The Biodiversity of Bac Huong Hoa Nature Reserve - Birdlife ...

the Ho Chi Minh Highway, regularly go to the forest to collect iron. Of greater concern is that
professional iron collectors from outside the local area have moved in to exploit the iron (Le
Manh Hung et al. in prep.). These people first clear the forest by burning, to make finding and
collecting the iron easier, causing severe environmental degradation.
Destructive fishing methods
Fishing for subsistence use is common in BHH NR. Most fishing is conducted with nets but
people also catch fish using mines and other explosives. This is not only dangerous (one child in
Cuoi village lost a hand from fishing with mines in 2001) but is also damaging to aquatic life (Le
Manh Hung et al. in prep.).
Deforestation
Approximately 15% of BHH NR had already been completely cleared before the nature reserve
was established. Forest loss continues at a gradual rate and is likely to further reduce the area of
forest of high conservation value in the nature reserve, particularly close to new settlements along
the Ho Chi Minh Highway. The effects of defoliant spraying and bombing can be seen clearly in
satellite images of central highland provinces taken in 1969. However, such areas are not
diagnosably different from surrounding land in recent satellite images and it is not conclusive as
to whether or not the present forest conditions can be attributed to the use of defoliants. There are
a number of factors that may have influenced how present forest cover is affected by past
defoliant use, including: the number of times the area was sprayed; what kind of defoliant was
used; whether or not the area was also bombed or napalmed; the topography; the relative
susceptibility of the forest community to the defoliants; and, perhaps most importantly, how the
defoliated area was subsequently used by people (Koy et al. 2006).
2.8 Habitat types at Bac Huong Hoa Nature Reserves
The original vegetation cover of BHH NR is evergreen forest. Below 600 m the land supports
tropical lowland evergreen forest and above 600 m the forest is classified as subtropical midmontane
evergreen forest. Almost 85% of the nature reserve still retains natural forest cover, of
various degrees of quality (Table 1.). Quality in this analysis refers to a classification based on
timber yield. All forest in BHH NR has been affected to some degree by logging, shifting
cultivation and wars, especially through the use of chemical defoliants.
Table 1. Land cover of BHH NR
Land cover Area (ha) Proportion (%)
High quality evergreen forest 1,923 8
Medium quality evergreen forest 14,158 56
Poor quality evergreen forest 983 4
Regenerating forest 2,268 9
Bamboo forest 3 0.01
Limestone karst forest 1,311 5
Natural forest (all types) 20,646 82
Land with scattered trees 2,224 9
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