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Site description (2002 baseline):
Site location and context
This IBA is centred on Mount Lang Bian (also known as Nui Ba) in the west of Bi Dup-Nui Ba Nature Reserve on the Da Lat plateau. The main forest types occurring at Lang Bian are coniferous forest and evergreen forest. The area is known for its high levels of plant diversity and endemism. The fauna of the area is also very species rich, and exhibits high levels of endemism.
Lang Bian lies within the Da Lat Plateau Endemic Bird Area (EBA). Three of the eight restricted-range species that occur in this EBA have been recorded at the site, including the globally endangered species Collared Laughingthrush Garrulax yersini.
Most of the habitat of the site consists of secondary scrub and coniferous forest. The coniferous forest is dominated by Pinus kesiya with smaller amounts of P. merkusii. Coniferous forest is a seral vegetation type, formed a result of repeated burning; if the forest was not burnt, succession to broadleaf evergreen forest would occur. The abolition of burning would be a major benefit to biodiversity conservation because the evergreen forest has a much higher biodiversity value than the pine forest (Eames, 1995).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Threats to biodiversity at Lang Bian include charcoal production, clearance of forest for agriculture, hunting and over-exploitation of non-timber forest products. Charcoal production has already lead to the destruction of most of the evergreen forest on Mount Lang Bian, with the result that much of the habitat now consists of secondary scrub.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Between 1993 and 1994, Eames (1995) studied the avifauna of Bi Dup-Nui Ba Nature Reserve.
In 1986, Nui Ba and Thuong Da Nhim were decreed as separate nature reserves. These two proposals were later combined to form the basis for establishing Bi Dup-Nui Ba Nature Reserve. The investment plan for the nature reserve was approved in 1995.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lang Bian (Vietnam). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lang-bian-iba-vietnam on 23/12/2024.
