Current view: Text account
Site description (2002 baseline):
Site location and context
This IBA comprises Chu Prong proposed nature reserve, which borders Cambodia to the west. The topography of most of the site is relatively flat, with an average elevation of around 200 m. In the north-west of the site, there is an area of low mountains. Within the proposed nature reserve, all the forest has been disturbed by human activities, including selective logging, clearance of forest for agriculture, firewood collection and wartime spraying of defoliants.
Seasonally inundated grasslands occupy only small area of the proposed nature reserve, yet are an important habitat type because they support populations of large waterbirds and globally threatened mammals. Germain's Peacock Pheasant Polyplectron germaini occurs at Chu Prong; as this is a restricted range species, the site qualifies for inclusion within the South Vietnamese Lowlands Endemic Bird Area (EBA).
Non-bird biodiversity: The following threatened primate species have been recorded at Chu Prong proposed nature reserve: Pygmy Loris Nycticebus pygmaeus, Long-tailed Macaque Macaca fascicularis, Silvered Langur Trachypithecus villosus, Black-shanked Douc Langur and Pygathrix nigripes. Stump-tailed Macaque Macaca arctoides and Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbons Nomascus gabriellae have been recorded in interviews with local people. Eld's Deer Cervus eldii, Gaur Bos gaurus, Banteng B. javanicus and Southern Serow Naemorhedus sumatraensis have been also recorded at Chu Prong proposed nature reserve.
Chu Prong proposed nature reserve supports four major habitat types: lowland deciduous forest, lowland semi-deciduous forest, evergreen riverine forest and seasonally inundated grassland. This last habitat type, although limited in area, is of extremely high importance for populations of large waterbirds at the site. People belonging to nine ethnic groups live in and around the proposed nature reserve, of which members of the Gia Rai, Muong and Kinh comprise 96% of the total.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Logging, hunting, fishing, forest fire and clearance of land for cultivation are all threats to the forest and wildlife at Chu Prong proposed nature reserve. The multifarious threats faced by the fauna and flora of the proposed nature reserve are all exacerbated by increasing human population pressure, resulting from in-migration into the area from provinces in northern Vietnam.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Between February and April 2000, FIPI and BirdLife International conducted a field survey in Chu Prong, the results of which were used to formulate a feasibility study for the establishment of a nature reserve at the site.To date, Chu Prong Forest Enterprise has issued forest protection contracts to local people for a total of 6,000 ha of forest land, including over 3,000 ha within the proposed nature reserve. Funding for this intiative comes from the national 661 Programme.
In 2001, BirdLife and FIPI produced a feasibility study strongly recommending that a nature reserve be established at Chu Prong with a total area of 50,104 ha. Chu Prong is now on a list of proposed protected areas that has been submitted to the government of Vietnam. Chu Prong proposed nature reserve is situated 40 km north of Yok Don National Park, to which it is linked by a large area of deciduous and semi-deciduous forest. The opportunity exists, therefore, to include the intervening area within the national protected area system, thereby forming an area of conservation coverage large enough to support viable populations of large mammals, such as Asian Elephant Elephas maximus, Gaur bos gaurs, Banteng B. javanicus, Tiger Panthera tigris, Leopard P. pardus and Clouded Leopard Pardofelis nebulosa. This would require expanding Yok Don National Park northwards, to the border with Gia Lai province.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Chu Prong (Vietnam). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/chu-prong-iba-vietnam on 23/12/2024.
