Current view: Text account
Site description (2003 baseline):
Site location and context
The IBA is located along the Mekong River in northern Lao P.D.R., and comprises a 377 km section of the Mekong channel, from Ban Xiangkhok on the Lao-Myanmar border to Ban Bo on the boundary between Oudomxai and Xaignabouli provinces. This section supports three basic habitat types: featureless stretches with a well defined channel but no, or negligible, exposed bed; stretches with many sandbars; and stretches of channel mosaic habitat, comprising sand and gravel bars and islands, rock outcrops, bushland and braided streams. The stretches of channel mosaic habitat support a relatively rich riverine bird community, including River Lapwing
Vanellus duvaucelii and Jerdon's Bushchat
Saxicola jerdoni. The stretches with many sandbars are important for Small Pratincole
Glareola lactea; the IBA supports 5% of the estimated world population of this species, although the IBA is probably not as important as Mekong Channel from Phou Xiang Thong to Siphandon IBA (LA007) for this species. The IBA also supports large numbers of Plain Martin
Riparia paludicola and significant numbers of Grey-headed Lapwing
V. cinereus, and is the site of the only recent Lao records of Great Cormorant
Phalacrocorax carbo (Duckworth
et al. 2002). Finally, there are single records of both Swan Goose
Anser cygnoides and Black-bellied Tern
Sterna acuticauda from the IBA, although it is unlikely that it regularly supports significant numbers of either species.
The international bird conservation importance of the Upper Lao Mekong does not match that of the Cambodian Mekong. Even so, it is of different community composition (presence of Jerdon's Bushchat, abundance of Plain Martin, but absence of Mekong Wagtail). This highly distinctive and vulnerable bird community is not represented in BNCAs (Duckworth et al. 2002). The IBA, therefore, is particularly important for conservation of this distinctive bird community.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Most of the IBA is easily accessible from along the banks of the Mekong River, and levels of human activity are high. Major threats to biodiversity at the IBA are active persecution, in the form of hunting and egg collection, and incidental disturbance, including boat traffic and accidental nest destruction. Another major threat is an on-going project to widen the Mekong channel for shipping, which involves blasting stretches of channel mosaic habitat. The long-term impacts of this activity on bird communities are currently unquatified. However, given the loss of habitat and potential for increased levels of disturbance in the future, they are likely to be severe. A potential threat is hydropower development on the upper Mekong River or its tributaries, which is already planned for stretches of the Mekong River within Yunnan province, China. This could result in changes in flow patterns, with severe implications for riverine bird communities (Duckworth et al. 2002).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Upper Lao Mekong (Laos). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/upper-lao-mekong-iba-laos on 22/11/2024.
