiversity conservation, usefulness of forests and
zoning princi-ples in Natmataung National Park, was conducted by
Chairman of BANCA and the Warden of NNP, attended by 16 LCGs.
Livelihood inputs provided by Care/UNDP included farming tools,
promotion of wild Taro cultivation, training courses on agriculture
and livestock breeding, home garden growing, textbook supporting.
In 2007, there were two days cross-visits among 16 LCGs, sharing
knowledge and experiences. There was a study tour trip to Pyin Oo
Lwin, which included 3 days visit to an agricultural school for
farmers and 1 day excursion trip, learning on coffee markets. The
villagers were enlightened and motivated and were now very
interested to raise coffee plantations on permanent farms for their
income generation. Hence shifting cultivation can be checked to
some extent. In 2008, BANCA/BE provided Aye and Htatshwe Villages
with water storage tanks, nurseries of coffee
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The Babbler December 2008 10
and avocado seedlings and distributed corn and school equipment.
At present, altogether 16 villages (LCGs) have been conducting
systematic patrolling against poaching, unlawful shifting
cultivation and illegal extraction of forest products. Proof of
success and lessons learned BANCA is being approached by several
villages (at least five) who are requesting inclusion in LCG
net-work. They are interested in patrol teams and starting LCGs,
regardless of whether or not livelihood as-sistance is forthcoming.
They just asked for conservation inputs only. This is a testament
to the fact that the LCG activities meet a perceived priority need
of the villagers, and should be spread farther to more villages.
Some villages asked for both livelihood and conservation inputs.
Formerly although there were many forest and wildlife offences, no
case of infractions of park regula-tions was reported to park
staff. Now in 2007, 46 forest/wildlife offences were reported by
the LCGs to the Warden of N.N.P. In 16 villages (16 LCGs)
knowledge, attitudes and behaviours have changed towards
conservation-mindedness. As a result of conservation training and
LCG activities, many LCG leaders, patrol team members, and
villagers have learned the value of biodiversity conservation in
general, and of the na-tional park/IBA in specific. They are now
aware of the rules and regulations regarding park resources,
Livelihood assistance in the form of avocado and coffee
seedlings were provided to villages taking part in LCG activities.
(Photo: Jonathan C. Eames)
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The Babbler December 2008 11
especially the prohibition on clearing fields, hunting and
snaring, and collecting orchids. Whether or not they agree with it,
or able to refrain from gathering livelihood resources in the
forest, at least most households are now aware of the importance of
biodiversity conservation. When we analyse 16 vil-lages, the LCG of
Madat Village, reports that nearly all households now understand
the importance of conservation. By encouraging the best hunters to
join the patrol teams, the LCG has taken steps to turn hunters into
de-facto conservationists. Every village has pro-conservation group
(majority) and anti-conservation group (minority). BANCA has
noticed that in every village (16 LCGs) pro-conservation group has
become stronger and more powerful and accepted by 95% of the
villagers. All the 16 LCGs are requesting awareness raising
programme to convince the minority groups so that eventually their
atti-tudes may change towards conservation-mindedness. The
cross-visit forum enabled frank discussion between LCGs, park staff
and BANCA staff, including questions such as the role of park staff
in supporting the patrolling efforts. In this way LCGs members were
empowered to air and resolve controversial issues in the face of
authority a real achievement in the Myanmar context. Reporting by
LCGs to the Warden of NNP now (2008) happens quite often on
shifting cultivation en-croachment into buffer/core area of the
park, poaching and illegal extraction of wild orchids. In
Yaloungpan and Kwelontha, villagers protect water sources/water
holes and prohibit cutting of nearby trees by imposing Chin
customary law. The penalty was usually a compensation in kind such
as, the number of chicken, or pigs or mythuns, and is decided by
traditionally respected Chin village elders. Key project results
Among the existing 22 protected areas in the country, the NNP is
the only park where patrolling against poaching and illegal
extraction of forest products is being undertaken mainly by the
villagers (LCGs). The mindsets of LCGs have changed towards
conservation-mindedness. Park staff and LCGs can coop-erate and
treat each other as important stakeholders. With the help of
BANCA/BI/care/UNDP/CBOs, the capacity of villagers has been
improved and the shifting cultivation to some extent can be checked
in buffer/core area of NNP through permanent cultivation of coffee,
avocado and Taro. References BirdLife International (2004)
Important Bird Areas in Asia: key sites for conservation.
Cambridge, UK : BirdLife International. (BirdLife Conservation
Series No. 13). Fujikawa, K., N. Kuroiwa, A. Maeda, S. Gale, U
Shein Gay Ngai and U Aung Din (2008) A Guide to the Forests of
Natmataung - Natmataung National Park, My anmar-. Kochi Insatsu Co.
Ltd, Kochi, Japan. 31 March 2008. IUCN (2004) Participatory
Conservation: Paradigm Shifts in International Policy. A
compilation of out-puts from global events related to participatory
conservation. Published by IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge,
UK, in collaboration with Kalpavriksh, India. SLORC (1992) Forest
Law 1992. The State Law and Order Restoration Council. Union of
Myanmar, No-vember 1992.
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The Babbler December 2008 12
SLORC (1994) Protection of Wildlife, Wild Plants and
Conservation of Natural Areas Law 1994. The State Law and Order
Restoration Council. Union of Myanmar. November 1992.
Stattersfield, A.J., M.J.Crosby, A.J.Long and D.C.Wege (1998)
Endemic Bird Areas of the World: Priorities for Biodiversity
Conservation. BirdLife Conservation Series No. 7. BirdLife
International. Uga,U (2001) Biodiversity Conservation in Myanmar: A
Review with Reflections and Recommenda-tions. A Manuscript
submitted as a Visiting Research Fellow to Conservation and
Research Center of National Zoological Park, Smithsonian
Institution, Front Royal, Virginia, USA. September, 2001. Uga,U
(2002) Requirements for Nature, Wildlife and Biodiversity
Conservation and Ecoregion Descrip-tions of Myanmar based on
Biounits. A Manuscript submitted as a Visiting Research Fellow to
Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Japan. May 6,
2002.
Uga,U (2008) National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS)
from Environmental Perspective. Consultancy Report, submitted to
National Commission for Environmental Affairs (NCEA) and United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). WWF and IUCN (1995) Centres
of Plant Diversity and Endemism: Indian Subcontinent. World
Wildlife Fund and World Conservation Union, 1995.
U Uga BANCA
Traditional handicrafts could play an important role in
providing alternative income generation, par-ticularly for women.
(Photo: Jonathan C. Eames)
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The Babbler December 2008 13
Regional news Two new species of fish discovered in Vietnam
Scientists have discovered in the central highlands and the
central province of Quang Nam two new spe-cies of Glyptothorax,
raising the number to 12 in Vietnam and 73 in the world. The two
new species of Glyptothorax belong to the Sisoridae family and they
were discovered by Heok Hee Ng from Singapore National University
and Joerg Frevhof from the Leibniz Research Institute, Ger-many.
