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Site description (2002 baseline):
Site location and context
This IBA comprises Kon Ka Kinh Nature Reserve, located in the Western Highlands of Vietnam. Kon Kah Kinh Nature Reserve is situated 12 km to the west of Kon Cha Rang Nature Reserve, linked by intervening forest areas. The two nature reserves, therefore, form an area large enough to support viable populations of large mammals, such as Tiger Panthera tigris, that neither area could support in isolation.
Non-bird biodiversity: The presence of Truong Son Muntjac Muntiacus truongsonensis, endemic to Indochina and only discovered in 1997, has been confirmed at Kon Ka Kinh Nature Reserve. This is currently known from only a single other protected area in Vietnam. Three globally threatened primate species are recorded at Kon Ka Kinh: Stump-tailed Macaque Macaca arctiodes, Grey-shanked Douc Langur Pygathrix nemaeus cinereus and Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbon Nomascus gabriellae. In addition, a number of other species such as Asiatic Black Bear Ursus thibetanus, Tiger Panthera tigris, Southern Serow Naemorhedus sumatraensis and Malayan Porcupine Hystrix brachyura have also been recorded at Kon Ka Kinh (Le Trong Trai, 2000). 16 species recorded in Kon Ka Kinh are listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants as globally threatened, of which one is listed as Endangered (Pinus dalatensis), four are listed as Vulnerable (Fokienia hodginsii, Decussocarpus fleuryi, Cephalotaxus mannii and Calamus poilanei) and 11 are listed as Rare (Le Trong Trai, 2000).
The nature reserve supports a range of montane habitat types, with broadleaf evergreen forest the dominant vegetation type. 20% of the reserve has been degraded by past commercial logging activities and continuing illegal timber extraction. A further 29% of the nature reserve has been cleared by commercial logging or shifting cultivation and now supports a range of secondary vegetation types. To the south of Mount Kon Ka Kinh, the highest point in the nature reserve, lies a 2,000 ha plateau that supports mixed coniferous and broadleaf forest dominated by Fokienia hodginsii. This habitat sub-type is not represented elsewhere in Vietnam's protected areas system, and is one of the key conservation features of Kon Ka Kinh Nature Reserve.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The buffer zone of the nature reserve is inhabited by members of the Ba Na ethnic minority and Kinh (ethnic Vietnamese) ethnic group. Exploitation of certain forest resources is occurring at unsustainable levels, and potentially the most harmful activities, from a conservation perspective, are hunting and rattan collection. Spontaneous migration into the buffer zone is one of the most serious conservation problems at Kon Ka Kinh Nature Reserve, because, as the population of the buffer zone increases, so does pressure on the forest resources of the nature reserve.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
During the course of the BirdLife survey of Kon Ka Kinh in 1999, a new species of laughingthrush, Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush Garrulax konkakinhensis was discovered. BirdLife and Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee are developing a Global Environment Facility (GEF) proposal for a conservation project at Kon Ka Kinh Nature Reserve. It is planned that project activities will commence in 2001.
Kon Ka Kinh Nature Reserve is situated 12 km west of Kon Cha Rang Nature Reserve, to which it is linked by intervening forest areas. However, the intervening forest areas are currently under forest enterprise management. In the nature reserve investment plan, BirdLife and FIPI strongly recommended that, in the future, these areas should be incorporated within the boundaries of the two nature reserves to form one continuous protected area. This recommendation is also contained within the Tropical Forestry Action Plan, the Biodiversity Action Plan for Vietnam and a recent review of the protected areas system in Vietnam published by Birdlife International and FIPI (BirdLife International and FIPI, 2001).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Kon Ka Kinh (Vietnam). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/kon-ka-kinh-iba-vietnam on 22/11/2024.
