Biodiversity - GMS-EOC

History of Protected Area ManagementCambodia was the first country in SoutheastAsia to establish a national park: the 10,800-ha forestaround the Angkor Temple complex, in 1925.Twenty-three protected areas were designated in1993, covering about 19% of the total land area andrepresenting a diversity of habitats.In Yunnan Province, PRC, there are two majorcategories of protected area: nature reserves andforest parks. The Yunnan Provincial ForestDepartment exercises overall authority for protectedareas, which are managed at four levels: nation,province, prefecture, and county. There are 111nature reserves that cover in total about 5% of theprovince.The Lao PDR has one of the youngest and mostcomprehensive protected area systems in the world.Established in 1993, the system of nationalbiodiversity conservation areas was based uponsound scientific principles and now covers 12–14%of the land area.The Protection of Wildlife, Wild Plants andNatural Areas Law was promulgated in Myanmarin June l994 in order to carry out biodiversity andenvironmental conservation more effectively.Currently, about 5% of the land area of Myanmarare protected areas including 23 wildlife sanctuariesand 5 national parks, with plans to increase thiseventually to l0% of the land area.Protected areas in Thailand were given alegislative basis in the early 1960s with technicalassistance from IUCN through promulgation of theWildlife Act (1960) and National Park Act (1961).Khao Yai was the first National Park, established in1961, followed by Salak Pra Wildlife Sanctuary in1965. Currently, more than 15% of the country iscovered by protected areas, with a target of 25% bythe year 2005.Viet Nam established an extensive nationalnetwork of protected areas in the 1990s. This hassucceeded in slowing the rate of destruction of thecountry’s forests. The network is now beingexpanded to include wetlands and marine areas.Currently, more than 6% of the country is covered byprotected areas.Conservation CoverageThere are now 550 protected areas in thesubregion, of which 380 are judged to havebiodiversity conservation as a major function. Theirclassification varies from country to country andthere are 14 different classes of protected areasaround the subregion (see Table). Not all classesappear to fulfil major roles in conservingbiodiversity. For example, the forest parks ofThailand and Yunnan Province, PRC, Thailand’snonhunting areas, and the protected landscapes ofCambodia and Viet Nam may have limited value forbiodiversity conservation.Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Thailand haverelatively large protected area systems. Thailand’ssystem is long established, although several areashave been added in recent years. Those in Cambodiaand the Lao PDR are of recent origin, designedspecifically with biodiversity conservation andrepresentation in mind. In these larger systems, coverof biotic communities and their species is very goodLegally Designated Protected Areas (km 2 )PROTECTED AREA TYPEIUCNCATEGORYCAMBODIAYUNNANPROVINCE, PRCLAO PDR MYANMAR THAILAND VIET NAMNam Et, Nam Et-Phou Loei NationalBiodiversity Conservation Area;Vienthong district of Houaphanh, LaoPDR (upper); Khong Island,Champassak, Lao PDR (lower)Bird sanctuariesElephant rangesForest parksMountain parksMultiple use areasNational biodiversity conservationareasNational marine parksNational parksNature reservesNonhunting areasProtected landscapesSpecies/habitat reservesWildlife parksWildlife sanctuariesTotals of all protected areasProportion of total land area (%)IVIVVVVIIVIIIIIa or IVVIII or VIVIIIV4,0408,71397020,30034,02318.886219,14220,0045.029,03029,03012.38941,2951292052,32869,30314,1602.18615,21937,1134,11830,61177,92215.22,54713,9351,1795,0292,6906.8Areas having biodiversityprotection as a major function(km 2 )29,01319,14229,03014,03172,94321,511Proportion of total land areacovered by protected areashaving biodiversity protectionas a major function (%)164.812.32.114.26.5Source: Clarke 2001.84 Greater Mekong Subregion Atlas of the Environment