The discovery was announced in an international magazine, Zootaxa
1873. Glyptothorax filicatus from the Mekong River drainage in
central Vietnam, is distinguished from conge-ners by the pattern of
grooves in its thoracic adhesive apparatus (a patch of skin folds
on the chest of the fish) and a combination of proportional
measurements of the head and body. This species is named after the
frond-like pattern on its adhesive apparatus (the name is the Latin
for "adorned with ferns"). Glypto-thorax strabonis from the Giang
River drainage in central Vietnam, is distinguished from congeners
by its small eye, as well as the shape of its thoracic adhesive
apparatus and proportional measurements of the head and body. The
two new species of fish are less than 10cm long. Taken from: Heok
Hee Ng, Freyhof, J. (2008) Two new species of Glyptothorax
(Teleostei: Sisoridae) from central Vietnam. Zootaxa 1873:
11-25
Bich Ngan VietNamNet
21 November 2008
The two new species of fish. Glyptothorax strabonis n. sp. Ng
and Freyhof, 2008, left, and Glyptotho-rax filicatus n. sp. Ng and
Freyhof, 2008, right. (Photos: Heok Hee Ng.)
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BirdLife International in Indochina
The Babbler December 2008 14
Four new species of frog discovered in Cambodia
A new-to-science species of frog, with green blood and
turquoise-coloured bones, has been discovered in Cambodias remote
Cardamom Mountains by international conservation organisation Fauna
and Flora International (FFI). The Samkos bush frog (Chiromantis
samkosensis) is thought to be extremely rare. Its strange coloured
bones and blood are caused by the pigment biliverdin, a waste
product usually processed in the liver. In this species, the
biliverdin is passed back into the blood giving it a green colour;
a phenomenon also seen in some lizards. The green biliverdin is
visible through the frogs thin, translucent skin, making it even
better camouflaged and possibly even causing it to taste
unpalatable to predators. The new frog is just one of four
new-to-science frog species discovered by FFI in Cambodia. The
Carda-mom bush frog (Philautus cardamonus) and Smith's frog (Rana
faber) are named after the cardamom plant and in honour of the
British herpetologist Malcolm Smith, respectively. The Aural horned
frog (Megophrys auralensis) is so named due to the short horn-like
protrusions above its eyes. These species have only ever been seen
in the peaks of the Cardamom Mountains. Fauna and Flora
International con-sultant naturalist and photographer Jeremy
Holden, who discovered the Samkos bush frog, said: When I found the
frog, I had a thrilling suspicion that we were looking at an
entirely new species of amphibian. Photographing these frogs has
been a challenge. They were extremely difficult to find, but thanks
to their distinctive calls we managed to get some excellent shots
and record them for posterity. FFIs Senior Conservation Biologist,
Jenny Daltry, was the first scientist to discover Smiths frog:
Finding a new spe-cies is always exciting, but really its just the
start of many more questions. What sort of habitat does it need?
How does it reproduce? Is it endangered? There is no doubt in my
mind that there are new species waiting to be discovered in
Cambodias Cardamom Mountains. FFI will continue to carry out
surveys and strive to protect this incredibly rich and diverse
area. When FFI began their surveys in the Cardamom Mountains in
2000, the entire national amphibian list stood at only nine
species, hardly more than we have in the UK. Since then, FFI
surveys have brought to light more than 40 species that had not
been recorded in Cambodia before. Cambodias national list of
amphibians now stands at 63 species.
FFI, 18 December 2008
Two new species of shrew discovered in Ngoc Linh, Vietnam Two
new species of white-toothed shrews, Crocidura zaitsevi and C.
sokolovi are described from Ngoc Linh Mountain (Kon Tum Province,
Vietnam). Comparisons are provided with other species of Crocidura
known to occur in Vietnam. Crocidura zaitsevi is very small in
size, comparable only to C. kegoensis de-scribed from central
Vietnam and distinguished by its moderately long tail and cranial
features. Cro-cidura sokolovi is similar in size to C. attenuata
but differs in pelage colour, relatively longer tail, and cra-nial
and dental features. Both new species are currently known only from
Ngoc Linh Mountain. Abstract taken from: Jenkins, P. D., Abramov,
A. V., Rozhnov, V. V., Makarova, O. V. (2008) Description of two
new species of white-toothed shrews belonging to the genus
Crocidura (Soricomorpha: Soricidae) from Ngoc Linh Mountain,
Vietnam. Zootaxa 1589: 5768
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BirdLife International in Indochina
The Babbler December 2008 15
The four newly described species of frog, clockwise from top
left: Samkos bush frog Chiromantis samkosensis, Cardamom bush frog
Philautus cardamonus, Smith's frog Rana faber and Aural horned frog
Megophrys auralensis (Photos: FFI)
New dragonfly for Vietnam
The recent biological surveys conducted by Wildlife At Risk
(WAR), in cooperation with the Phu Quoc National Park, have yielded
in the final week of 2008, a new recording of a very rare colorful
damselfly. Initially WAR field staff took photos and one specimen
in order to confirm the identity of the species. The species was
then confirmed by the WAR entomologist as Rhinagrion mima (Karsch,
1891). The spe-cies was found along a small river in pristine
lowland Dipterocarpus forest. This is the first recorded sighting
of the species on the island of Phu Quoc, and also in Vietnam. The
result has boosted the enthu-siasm and morale of WAR and Park field
work staff.
Wildlife At Risk (WAR) 27 December 2008
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BirdLife International in Indochina
The Babbler December 2008 16
New population of Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey discovered
A new population of the extremely rare Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey,
so-called because of its unusual and distinctive up-turned nose,
has recently been discovered in a remote forested area of northern
Viet-nam. The exciting finding made by Fauna and Flora
International (FFI) provides new hope for the mon-keys future.
Believed to be extinct until the late 1980s, only around 200 Tonkin
snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus avunculus) are left in the world.
As a result, the primate is listed as Critically Endangered on the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of
Endangered Species. Unique to Vietnam, the species is now known to
be present in just two of Vietnams northern-most provinces Tuyen
Quang and Ha Giang. The new finding came about after FFI set out to
discover whether any more populations of the rare mon-keys existed.
While interviewing communities near the Chinese border last year,
it emerged that villag-ers in the Tung Vai Commune had sighted the
strange looking monkeys after seeing rare film footage of them that
FFI had supplied to a national television network. On the strength
of these reports, in April 2008 an FFI-led team of biologists
managed to observe 15-20 individuals in the nearby forest,
including three infants - an encouraging sign, indicating that this
is a breeding popu-lation. The monkeys were located in a small
forest patch in Quan Ba District, Ha Giang Province, near the
Chinese border. While observing this group, the biologists noted
that the monkeys were very sensitive to the presence of people,
giving warning signs to one another and fleeing the area whenever
the team approached. It was apparent that the monkeys associated
humans with danger perhaps due to ongoing threats from hunters.
Excitingly, local reports indicate that another - possibly larger -
group also exists. During the work, FFIs team managed to take a
photo of one member of the new population capturing a fleeting
glimpse of an adult male scampering through the trees. This is the
only pho-tographic evidence of Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys in Quan Ba
District. This new population provides hope for the future of this
species, as the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey is now known to survive in
no more than five locations in Vietnam, and at some locations the
populations are probably in decline. Habitat loss and hunting for
the bush meat and traditional medicine trades have been pushing the
species to the brink of extinction. At this new location, cardamom
plantations and log-ging for the Chinese timber market are clearing
the few forest refuges left for this unique primate and it looks as
though FFI has arrived in the nick of time to drum up the local and
international support neces-sary to protect it.
Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey Rhinopithecus avunculus in Wuan Ba
District. (Photo: Le Khac Quyet)
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BirdLife International in Indochina
The Babbler December 2008 17
The first significant steps have been taken to protect this
population and FFI has brought together a range of stakeholders,
from provincial officials to village heads, to plan the way
forward. Added to the mix is support from the Swiss development
charity Caritas, which is working alongside FFI in the same
dis-trict. They are now planning to provide support to the poor
rural communities living next to the monkeys forest, to im-prove
local livelihoods and reduce human pressures on the forest
ecosystem, thereby increasing the monkeys chance of survival.
Already, cardamom production has stopped expanding in the for-est
and there has been a gov-ernment programme to confis-cate hunting
guns. All recent indications suggest that we have a fantastic
opportunity to secure this population and significantly increase
the chances for the survival of this species, said Paul Insua-Cao,
FFIs Vietnam Primate Programme Manager. Most significant is all the
excitement this has generated locally and the support that is
coming from the local Vietnamese government agencies and Caritas
Switzerland. With almost half the worlds primate species under
threat from extinction, we must do everything we can. In 2002, FFI
and its partners discovered the largest known population of Tonkin
snub-nosed monkeys in Khau Ca forest, Ha Giang Province. With an
estimated 70 individuals, and the only population not in decline,
this group is now considered the most important for the survival of
the species. FFI began work-ing to conserve this group immediately
upon finding it and continues to support forest patrols and
con-duct ecological research, while this year supporting the
establishment of a protected area at Khau Ca forest. Conservation
biologist Le Khac Quyet, has made a name for himself as one of the
few people in the world who can claim to be an expert on this
mysterious species and, while working for FFI, is cred-ited with
discovering both the new population and the one in Khau Ca in 2002.
It is fitting that he should have the last word: When I saw the
Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys in Tung Vai Commune I was over-joyed.
This new discovery further underlines the importance of learning
more about the Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys range and distribution.
There is still time to save this unique species, but with just 200
or so left and threats still strong, we need to act now.
FFI, 4 December 2008
Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey Rhinopithecus avunculus. (Photo: Le
Khac Quyet)
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BirdLife International in Indochina
The Babbler December 2008 18
Not all Garrulax are really Garrulax
The interspecific relationships among extant laughingthrushes
have been unclear for a long time and this has resulted in a
confusing taxonomic history. Recent advances in molecular methods
have greatly im-proved the resolution of the phylogeny of birds;
however, little work has been done on this specific group because
of the inaccessibility to many species. This diverse group includes
50 species mostly dis-tributed in South China and South-east Asia,
and were traditionally arranged into the genus Garrulax, for which
the non monophyly had been questioned by previous molecular
studies. In this study, we in-fer a phylogeny for 23 Garrulax
species and 20 species from close related genera. Mitochondrial
data or combined with nuclear sequences both indicate paraphyly of
Garrulax dividing Garrulax species into two groups. Based on these
results, we suggest resurrecting the genus name Trochalopteron
Blyth, 1843 for one group and retaining Garrulax for the other
pending further study. Using dating methods with a sec-ondary
calibration point, we develop a profile of the speciation history
of laughingthrushes, which sug-gests that the Hengduan Mountains
might not be the centre of origin for these birds as previously
sug-gested. Abstract taken from: Xu Luo, Yan Hua Qu, Lian Xian Han,
Shou Hsien Li, Fu Min Lei (2009) A phylogenetic analysis of
laughing-thrushes (Timaliidae: Garrulax) and allies based on
mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences. Zoologica Scripta 38:
922
Blue-winged Laughingthrush Garrulax squamatus. This enigmatic
skulker is not a Garrulax after all, but instead would be better
placed in the resurrected genus Trochalopteron. (Photo: Jonathan C.
Eames)
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BirdLife International in Indochina
The Babbler December 2008 19
Crested Bunting Melophus lathami is an Emberiza The phylogeny of
the avian genus Emberiza and the monotypic genera Latoucheornis,
Melophus and Mil-iaria (collectively the Old World Emberizini), as
well as representatives for the New World Emberizini, the
circumpolar genera Calcarius and Plectrophenax and the four other
generally recognized tribes in the subfamily Emberizinae was
estimated based on mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and introns 67
of the nuclear ornithine decarboxylase gene. Our results support
monophyly of Old World Emberizini, but do not corroborate a sister
relationship to New World Emberizini. Calcarius and Plectrophenax
form a clade separated from the other Emberizini. This agrees with
previous studies, and we recommend the use of the name Calcariini.
Latoucheornis, Melophus and Miliaria are nested within Emberiza,
and we propose they be synonymized with Emberiza. Emberiza is
divided into four main clades, whose relative positions are
uncertain, although a sister relation between a clade with six
African species and one comprising the rest of the species (30, all
Palearctic) is most likely. Most clades agree with traditional,
morphology-based, classifications. However, four sister
relationships within Emberiza, three of which involve the
pre-viously recognized Latoucheornis, Melophus and Miliaria, are
unpredicted, and reveal cases of strong mor-phological divergence.
In contrast, the plumage similarity between adult male Emberiza
(formerly La-toucheornis) siemsseni and the nominate subspecies of
the New World Junco hyemalis is shown to be the result of parallel
evolution. A further case of parallel plumage evolution, between
African and Eurasian taxa, is pointed out. Two cases of discordance
between the mitochondrial and nuclear data with respect to branch
lengths and genetic divergences are considered to be the result of
introgressive hybridization. Alstrm, P., Olsson, U., Lei, F.,
Hai-tao Wang, Wei Gao, Sundberg, P. (2008) Phylogeny and
classification of the Old World Emberizini (Aves, Passeriformes)
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 47: 960973
Chinese Thrush Turdus mupinensis may not be a Turdus
The phylogeny of the widespread Turdus genus still remains
controversial. We investigated phylogenetic relationships within
the Turdus assemblage using the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene,
with an empha-sis on the taxonomic status of T. mupinensis.
Nineteen species from Turdus were analysed as ingroups and
Myiophoneus caeruleus and Monticola cinclohynchus were selected as
outgroups. Altogether 991 bp gene fragments from these species were
obtained, in which 368 variable sites and 278 parsimony
infor-mative sites were identified. Phylogenetic analysis indicated
that the genus Turdus is paraphyletic and that it forms a well
supported clade including three mostly monotypic genera
(Cichlherminia, Platychichla and Nesocichla). Three types of
phylogenetic tree (MP, ML and Bayesian) support two steady clades
(Europe-Asia clade and South America clade) in Turdus. Species from
the Europe-Asia clade include T. rubrocans, T. pallidus, T.
obscurus, T. naumanni, T. torquatus, T. boulboul and T. cardis,
whilst species from the South America clade include P. leucops, N.
eremita, T. chiguanco, T. fuscater, T. rufiventris and T. grayi.
