Current view: Text account
Site description (2002 baseline):
Site location and context
The boundary of the IBA is yet to be precisely defined, but encloses the watershed of the Dak Rue stream and extends from Chu M'Lanh town in the east to the international border with Cambodia in the west. In the south-west of the site there is a complex of low rounded hills, while the rest of the area is mainly flat with scattered hills. The dominant vegetation type at Chu Mulanh is dry dipterocarp forest. The site also supports smaller areas of evergreen or semi-evergreen forest, mainly on hills and along watercourses, and patches of secondary scrub.
Chu M'Lanh supports a significant population of Green Peafowl Pavo muticus.
Non-bird biodiversity: Le Xuan Canh et al. (1997) recorded two threatened primate species at Chu M'Lanh: Rhesus/Long-tailed Macaque Macaca mulatta/fascicularis and 'Silvered' Langur Trachypithecus villosus.Le Xuan Canh et al. (1997) recorded two threatened wild cattle species at Chu M'Lanh from prints and signs: Gaur bos gaurus and Banteng bos javanicus.
About 90% of the Chu M'Lanh area is covered in forest. About 10% of forest cover is semi-evergreen or evergreen forest, growing mainly on hills and beside rivers. The rest of the area supports dry dipterocarp forest.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Logging enterprises have selectively logged the forest at Chu M'Lanh since 1980. However, logging degrades dry dipterocarp forest less than it does evergreen forest. Hunting pressure is high, and the collection of forest products is an additional threat (Le Xuan Canh et al., 1997). As a whole, biodiversity at Chu M'Lanh is threatened by hunting, fire, timber extraction and collection of non-timber forest products. These problems are exacerbated by a growing human population in the area.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
In 1997, WWF, IEBR and IUCN conducted a survey of large mammals in Dak Lak province, including Chu M'Lanh. Bird species were also recorded during the survey (Le Xuan Canh et al., 1997).In 1998, BirdLife International and FIPI surveyed the status and distribution of Green Peafowl Pavo muticus in Da Lak province. Chu M'Lanh was one of the survey sites (Brickle et al., 1998).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Chu M'lanh (Vietnam). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/chu-mlanh-iba-vietnam on 22/11/2024.