Current view: Text account
Site description (2002 baseline):
Site location and context
Ha Nam island is situated at the mouth of the Bach Dang river off the coast of Quang Ninh, the northeastern most province in Vietnam. The island is linked via a bridge to the mainland and is ringed by a sea dyke, within which land use is dominated agricultural land and habitation, although a small area of reedbed (c.30ha) is present on the southern end of the island (Le Manh Hung et al 2002). Numerous shrimp ponds are present on the southern and western sides of the island outside of the sea dyke, many of which contain mangrove. Ha Nam has received very little survey attention to date, with only the results of a single rapid survey published at the time of writing.
Forty species have been confirmed to occur at Ha Nam island from the single set of survey data published so far (Le Manh Hung et al 2002). Amongst these, 26 individuals of the nationally threatened Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo (Anon. 1992) were observed in a shrimp pond in Tien Phong commune in December 2001. 150 indivduals were later observed at the same site in January 2002 (Le Manh Hung et al 2002). The site also supports nationally significant wintering populations of Northern Pintail Anas acuta, Eurasian Wigeon A. penelope and Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus (Le Manh Hung et al 2002).
No figures are currently available regarding the extent of different land uses, or, the three prinicipal habitats identified within the IBA eg. Mangrove forest, estuary waters and artificial wetlands.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The single survey conducted so far identified the main threats to the key elements of the bird fauna present as i) Hunting, in the form of mist netting, often using taped calls; ii) Degradation of suitable habitat within shrimp ponds, due to unsustainable management practices resulting in mangrove die-back; and iii) Unsustainable fishing methods such as electric-fishing and fishing with explosives, possibly causing negative impacts upon waterbird populations through disturbance and depletion of fish stocks.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
An IBA support project was initiated on Ha Nam island by the Birdlife International Vietnam Programme in May 2002.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Ha Nam (Vietnam). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/ha-nam-iba-vietnam on 25/12/2024.