Ap-plying a substitution rate of 2% per million years, the
divergence of the Europe-Asia clade was estimated to have occurred
approximately 0.95-3.30 Mya, the South American clade divergence
occurring at around 1.2-3.7 Mya. Our results also revealed that T.
mupinensis was located at the base of all three phy-logenetic
trees, which suggested that T. mupinensis might be the most
primitive taxon among all ingroup clades. The divergence time
between T. mupinensis and other Turdus species was estimated at
occurring 3.6-5.7 Mya. The high divergence in mtDNA and obvious
differences in morphology suggest that T. mupinensis may be
considered as a species in a distinct genus from Turdus. Qiao-Wa
Pan, Fu-Min Lei, Zuo-Hua Yin, Kristin, A., Kanuch, P. (2007)
Phylogenetic relationships between Turdus species: mitochondrial
cytochrome b gene analysis. Ornis Fennica 84: 1-11
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BirdLife International in Indochina
The Babbler December 2008 20
Shrike-babblers Pteruthius are not babblers Timalidae, but in
fact are Vireos Vireoonidae With the rise of molecular systematics
and the use of DNA sequences in particular, the overall
relation-ships among the major groups of passerines are beginning
to be clarified and numerous taxa are being found to have been
classified erroneously. One of these latter groups is the
shrike-babblers (Pteruthius), a small group of passerine birds
endemic to southern Asia. Pteruthius has most often been placed
within the babbler family Timaliidae, which has often been regarded
as a waste basket because it includes species whose relationships
to other Old World songbirds as well as to each other have been
uncertain. Recently, other authors produced the first phylogeny of
the Timaliidae and discovered that Pteruthius did not group with
other babblersas was expected on the basis of previous
classificationsbut rather with cor-void outgroups. We analysed a
dataset which included a total of 148 taxa (including two
Pteruthius and two non-passerine outgroup taxa) and 4,126 aligned
base pairs. The results of the maximum parsimony, maximum
likelihood, and Bayesian analyses all show that Pteruthius does not
group with the Timaliidae but is deeply nested within the core
Corvoidea with strong support for a sister rela-tionship with a
clade including Vir-eonidae and Erpornis. The results of this study
corroborate the findings of Cibois (2003) that Pteruthius does not
belong in the Timaliidae (Passerida). Instead, this genus falls
within the Corvoidea, with a highly supported sister relationship
to the Vireonidae + Erpornis. Erpornis (nee Yuhina zan-tholeuca)
was recently discovered to be another aberrant taxon formerly
placed in the Timaliidae. We recom-mend that the classification of
the gen-era Pteruthius and Erpornis should be changed. These new
phylogenetic re-sults demonstrate these genera do not belong in the
Timaliidae but rather that they should be placed within the
Vireonidae.
Paper summarised by Simon Mahood, Conservation Advisor,
BirdLife Vietnam Programme
Black-headed Shrike Vireo Pteruthinus rufiventer, a female of
this poorly known species. How many other aberrant Old World
species really belong to New World families? (Photo: Jonathan C.
Eames)
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BirdLife International in Indochina
The Babbler December 2008 21
Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam form a diverse and important region
for the order Galliformes with at least 21 species, comprising 10
pheasants, seven partridges, three quails and one francolin.
Several are en-demic to the region and several are considered
globally threatened. Information was collated for each species on
the Indochinese range, habitat use and conservation status. This
information was used to de-termine gross patterns in conservation
requirements, prioritised partly through the global importance of
the Indochinese population. The galliform species at most immediate
risk in Indochina is probably Green Peafowl, through heavy hunting
exacerbated by increasing human access to former wildernesses. The
endemic Edwardss Pheasant also merits species specific conservation
attention. Other forest species occur widely throughout surviving
habitat, which remains landscape-scale despite serious losses in
re-cent decades. Non-forest species, notably three quails (none
endemic) remain very poorly known and threat levels cannot be
assessed. For galliform conservation in Indochina by far the most
important ac-tion is turning the existing declared protected areas
networks into functional reality conserving a multi-tude of
landscapes, each of hundreds of square kilometres, across the
region. Past assessments of threat level to Indochinese forest
Galliformes have been alarmist: many species are persisting in
heavily-hunted fragments of the 1050 sq. km size class, where many
other forest vertebrates have been extirpated. Abstract taken from:
Brickle, N. W., Duckworth, J. W., Tordoff, A. W., Poole, C. M.
Timmins, R., McGowan, P. J. K. (2009) The status and conservation
of Galliformes in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Biodiversity
Conservation.
Green Peafowl Pavo muticus is described by Brickle et al. as one
of the most threatened Galliforms in Indochina. They recommend that
it is uplisted to Endangered. BirdLife International are already
act-ing on this recommendation, this change may feature in the 2009
RedList. (Photo: Jonathan C. Eames)
Status of Indochinas Galliformes revised
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BirdLife International in Indochina
The Babbler December 2008 22
Three Hog Badgers for the price of one
Hog-badgers (mustelid carnivorans classified in the genus
Arctonyx) are distributed throughout East and South-East Asia,
including much of China, the eastern Indian Subcontinent, Indochina
and the large con-tinental Asian island of Sumatra. Arctonyx is
usually regarded as monotypic, comprising the single spe-cies A.
collaris F. Cuvier, 1825, but taxonomic boundaries in the genus
have never been revised on the basis of sizeable series from
throughout this geographical range. Based on a review of most
available specimens in world museums, we recognize three
distinctive species within the genus, based on cra-niometric
analyses, qualitative craniodental features, external comparisons,
and geographical and eco-logical considerations. Arctonyx
albogularis (Blyth, 1853) is a shaggy-coated, medium-sized badger
widely distributed in temperate Asia, from Tibet and the Himalayan
region to eastern and southern China. Arc-tonyx collaris F. Cuvier,
1825, is an extremely large, shorter-haired badger, distributed
throughout South-east Asia, from eastern India to Myanmar,
Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. The worlds largest extant
badger, A. collaris co-occurs with A. albogularis in eastern India
and probably in southern China, and fossil comparisons indicate
that its geographical range may have extended into central China in
the middle Pleistocene. The disjunctly distributed species Arctonyx
hoevenii (Hubrecht, 1891), originally de-scribed within the order
Edentata by a remarkable misunderstanding, is the smallest and
darkest mem-ber of the genus and is endemic to the Barisan mountain
chain of Sumatra. Apart from A. hoevenii, no other Arctonyx occurs
on the Sunda Shelf below peninsular Thailand. The natural history
of each species of Arctonyx, so far as is known, is briefly
reviewed. Helgen, K. M., Lim, N. T-L., Helgen, L. E. (2008) The
hog-badger is not an edentate: systematics and evolution of the
genus Arctonyx (Mammalia: Mustelidae). Zoological Journal of the
Linnean Society 154: 353385.
Around 250 live Asian Elephants have been smuggled from Myanmar
in the past decade, mostly des-tined for elephant trekking tourism
activities in neighbouring Thailand, a new report by the wildlife
trade monitoring network TRAFFIC reveals today. Meanwhile blatant
illegal ivory trade continues in Myanmar, with TRAFFIC surveys of
14 markets and three border markets in Thailand and China finding
9,000 pieces of ivory and 16 whole tusks for sale. Retailers
generally displayed ivory and other elephant parts quite openly and
rarely hesitated in disclosing smuggling techniques and other
illegal activities to TRAFFIC staff posing as potential buyers.
