Current view: Text account
Site description (2002 baseline):
Site location and context
Tram Chim National Park supports one of the last remnants of the Plain of Reeds wetland ecosystem, which previously covered some 700,000 ha. The site is located 19 km to the east of the Mekong river. The topography of the national park is flat, and slopes slightly to the east. The site has large areas of seasonally inundated grassland and Melaleuca forest. Large populations of waterbirds are found at the site, particularly in the winter when many thousands of waterfowl visit.
Non-bird biodiversity: Tram Chim is one of the few places in the Plain of Reeds where the Eleocharis and wild rice Oryza rufipogon community is likely to survive to any extent, and therefore one of the most important sites for the conservation of wild rice.
The vegetation of Tram Chim National Park comprises a mixture of seasonally inundated grassland, regenerating Melaleuca forest and open swamp.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Tram Chin now has National Park status, which confers a relatively high degree of protection, yet several threats remain. The frequent encroachment of local people into the national park to hunt and collect firewood is a major conservation issue. Also, because the site is surrounded by rice cultivation, land-use activities outside the site can have a substantial impact on the integrity of the wetland ecosystem of the park. Examples of such impacts are pollutant discharge and alteration of natural water levels. The biggest current threat to the site is mismanagement of the water level: the water level is allowed to remain high for unnaturally long periods each year, leading to changes in the vegetation, especially die-back of the main food plants for Sarus Crane.
Protected as a Sarus Crane Reserve since 1986. In 1994 the area became a Nature Reserve, covering 7,500 ha and in 1998 it became established as a National Park, covering 7,588 ha. Buckton et al. (1999) describe an area of 7,740 ha and mention the site staff describing the area being 7,612 ha.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Tram Chim (Vietnam). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/tram-chim-iba-vietnam on 22/11/2024.
