Pheasants: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan ... - IUCN

populations, which have increased the levels of hunting
and habitat disturbance. There is, therefore, an urgent
need to survey all remaining blocks of suitable forest
within its presumed historical range, as well as to measure
the species’ tolerance of various forms of habitat
degradation and disturbance. It would clearly benefit
from the designation of additional protected areas.
Project description: areas of remaining suitable habitat
should be identified and survey work conducted to assess
whether further populations of this species exist. Particular
attention should be focused on Bui Gia Map Nature
Reserve in Vietnam. More intensive research into its use of
secondary habitats, and tolerance to human disturbance
should be undertaken. The results of this work can be used
to formulate sympathetic management policies for
protected areas. Advocacy for these should be combined
with finding ways to reduce the level of hunting.
Timescale: surveys of any length will help provide useful
data, but a longer-term approach will be needed for studies
of habitat use and the implementation of protected area
management policies.
Resources: needs will vary depending on the length and
scope of individual projects, but individual surveys could
be conducted relatively easily.
Project 21. Malaysian peacock-pheasant
(Polyplectron malacense)
Aims: to conduct surveys and document habitat
preferences; to translate this information into habitat
management proposals for protected areas.
Justification: this species is found only in the Thai-Malay
Peninsula. It is virtually extirpated from Thailand and has
suffered a 75% reduction in available habitat in Malaysia
over the past 30 years. Because it is dependent on level,
lowland forest, it is highly vulnerable to habitat destruction
through logging and clearance of habitat for agriculture.
Further information on its precise habitat requirements is
needed, and monitoring programmes must be established
for existing populations so that future declines are identified
and remedial action taken rapidly.
Project description: further survey work should be
conducted to measure population sizes and precise
distributions of known populations, particularly within
the protected areas of Taman Negara National Park and
Krau Wildlife Reserve. This will form a basis for future
monitoring work, as well as allowing a detailed analysis
of habitat preferences to be made. All this information
should be translated into specific management
recommendations for protected areas. Known populations
should be monitored at regular intervals, with parallel
measurement of habitat degradation and disturbance, in
an attempt to identify the causes of any significant
declines.
Timescale: surveys of any length will help provide useful
data, but a long-term approach will be needed for studies
of habitat preferences and the development of protected
area management proposals.
Resources: needs will vary depending on the length and
scope of individual projects, but individual surveys could
be conducted relatively easily.
Project 22. Palawan peacock-pheasant
(Polyplectron emphanum)
Aims: to conduct surveys in remaining areas of lowland
forest on Palawan; to conduct a wide-ranging conservation
awareness programme to reduce the levels of illegal hunting
and trapping.
Justification: this species is found only on the island of
Palawan in the Philippines. It has been recorded from 20
sites and has a fragmented distribution along the length of
the island. Extensive deforestation, much of it illegal, has
led to drastic reduction and fragmentation of the habitat
available, and over-hunting has probably caused a marked
decline in numbers in places. There is an urgent need for
the protection of areas where viable populations of this
species still exist, and a conservation awareness programme
may help reduce hunting pressure everywhere.
Project description: initially, further survey work should
be conducted, concentrating on remaining tracts of
lowland forest, particularly south of Brooke’s Point, on
the slopes of Mount Victoria, and in in the north of the
island. Ways should be sought to enforce the hunting
restrictions that cover the whole of Palawan. This may
require the combination of a conservation awareness
campaign with more detailed proposals on the management
of protected areas. The proposal for a large extension to
St Paul’s Subterranean River National Park should be
supported.
Timescale: surveys of any length will help provide useful
data, but a long-term approach will be needed for the
conservation awareness programme and protected area
management innovations.
Resources: the conservation awareness programme will
require substantial funding, but individual surveys could
be conducted relatively easily.
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