Chris Shepherd, Senior Programme Officer with TRAFFIC, said the
report confirmed a serious lack of law enforcement and a blatant
disregard for international con-ventions and national laws in
Myanmar and neighbouring states. Females and juvenile elephants are
particularly targeted to supply the demand from the tourism
industry in Thailand, where they are put to work in elephant
trekking centres, said Shepherd. Our research found evidence of
corruption allowing the illicit smuggling of ivory and elephants to
take place. No cross-border trade of live elephants has been
reported to CITES by either Myanmar or Thailand. Some traders
questioned claimed elephants had disappeared from parts of Myanmar,
owing to numbers captured for the live trade. Anecdotal reports of
elephant disappearances, together with the large volume of ivory
and elephant parts consistently ob-served for sale at markets over
a period of several years suggests that trade poses a significant
threat to the survival of Asian Elephants in Myanmar, said Vincent
Nijman, a co-author of the report. TRAFFIC and WWF call on
authorities in Myanmar to work closely with enforcement officers in
neighbouring Thailand and China to address the illegal trade in
live elephants and ivory.
WWF, 10 December 2008
Myanmar hotspot for elephant smuggling and ivory trade
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BirdLife International in Indochina
The Babbler December 2008 23
One of only two known Rafetus swinhoei escapes, is captured,
held hostage and finally released again
After protracted negotiations, its ordeal is finally over and
the precious turtle can be released back into its lake (Photo: Tran
Van Minh)
A rare East Asian turtle, one of just four believed left in the
world, was swept away by a flood, taken hostage by an enterprising
fisherman and nearly ended up in a soup pot. Instead, the 70
kilogram animal returned to its lake Wednesday and conservationists
celebrated their deal with the fisherman-the turtle's freedom in
exchange for about US$200 and two new fishing nets. Douglas Hendrie
and other conservationists had been trying to find the turtle for
two weeks after floods washed the animal out of Dong Mo Lake near
Hanoi. "Thank god it's over," said Hendrie, director of the Asian
Turtle Programme at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo who also works
with the conservation group, Education for Nature Vietnam. "We're
happy that the turtle is back in the lake." Only three other
mem-bers of the Rafetus swinhoei species, also known as Swinhoe's
soft-shelled turtle or the Yangtze soft-shelled turtle, are known
to exist. Two are in Chinese zoos and another lives in Ho Hoan
Kiem, a lake in downtown Hanoi named for its association with a
legendary turtle. Both Vietnamese turtles are male. An attempt
earlier this year to mate the Chinese male, 100, with the sole
surviving female, 80, was deemed unsuccessful when the resulting
eggs failed to hatch.
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BirdLife International in Indochina
The Babbler December 2008 24
According to legend, a magic turtle snatched a sword from the
Vietnamese King Le Loi as he boated on the lake and returned it to
the gods who had lent it to the king to help him defeat Chinese
invaders. The lake has since been called Ho Hoan Kiem, or the Lake
of the Returned Sword. Fisherman Nguyen Van Toan found the turtle
early Wednesday and demanded US$1,400 in exchange for its release,
arguing that a Hanoi restaurant owner had offered him 30 million
dong (US$4,800) for the animal. Turtles are considered a delicacy
in Vietnam and other Asian countries. Toan argued with au-thorities
and conservationists for hours, occasionally picking up a stick to
threaten the crowd of about 100 onlookers that gathered in his yard
to watch the drama. He finally agreed to accept cash and new nets
to replace the ones he ruined capturing the turtle. "It's a small
reward for people who realised that it's important to protect one
of the most endangered species in the world," said Nguyen Thi Van
Anh, a colleague of Hendrie's from Education for Nature. Toan said
he was satisfied with the outcome: "I'm very happy the turtle is
returning to nature," he said.
Intellasia, 28 November 2008
Large seizure of reptiles in Cambodia
In cooperation with the Cambodian Forestry Administration,
Wildlife Alliances Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT) rescued
hundreds of live turtles and pythons from illegal reptile smugglers
during an operation in Kg Chnnang province. On Sunday, November 9,
2008, the WRRT stopped two cars along national road No. 5, each
carrying hundreds of kilograms of turtles, snakes, and tortoises --
many of them threatened or endangered. The drivers of the two cars,
both Cambodian nationals, were believed to be taking the wildlife
to Vietnam via Kandal Province to sell into the region's illegal
wildlife trade. More than 485 kilograms (1069 pounds) of wildlife
were crammed into the trunks of the two vehicles. All the species
are believed to have been taken illegally from the wild in
protected areas in Battambang prov-ince. WRRT released all the
animals into their natural habitats shortly after seizure.
According to the Asian Turtle Conservation Network, more than 50%
of Asias turtle and tortoise species are listed as "Critically
Endangered" or "Endangered" on the IUCN Red List, due to an
enormous illegal trade for food and traditional cultural uses.
Among the species were: 9 kg of Yellow-headed temple tur-tles
Hiieremys annandalii (Endangered), 10 kg of Malayan snail-eating
turtles Malayemys subtrijuga (Vulnerable), 104 kg of Asiatic
softshell turtles Amyda cartilaginea (Vulnerable), 30 kg of king
cobras Ophiophagus hannah - listed as an Appendix II animal within
CITES and could become further threatened by illegal trade, 81 kg
of reticulated pythons Python reticulatus, 56 kg of Burmese pythons
Python molurus bivittatus - listed as an Appendix II animal within
CITES and threatened by the leather market, tradi-tional medicine
trade and the pet trade. According to Michael Zwirn, Director of
U.S. Operations for Wildlife Alliance, The size of this bust
il-lustrates the scope of the crisis for reptiles in Southeast
Asia. Some of these turtle and tortoise species take years to grow
to maturity. Poachers and illegal wildlife traders can wipe out the
population of a river or lake in one shipment to Vietnam or China.
Wildlife Alliances Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team is supported by the
Wallace Research Foundation, David Bohnett Foundation, and many
other individuals and charities in the United States and
elsewhere.
Wildlife Alliance, 19 November 2008
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BirdLife International in Indochina
The Babbler December 2008 25
Rings made of elephant hair flood central highland souvenir
shops, Vietnam
To ethnic minority groups living in the central highland
province of Dac Lac, a ring made of hair taken from an elephants
tail is far more than an ordinary ornament. Because most people
consider it to be an amulet that is expected to bring them luck in
love, local couples often use elephant hair as a pawn in the game
of love. Although no one has ever been able to prove the
reliability of such a rumour, rings plaited with elephant hairs are
now appearing in many souvenir shops. But the consequences of such
beliefs in the significance of the elephant rings are leaving a
tale of cruelty thieves are often the ones who cut off the tails of
the massive beasts. The elephants hair tail is worth VND
200,000-300, 000 (US$12-18), depending on its length and a ring
woven with elephants hair costs around VND 500,000 ($30). Any ring
inlaid with white elephant hair can be sold at double the price
because it is considered rare. Love-birds find that the exotic
flavour is another attraction of the unique ring. This new trend
has fuelled tourists quests for rings inlaid with elephant hair but
at the same time has spawned a trade that involves gratuitous
cruelty. Y KTuk, an eld-erly resident of Buon Don, the provinces
most famous tourism village, couldnt hide his anger while recalling
how his elephant lost his tail. "They sneak in at night when my
family are sleeping. After his tail was cut off, my elephant was in
so much pain that he couldnt eat for days. I cant bear witness to
his suffering. "Most local ethnic minority groups like Ede or Mnong
have a tradition of imposing stiff pun-ishment on people who steal
elephants tail hairs. The stolen hairs should be burnt as an
apology made to the "elephant god". However, a blind rush for high
profits has blighted peoples eyes to the danger and suffering they
are causing.
