Kim Hy Proposed Nature Reserve - Frontier-publications.co.uk

1. Introduction and Project Aims
Conservation in Vietnam
Vietnam stretches from 23° 37.5’ N in the north to 8° 00.5’ N in the south, and has a land
area of 331,690 km 2 (UNDP, 1997). The natural vegetation was once dominated by
tropical forests but these have undergone a rapid decline in the 20 th century. In 1943,
approximately 44% of the country's land area was forest. By 1983, this had declined to
24% (MacKinnon, 1990). Good quality natural forests now cover only around 10% of
the land area and, of this, only around 1% could be described as pristine (Collins et al.,
1991).
The natural vegetation of lowland Vietnam is dominated by two broadly defined types:
tropical wet evergreen (and semi-evergreen) forest, and tropical moist deciduous forest
(monsoon forests) (WWF & IUCN, 1995). Wet evergreen forest is found in areas with a
regular, high rainfall (>1500mm per annum), and is largely restricted in Vietnam to the
southern and central regions (WWF & IUCN, 1995). Monsoon forests experience a
distinct dry season and are dominated by deciduous tree species (Whitmore, 1984). They
dominate inland and northern Vietnam, an area classified by Udvardy (1975) as
'Thailandian Monsoon Forest'. At higher altitudes (700m and above), lowland forest
gives way to montane forest formations, which differ from lowland forests in their
distinctive physical structure and floral composition (Whitmore, 1984; Collins et al.,
1991). In addition to these terrestrial forest types, coastal areas of Vietnam support
mangrove and, in the south, Melaleuca forests, and there are small areas of fresh-water
swamp forest in low-lying areas of southern Vietnam (Gov. SRV, 1994a).
Vietnam’s forests contain a wealth of biodiversity. In a recent assessment by the World
Conservation Monitoring Centre, Vietnam was ranked as the 16 th most biologically
diverse country in the world (WCMC, 1992a). It is estimated that Vietnam has about
12,000 species of higher plants (WCMC, 1992b), of which only around 10,200 are
currently known to science (Le Tran Chan et al., 1999). Vietnam is known to be home to
273 species of mammal (including 5 endemic species), nearly 850 species of birds
(including 10 endemic species), and at least 257 species of reptile and 82 species of
amphibians (WCMC, 1992b; Birdlife International, 2002; Nguyen Van Sang and Ho Thu
Cuc, 1996).
Unfortunately, the biological resources of Vietnam are currently under threat. Two Red
Data Books have been prepared for Vietnam: Volume 1, Animals (RDBV, 2000), lists
366 threatened species; and Volume 2, Plants (RDBV, 1996) lists 350. Several
endangered species of mammal, including kouprey (Bos sauveli), Javan rhinoceros
(Rhinoceros sondaicus), tiger (Panthera tigris) and Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
are facing imminent extinction in Vietnam. Forest degradation and the loss of
biodiversity have been caused by a number of factors. Two major wars since 1946 and
several border disputes contributed to a loss of forest cover and increased levels of
poaching.
Frontier Vietnam Forest Research Programme Technical Report No.24. 11