Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report - IUCN

Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report
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educational materials. Generating capable and enthusiastic
staff is essential if legal declarations related to protection
of areas or wildlife are to translate into effective
conservation tools.
• Production and wide distribution of Lao language field
guides. These have a pivotal role in raising wildlife
interest and thus conservation awareness.
• Promotion of conservation extension programmes concerning
sustainable use of wildlife and other conservation
issues to rural populations, and to encourage the latter’s
active participation in management programmes.
The more important and threatened NBCAs merit early
action, with programme content tailored to local priorities
and stressing the negative effects of over-harvesting
and habitat degradation.
• Development of environmental educational programmes
by the Ministry of Education, incorporating issues relating
to wildlife, within the national curricula at all educational
levels. Training of, and liaison activities for, interested
teachers also merit promotion. Content for nationwide
programmes should include considerable attention
to the problems generated by unsustainable trade, those
from unregulated development, and the benefits to the
country of maintaining wildlife populations.
• Promotion and development of nature-orientated youth
groups.
• Encouragement to the national media in understanding
and promoting wildlife-related issues for dissemination
to the general public.
• Maximising the potential of existing zoos and wildlife
collections to set the animals into ecological and conservation
context, particularly by signs and other interpretative
aids. Strengthening links between existing zoos and
CPAWM/DoF would facilitate transfer of up-to-date field
information for dissemination to the zoo-visiting public.
• Designing and delivering a specific course in wildlife
conservation biology to BSc. level at Dong Dok University.
This would increase the number of competent and
qualified Lao conservation biologists, and facilitate their
entry onto overseas MSc. courses. Both outcomes could
play a major role in strengthening the capability of
CPAWM and local offices.
Research
• Compilation of existing Lao-language species names and
work towards forming a set of Lao names usable in legal
terms and other circumstances. Currently, some individual
species have many names over the country; some similar
species share a name, even in the same region; and
the same name may even be used for dissimilar species,
usually in different areas. These and other current ambiguities
over Lao names mean that legal status of wildlife
species is and will continue to be unclear to many minds.
Considerable attention is needed towards designing effective
interpretative materials for legal documents naming
wildlife species. This includes not only national laws
but also regional regulations such as those associated with
NBCAs.
• Compilation of a national Red Data Book of the declining
and otherwise threatened wildlife species of Lao PDR,
with the primary aim of identifying for each species longterm
goals and achievable short-term actions to ensure
their survival.
• Development of a wildlife monitoring programme for
selected species both within and outside the protected
areas system. The programme should begin with species
which can be identified and monitored relatively easily
and which are likely to be indicators of conservation status,
not only of themselves, but also of the wider faunal
community, e.g. gibbons, River Lapwing, civets, Asian
Elephant and large waterbirds. Nomadic species such as
hornbills, although conspicuous, are less suitable as
changes in numbers may reflect movement more than
population status. Habitat must also be monitored as,
particularly for long-lived species, current population
may not be a fair indication of long-term habitat suitability,
and sufficient habitat conservation is a prerequisite
for species conservation. However, reliance on habitat
alone would be unacceptable as quarry species can be
eradicated from suitable habitat without any obvious
change in the habitat. For habitat monitoring potential
linkages with existing initiatives (e.g. satellite-based land
use and forest cover monitoring) should be explored.
• Development of a standardised database of species information.
Style of data management should be tailored
to allow for differences between taxonomic groups. Techniques
should be accessible to protected area staff.
• Promotion of research activities on all aspects of wildlife
by visiting scientists which prioritise skills transfer
to Lao students. Establishment of a corps of highly trained
wildlife scientists in Lao PDR is a pre-requisite for longterm
biodiversity conservation activity in the country.
• Establishment of field research stations in areas rich in
wildlife. These can stimulate visitors into careers in wildlife
conservation research while simultaneously collecting
valuable primary data about Lao wildlife.