Vietnam News, 31 August 2008
Vietnam customs officials said Monday they had seized about five
tons of frozen pangolin meat, a pro-tected species whose trade is
illegal. The 270 boxes of pangolin meat were found Friday in
northern Quang Ninh Province, said an official at the Cai Lan port
customs office, asking not to be named. Offi-cials suspected the
cargo was on its way to China, she said. Another source at the
port's customs office, who also asked not to be named, said the
meat came from 1,481 pangolins. Pangolins, also known as scaly
anteaters, are protected under the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and trading of
the animal and its products is illegal. De-mand for pangolin meat,
with its supposedly medicinal and aphrodisiac qualities, is
widespread in China and in Vietnam, which has a poor conservation
record.
Agence France Presse, 22 December 2008
Hopefully, the Vietnamese government will destroy this meat,
instead of selling it back into the trade. 24 tones of pangolin
meat and scales confiscated earlier in the year were sold to the
government for use in traditional medicine, although the sale is
yet to be completed due to fears that the meat will be re-exported
in breach of CITES.Eds
Five tonnes of frozen pangolin meat confiscated in Vietnam
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The Babbler December 2008 26
Tay Za logging in Karen State, Myanmar
Burmese business tycoon Tay Zas Htoo Trading Company has
recently started logging timber in Karen rebel-held territory,
according to a source close to a delegation of businessmen
negotiating the deal in Three Pagodas Pass. According to the
source, Tay Za got permission to begin logging in the Mae Kathr
forest from the Karen National Union (KNU) by paying taxes in
advance. The Mae Kathr forest had, until recently, been undisturbed
for more than 60 years. It lies in Dooplaya District, about nine
kilome-ters (5.5 miles) from Three Pagodas Pass in an area under
the control of KNU Brigade 6. The source said that Htoo Trading
Company has already cut down about 1,000 tons of timber in the
forest. According to KNU Forestry Department data, the KNU has
preserved two main forests, Mae Kathr and Kyunchaung, which both
lie in Dooplaya District. Mae Kathr forest covers an area of 50,000
acres while Kyunchaung covers 20,000 acres. Both forests are rich
in virgin hardwoods, including teak and iron-woods. A resident in
Three Pagodas Pass told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the company
has begun construction of timber-processing factories across a
football park and 10 acres of land in Three Pagodas Pass. He said
the company has lined up more than 20 trucks to carry the logs.
According to the source close to Tay Zas delegation, three trucks
are currently being deployed to ferry in and out workers who are
preparing the road on which the timber is being transported. He
said that Htoo Trading cuts and processes the logs at the factories
in Three Pagodas Pass before transporting them to Kyar Inn Seikgyi
Township in Karen State. However, Captain Htat Nay of KNU Brigade 6
denied that the rebel army had granted permission for Htoo Trading
Company to log timber in the Mae Kathr forest. Speaking to The
Irrawaddy by telephone on Tuesday he said that Tay Zas delegation
has requested a permit to log the forest in the past, but that the
KNU had refused permission. Previously, the KNU has only granted
logging contracts to large tim-ber companies like the
Thailand-based Sia Hook firm. Revenue from logging contracts is
reportedly the KNUs major source of income, from which it
subsidizes its war against the Burmese army by purchas-ing arms.
Meanwhile, a source at the New Mon State Party (NMSP) on Tuesday
said that the Burmese junta and its main ally, the Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army (DKBA), are currently preparing for a dry season
military offensive against the KNU in the Brigade 6 region. He said
this might have forced the KNUs hand into accepting the quick cash
from a logging contract with Tay Za in case they are forced to
withdraw from the region and lose control over logging rights.
The Irrawaddy, 11 November 2008
Hairy-nosed Otter found in Myanmar A skin of a Hairy-nosed Otter
Lutra sumatrana collected in northern Myanmar (at 2643N, 9758E;
alti-tude c.900 m) on 6 April 1939 and held in the Natural History
Museum, London, has remained unpub-lished. The speciess ecology and
distribution remain poorly known: this is the first record for
Myanmar, was collected c.1800 km from the generally accepted range,
and is from hill evergreen forest, a very dif-ferent habitat from
the speciess current known localities. There is no plausible
alternative explanation for the skin at this location other than
the species inhabiting the area. Validating the speciess presence
there may now be impossible, because of massive recent trade-driven
declines of all otters there, as are occurring widely in mainland
South-East Asia. Abstract taken from: Duckworth, J. W., Hills, D.
M. (2009) A specimen of Hairy-nosed Otter Lutra suma-trana from far
northern Myanmar. IUCN Otter Specialist Group Bulletin 25:
60-67.
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The Babbler December 2008 27
Tiger and other cat parts in open sale in Myanmar
TRAFFIC surveys found parts of Tigers and other wild cat species
openly on sale in Myanmar, with some dealers claiming their Tiger
parts originated in India. Skin and bones, canines and claws from
al-most 1,200 wild cats were observed in Myanmars wildlife markets
during 12 surveys undertaken by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade
monitoring network. They included parts of at least 107 Tigers and
all eight cat species native to Myanmar. Irregular surveys over the
last 15 years have recorded a total of 1,320 wild cat parts,
representing a minimum of 1,158 individual animals. Although almost
1,200 cats were recorded, this can only be the tip of the iceberg,
said Chris Shepherd, Programme Co-ordinator for TRAFFICs South-east
Asia office. The cat parts were openly displayed for sale and the
dealers quite frank about the illegality of the trade, which
suggests a serious lack of law enforcement. People from
neighbouring countries are the main buyers of these parts, as
reflected by the locations of the marketsthree of the four markets
surveyed were located on international borders with China and
Thailand. Prices were quoted in Thai or Chinese currency, or even
US Dollars. The sale of endangered cat parts, including Tigers of
which only about 4,000 remain, is an appalling and brazen violation
of the law in Myanmar and should not be tolerated, said Dr. Susan
Lieberman, Director of WWF Interna-tionals Species Programme. Most
of these species have very low population numbers and will not be
able to withstand the amount of poaching that is feeding this
trade. National legislation in Myanmar is imprecise as to how many
cat species are totally protected, but at least five are. Native
cats comprise Tiger, Leopard, Clouded Leopard, Marbled Cat, Asiatic
Golden Cat, Fishing Cat, Leopard Cat and Jungle Cat. Five of them
are listed in Appendix I of CITES (The Conven-tion on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), which bans
international trade. Myanmar has been a signatory to CITES since
1997. Myanmar has an amazing wealth and variety of wildlife.
However, immediate action to close down these markets and prosecute
those engaged in the trade of protected wildlife is essential, said
Shepherd, adding that national legislation needed to be tightened
and better cross-border co-operation with neighbouring countries,
particularly Thailand and China was needed. Myanmar is a member of
the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN), a partnership
that seeks to end illegal cross-border wildlife trade in the
region.
