Ream National Park Twelve Month Report

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Introduction Ream National Park Ream National Park is located in the Prey Nop District, in the province of Sihanoukville, south-western Cambodia. It lies within the area circumscribed by longitude 103° 37'- 103° 50' E and latitude 10° 24'- 10° 35' N and covers an area of 21,000 Ha. The Park is protected by the Ministry of Environment (MoE), Royal Government of Cambodia, within which responsibility for its management falls on the Department of Nature Conservation and Protection (DNCP). Ream National Park is part of a matrix of national parks in the south west known as the South-West Cluster Protected Areas (which also includes Phnom Bokor, Preah Suramarit Kossamak (Kirirom), and Kep). Ream was designated a national park in 1993, due to it being seen as a ‘natural and scenic area of significance for its scientific, educational and recreational values’ (DNCP 1996). A number of reasons were put forward to justify Ream’s selection as a national park, these included: • Rich biodiversity, in both terrestrial and marine systems. There is a need to manage the marine systems especially, as these are fragile, highly vulnerable to over-exploitation of fish and economically prosperous (if managed responsibly). • It is a site valuable for scientific research, biodiversity monitoring, and for environmental education. These are factors important for the progression of wildlife conservation in Cambodia. • Potential for development of ecologically sensitive tourism schemes. This is especially true due to the Park’s location, situated 13 km from Sihanoukville, which is a popular tourist location. Ream also contains its own beaches. A management plan for Ream National Park, outlaying a number of different zones of usage and protection, was produced in 1996 by the DNCP in collaboration with IUCN. Habitat Types A large number of habitat types are incorporated within Ream National Park, including mangroves, mangrove forests, dense evergreen lowland forests, mudflats, freshwater marshes, beaches, beach forests, coral reefs, rocky shore, uninhabited islands, seagrass beds, islands, and a freshwater estuary (Prek Toek Sap). The Prek Toek Sap estuary which dominates much of the Park (being 1.5 kilometres wide when it divides), has been designated, (through the use of globally recognised criteria), as an internationally Important Bird Area (IBA). The IBA scheme was originally established by Birdlife International and gives emphasis to areas of high bird diversity. Bird diversity is an effective indicator of biodiversity in the area as a whole (IBA; Hout et al. 2003). The majority of Ream’s terrestrial area comprises gently sloping lowlands and flood-plains, with scattered hills rising to 277 m (Phnum Molou) above sea level. The soils are generally sandy and relatively acidic, and inappropriate for agriculture. In many areas, the soils are waterlogged and marshy. Climate The climate of the Park is that of a tropical monsoon. There is little variation in temperature between the coolest month and the hottest month. The mean annual rainfall is 3,526mm; the wet season runs from June to September (when wind direction is predominantly westerly), and the dry from December to March, (when wind direction switches to northerly). Lighter Frontier Cambodia Environmental Research Report 1 1
ains are generally experienced between March and June. The annual mean maximum temperature is 32.4°C and the annual mean minimum temperature is 21.9°C. Humidity ranges from a minimum of 73.2% to 87.8%, with an annual average of 82%. Within the Park there are two high tides per day with a range of approximately 1.5 m. The Human Population and its Impact There are 23 villages distributed across 5 communes in or adjacent to Ream National Park. This human population totals almost 30,000 people in 5,300 households, and with population growth rates estimated at nearly 3 per cent (DNCP 1996), this number is set to rise. Rural poverty is widespread in the area, and basic amenities such as water, food and adequate housing are lacking (ADB 1999). This is especially true for populations within the National Park, as there are fewer income opportunities here and infrastructure is poor. The average daily per-household income is estimated at less than US$1. With few other sources of income and employment available to them, people’s livelihoods depend on Park resources (DNCP 1996). Most household income is generated from farming, fishing and non-timber forest product (NTFP) collection; almost all of which come from Ream National Park. In the past, the forests of Ream have been significantly logged and degraded and at least onethird of the Park is considered to have been heavily modified by human activity (ICEM 2003). Aerial photographs suggest that more than 200 hectares of forest from the hill west of Koh Khchang have been lost since 1971. Logging, predictably, has had the greatest effect in the most accessible areas of the Park, where any commercially valuable tree with a DBH of 50 cm or over has been removed. It is difficult to estimate how many people inhabiting the Park are involved in illegal logging, although a series of questionnaires concluded that 25% of those sampled were involved in logging to some extent (DNCP 1996). The level to which wildlife is hunted is also largely unknown, but the same questionnaire concluded that 41.7% of participants had been involved in hunting over the 3 previous years. 15% of participants were willing to describe themselves as hunters. The species most commonly hunted were pigs, deer and tortoises respectively. Worryingly for such a small sample size (60 people), IUCN listed species including pythons, tigers and fishing cats as species hunted by locals. If this trend is indicative of the human population as a whole in Ream it is difficult to imagine that this is not having a destructive impact on the abundance of wildlife. The freshwater and marine environments appear to be being over-exploited. It has been reported by locals that fish catches (on a family scale) are already declining, which is a good indicator of over-exploitation. This could lead to a collapse in fish stocks, which would lead to disastrous economic consequences for the local populace, as much of the population is dependent on fishing for income generation. Bycatch of sea turtles (IUCN) may also be having a significant effect on their population, particularly due to the long time taken to reach sexual maturity. Coral collection by the tourist market could also lead to a decline in this important, rare and biodiverse marine habitat. Current Management Programs and Aims Ream is the first national park in Cambodia to have its own management plan produced (DNCP 1996), demonstrating the Government’s commitment to protecting its biological wealth. Frontier Cambodia Environmental Research Report 1 2
Page 1: Frontier Cambodia Environmental Res
Page 4 and 5: Suggested technical paper citation:
Page 6 and 7: Participants: Frontier Staff: Dr. A
Page 10 and 11: The common dilemma that the DNCP ha
Page 12 and 13: Methodology Study sites Throughout
Page 14 and 15: voucher specimens (one of each sex)
Page 16 and 17: Results Fauna A full list of all ve
Page 18 and 19: Reptilia Ream National Park is rich
Page 20 and 21: Frequency of turtle catches 25 20 1
Page 22 and 23: Figure 9. Comparison of brahminy ki
Page 24 and 25: Discussion Ream National Park conta
Page 26 and 27: Figure 10. A map showing significan
Page 28 and 29: References ADB. 1999. Cambodia Coas
Page 30 and 31: Appendices Appendix 1: Table summar
Page 32 and 33: What types of fish species do you c
Page 34 and 35: Appendix 3: Animal species seen or
Page 48 and 49: Appendix 4: Tree species identified
Page 54 and 55: Phase, Trapsite,Vegetati on Plot (0
Page 56: 25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00 6

Ream National Park Twelve Month Report

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?