TRAFFIC News 15 October 2008
Vietnamese embassy staffer in South Africa in 'illegal' rhino
horn transaction
A Vietnamese embassy staff member, Mrs. Vo Moc Anh, has
allegedly been caught red-handed on film in an illegal rhinoceros
horn transaction in front of the embassy building in Pretoria. A
still photo from SABCs nature investigations programme from top to
bottom show a Vietnamese Embassy staffer alleg-edly buying a rhino
horn outside the embassy. The footage was captured by the SABC's
nature investi-gations programme, 50/50, two months ago at a time
when conservationists fear that the rhino wars of the Eighties are
flaring up again. This year alone more than 40 rhinos have been
killed in South Africa, with about 30 of them thought to have been
poached in the Kruger Park and 12 in KwaZulu-Natal parks. In
addition, conservationists
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The Babbler December 2008 28
have accused Zimbabwean and Mozambican conservation authorities
of doing too little to stem a new wave of organized poaching, while
warning that poaching activities could soon erupt in a "free for
all". Under international law it is illegal to trade rhino horn
products and in South Africa it is an offence, car-rying a maximum
sentence of 15 years in jail and a R250, 000 [Rand] fine. Most
fingers point to Vietnamese syndicates, which have sought to
monopolise the rhino horn trade in recent years. A member of a
special government investigating team told the Mail and Guardian
this week that staff of the Vietnamese embassy were thought to be
involved in rhino horn trafficking and were using diplomatic
pouches to smuggle the horns to the Far East. The 50/50 footage -
to be aired on Monday night - shows a woman thought to be the
embassy receptionist talking to a known agent of a rhino horn
smuggling syndicate, who hands her a horn. Smiling, she then heads
into the embassy. 50/50 tried to get comment from the embassy for
two months, without success. The embassy declined to com-ment to
the MandG, but requested a meeting with the paper next week where
it promised to respond to the allegations.
Last year the Vietnamese daily, Thahn Nien, reported that South
African police had complained to the embassy that one of its
officials was conveying rhino horns out of South Africa. Vietnamese
authorities allegedly took action against the official, but he was
not charged here. In June another Vietnamese na-tional was
reportedly arrested in Vietnam for smuggling five horns, worth
R2-million. An explosive re-port about horn smuggling, written by a
member of the government task team, also alleged that Far East
embassies in neighbouring Mozambique may be involved in the
smuggling. The investigator, who asked
Black Rhinos Diceros bicornis Look-out the Vietnamese are
coming! (Photo: Jonathan C. Eames)
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The Babbler December 2008 29
not to be named, said 55 rhinos have been killed on the border
of the Kruger Park in Mozambique, 18 in the past nine months. This
and other forms of poaching posed a threat to the South
Africa-Mozambican trans-frontier park. "It is definitely
escalating," he said, adding that South African investigators had
caught many offenders, but that Mozambican law enforcers let them
down at the last moment. The 18 horns poached this year have not
surfaced yet, leading investigators to believe that they have found
their way out of Mozambique. "The Mozambican anti-poaching legal
network is quite weak," he said. "In most cases nothing has
happened." The investigator was unhappy that South African
authorities were reluc-tant to get involved because they feared
jeopardising bilateral relationships. He said that unlike their
predecessors in the Eighties, the new Southern African horn
syndicates were sophisticated and well or-ganized and the syndicate
bosses rarely got their hands dirty. Prices range between R12, 000
and R20, 000 per kilogram for a horn, but in reselling it,
syndicates can make up to R100, 000 per kilogram. Prices of horns
have skyrocketed in recent years. International law allows hunters
to shoot rhinos legally as trophies. But because rhino hunts are so
expensive, it is cheaper to use hunting licences to smuggle poached
horns than to shoot the animals. Investigators say conservation
officials lack the capacity to check if the right rhino has been
shot. In June South Africa's environment minister, Marthinus van
Schalkwyk, announced a moratorium on all trade in horns, to counter
the smuggling upsurge. Van Schalkwyk told Parliament: "This
indiscriminate illegal trade in rhino is directly linked to
organized crime and the fact that approximately 27 white rhino were
poached in the Kruger National Park during the past two years, as
well as a definite increase in incidents in other parts of the
country." Internation-ally the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (Cites) also established a rhinoceros
enforcement task force in July to combat poaching. In Asia poaching
poses an even more direct threat to the species. South African
National Parks is conducting a sensitive investigation into
poaching in its parks. SAN-Parks head of communications Wanda
Mkutshulwa confirmed the increase in rhino poaching. "We're working
hard to stem the tide, as even one rhino poached is one too many,"
she said. "Our investigators are confident they will be able to
come up with good results before long." According to the World
Wildlife Fund rhino horn is a valuable ingredient in traditional
Chinese medi-cine - despite the absence of scientific evidence of
its curative properties. Contrary to popular belief, it is not used
as an aphrodisiac. Considered a powerful heat-reducing remedy, horn
is used to treat fever, delirium, high blood pressure and other
ailments.
Mail and Guardian, Johannesburg,
14 November 2008
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The Babbler December 2008 30
Important Bird Areas News
Permian team visit Western Siem Pang IBA
During December we were delighted to host a visit by a
delegation from Permian including Stephen Rumsey, Edward Rumsey and
Philip D. Round. Permian is supporting and investing in a number of
avoided deforestation and ecosystem restoration projects in
tropical forests with its partners in South-East Asia, South
America and Africa. After the initial investment, these projects
will become self-sustaining as a result of the income from the
carbon credits they generate. It was therefore with the
pos-sibility for a similar project in mind that, we visited western
Siem Pang, on what was Stephen and Ed-wards first visit to
Cambodia.
Following a courtesy call on the Stung Treng Governor, part of
the delegation flew over the forest before we all then spent the
next three days exploring the area on foot, my motorcycle and boat.
Cambodia is one of a number of tropical countries that Permian is
considering for future investment. Western Siem Pang is certainly
is of sufficient conservation importance but its potential as a
possible future site for Per-mian investment would depend on many
factors, not least the volume of carbon sequestered by the site.
Traditionally avoided deforestation projects have invested in
evergreen forests which support a high carbon volume to area ratio.
It seems certain that dry dipterocarp forests lock away far less
and the next step is to determine just how much carbon is held by
the site. We hope that an evaluation will occur in the first
quarter of 2009.
Left to right. Bung Paeng, Bou Vorsak, Net Norint, Philip D.
Round, Edward Rumsey, Stephen Rum-sey, Mem Mai, Jonathan C.
Eames
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The Babbler December 2008 31
Trapeang Tchook from the air, taken during the Permian visit to
Western Siem Pang IBA. Note the outline of old paddy fields along
the shore. Large numbers of White-shouldered Ibis were feeding here
in December 2008. (Photo: Jonathan C. Eames)
Xuan Thuy, Vietnam, declared a World Biosphere Reserve The
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) awarded a World Bio-Sphere Reserve certificate to a
coastal wetland zone in the Red River Delta Monday. The zone, which
covers Xuan Thuy-Ramsar National Park in Nam Dinh Province, Tien
Hai Wetland Natural Reserve in Thai Binh Province, and Kim Son
alluvial deposits in Ninh Binh Province, has become the sixth world
bio-sphere reserve in Vietnam. The Xuan Thuy-Ramsar National Park,
which serves as the backbone of the reserve, boasts a diverse
bio-system and provides a sanctuary to some 200 bird species,
including over 50 migrant bird species. Many of the species are
classified as endangered, such as the spoon-billed sandpiper
Eurynorhynchus pygmeus. With thousands of hectares of mangrove
forest, wetlands and coastal and river mouth alluvial deposits, the
zone acts as an incubator for approximately 500 species of sealife.
The mangrove forests also serve to mitigate the effects of climate
change and rough seas and protect dyke systems in the event of
natural disasters.
Thanh Nien News 14 October 2008
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The Babbler December 2008 32
Rarest of the rare Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey Rhinopithecus
avunculus
The Critically Endangered Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey Rhinopithecus
avunculus, endemic to Vietnam, is one of the 25 most threatened
species of primate in the world. It was believed extinct until its
rediscovery in Na Hang District, Tuyen Quang Province in the early
1990s. Despite conservation measures, this population may now be
close to extinction. In May 2002 Le Khac Quyet of Fauna and Flora
International discovered a second population in a small patch of
limestone forest known as Khau Ca, in the buffer zone of Du Gia
Nature Reserve in Ha Giang Province. Ongoing monitoring of the
Tonkin Snub-nosed monkey in Khau Ca suggests this population
contains roughly 70 individuals and is growing. As re-ported in
this edition of The Babbler, Le Khac Quyet has discovered an
additional population close the Chinese border. The main threats to
the Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey are habitat loss and degredation
including commercial exploitation of forest timber, exploitation of
a range of non-timber forest products, shifting cultivation, fuel
wood collection and grazing of livestock in the forest, and perhaps
most impor-tantly, hunting. The species is one of the CEPF-RIT
Priority Species, and it is hoped that funding pro-vided by CEPF
can help to secure the long-term persistence of this spectacular
primate.
Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkeys Rhinopithecus avunculus. (Photo: Le
Khac Quyet)
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The Babbler December 2008 33
Integrating Watershed and Biodiversity Management at Chu Yang
Sin National Park, Vietnam
Between June and September 2008, the project held its annual
Steering Committee Meeting and the World Bank conducted a review of
the project. The minutes of the steering committee meeting were
sent to all participants. The project implementation team and Mr.
Linh (CYS NP director) met subsequently to refine the workplan for
years four and five, based on comments from the World Bank and
participants of the Steering Committee Meeting. These changes
streamline the project; they will both speed up activ-ity
implementation and improve the quality of outputs..
The period July to September is the main rainy season in the
Central Highlands. The project and park staff worked together to
complete the regulations for cooperation between CYS NP and the
Forest Pro-tection Department in Dam Rong District (Lam Dong
Province).
During this quarter the rangers conducted biodiversity
monitoring in the Dak Gui and Dak Me areas of the park. They
established ten new transects for monitoring of key indicator
species. Data from patrols and illegal activities detected were
collected from guard stations and mapped.
IWBM project staff met with FLITCH project staff in Krong Bong
and Lak District to discuss the possibil-ity of collaboration and
to encourage information sharing between the projects.
Three study teams were set up to implement studies on primates,
even-toed ungulates and Gymno-sperms. The teams are now working on
research proposals for submission to BirdLife project staff.
Five rangers attended a course on criminal investigation, and
two rangers took part in a course on han-dling forest protection
violations in Dong Nai Province and HCM City respectively. Two
members of the awareness team participated in a training course in
environmental education and communication in Tam ao - Vinh Phuc,
organized by ENV.
BirdLife project staff have worked with park management staff to
adjust the awareness programme and strategy so that it addresses
key forest protection issues. The awareness team continue to
implement the revised awareness and PR programme. They conducted
village meetings with over 500 participants in total. These dealt
with issues such as the linkages between community actions and
environmental issues, and included activities which aim to build a
strong and positive relationship between rangers and buffer zone
residents.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework has been revised and
will now be used to quarterly gather data on project effects.
Nina Ksor
Field Project Manager
Project updates
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The Babbler December 2008 34
The Forestry Administration (FA) organized an internal meeting
to review documents submitted in the reporting period to support
the proposal to establish a Protected Forest in Western Siem Pang.
To make sure all relevant stakeholders at provincial level strongly
support our proposal, in July 2008, a short field trip was
organised to draft boundary demarcation and gather additional data
for the social economic impact assessment. On September 28th the
Stung Treng governor wrote an official endorsement letter to
BirdLife and FA to support the proposed area for wildlife
conservation that can be developed into eco-tourism area and to
alleviate poverty in the province in the future. Following the
completion of support-ing documents for Western Siem Pang, FA
senior staff lead by Mr. Men Phy Mean, Director of WPO, drafted a
sub-decree to propose a new protected forest at this site. An
internal meeting inside FA will be organized by the end of 2008 to
review the draft sub decree before attaching other support
documents and submission to MAFF. Sixty signs were produced in
November 2008. They will be placed along important trails and
trapeangs including areas where White-shouldered Ibis roost. These
sign aim to inform people about sustainable use of trapeangs the
sustainable use protocol and forest law.
Preventing the extinction of White-shouldered Ibis: progress
report
Jatropha plantation inside Siem Pang District. Production of
this bio-fuel crop is moving from the experiential stage to the
commercial stage and constitutes a significant threat to dry forest
IBAs in Cambodia. Photo: Jonathan C. Eames)
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The Babbler December 2008 35
The Local Conservation Group (LCG) also conducted awareness
activities through home visits and vil-lage meetings. During home
visits, the LCG distributed posters to villagers. Four kinds of
posters were distributed comprising a poster which aims to increase
awareness about the importance of wildlife spe-cies and how to
protect them by preventing hunting, trading and trapping. Secondly,
a poster about the importance of trapaengs and their sustainable
use. Thirdly, a poster about the importance of Western Siem and
lastly a poster about World Wetlands Day. During the monitoring,
the LCG also attempted to raise awareness of local people who fish
in trapeangs, herd cattle, and collecting wetland edible
vegeta-bles about how to use nature resources in a sustainable way.
The LCG conducted regular monitoring in all important trapeangs in
Western Siem Pang and awareness raising activities. During the
reporting period (April-November 2008), we were informed by two
villag-ers from Sresangke village and Phabang village about two
important roosting areas of White-shouldered Ibis. The first place
location is c. 500 metre from Trapeang Krouse (UTM 0648600 1568060)
where 50 White-shouldered Ibis have been roosting in this area
since August 2008. The second place located near Trapeang Sangke
(UTM 0642123-1557825) where 34 White-shouldered Ibis have been
roosting