Thanh Phu Nature Reserve
| Alternative site name(s) None Province(s) Ben Tre Area 4,510 ha Coordinates 9°48' - 9°59'N, 106°34' - 106°41'E Agro-ecological zone Mekong Delta Decreed by government Yes Management board established Yes |
Investment plan prepared Yes VCF eligibility criteria met B, C Social screening criteria met None Conservation needs assessment prepared No Operational management plan prepared No Tracking tool completed No Yes |
Management history
Thanh Phu is a site of both biodiversity and historical value. For these reasons, Ben Tre Provincial People's Committee initially intended to establish Thanh Phu as both a nature reserve and a cultural and historical site. This request was submitted to MARD on 20 December 1996 by Directive No. 1931/CV-UBT. However, the following year, MARD approved an investment plan to establish a nature reserve only, following Decision No. 1928/NNKH-QD, dated 9 August 1997 (Pham Trong Thinh 1998).
In 1998, Ho Chi Minh City Sub-FIPI prepared a revised investment plan for Thanh Phu Nature Reserve, for the period 1999 to 2003. The total area of the nature reserve stated in this investment plan is 8,825 ha. However, as this area includes a buffer zone of 4,315 ha, the area of the nature reserve should be considered to be only 4,510 ha, comprising a strict protection area of 1,788 ha, a very critical coastal protection area of 949 ha and a scientific research area of 1,773 ha (Pham Trong Thinh 1998). The revised investment plan was approved by government Decision No. 1026/QD-TTg, dated 13 November 1998. Following this decision, Ben Tre Provincial People's Committee established a nature reserve management board on 20 October 1999 (Ben Tre Provincial DARD in litt. 2000). The management board currently has 36 permanent members of staff and four contracted staff.
Thanh Phu Nature Reserve is under the management of Ben Tre Provincial DARD (in litt. 2000). Thanh Phu Nature Reserve is included on a list of Special-use Forests to be established by the year 2010, prepared by the FPD of MARD, with an area of 4,510 ha (FPD 2003); this list has not yet been approved by the government.
Topography and hydrology
Thanh Phu Nature Reserve comprises the section of the Mekong Delta coastal zone between the Co Chien and Ham Luong estuaries (two of the mouths of the Mekong River). As is the case with other sites on the eastern coastline of the Mekong Delta, Thanh Phu Nature Reserve is strongly affected by erosion as well as accretion. The coastal landscape at Thanh Phu is made up of the following elements: sandy belts, tidal mudflats, saline tidal swamps and toxic acid-sulphate swamps.
Biodiversity values
The coastal mangroves at Thanh Phu are dominated by Rhizophora apiculata, Avicennia marina, A. officinalis, Excoecaria agalloccha and Sonneratia spp. The most extensive mangrove type is Rhizophora apiculata mangrove. These mangroves are an important habitat for a number of aquatic organisms, including some with high economic value.
The intertidal mudflats are an important habitat for shorebirds. However, all the shorebird species listed by Pham Trong Thinh (1998) as occurring at Thanh Phu Nature Reserve are common coastal migrants, such as Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola, Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia and Sanderling Calidris alba. Furthermore, Thanh Phu did not meet any of the three rapid assessment criteria employed by BirdLife International and the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources to identify key wetland sites for biodiversity conservation in the Mekong Delta: presence of appreciable numbers of globally threatened or near-threatened species; presence of large concentrations of species indicative of wetland values; and presence of habitats of high biodiversity value (Buckton et al. 1999).
Conservation issues
A total of 1,470 people live inside Thanh Phu Nature Reserve, and a further 6,935 people live in the buffer zone (Ben Tre Provincial DARD in litt. 2000). The principal economic activities of these people are agriculture, fishing and forestry. The income of the average resident of the nature reserve and buffer zone is only VND 40,000 to 90,000 per month, the lowest in the Mekong Delta region (Pham Trong Thinh 1998). Therefore, communities in the Thanh Phu area rely heavily on exploitation of the natural resources of the nature reserve. Furthermore, pollution and the general development of the area exacerbate the effects of natural resource exploitation.
Other documented values
Thanh Phu Nature Reserve is situated between two major estuaries, which are important breeding sites for many economically valuable aquatic species, such as tiger prawns Penaeus spp., various fish species from the Notopteridae, Toxotidae, Nandidae and Anguilidae families, and numerous species of squid including Logilo formosana, Seproteuris lessoniana and Sepria tigris. The estuaries also support a variety of other invertebrates, including crabs, clams and mussels.
During the Second Indochina War, Thanh Phu was a military base of the Vietnam National Liberation Front. In particular, the coastal site was used as a wharf, to which supplies and weapons for the Ben Tre battlefield and Military Region Number 8 were shipped from North Vietnam. For this reason, Thanh Phu was decreed as a place of historical importance by the Ministry of Culture and Information, following Decision No. 3777/QD/BT, dated 23 December 1995.
Related projects
Prior to 1999, the national 327 Programme was the main source of investment funding for all plantation and protection activities at the site. Since 1999, the national 661 Programme has been the main source of investment funding for such activities.
Conservation needs assessment
A conservation needs assessment has not been conducted for the site.
Operational management plan
An operational management plan has not been prepared for the site.
Eligibility against VCF criteria
The site is ineligible for VCF support because it does not meet the criteria for supporting forest biodiversity of international importance.
| Criterion |
Eligibility |
| AI |
|
| AII |
|
| BI |
Decision No. 1026/TTg, dated 13/11/98 |
| BII |
Nature Reserve |
| BIII |
Under provincial management |
| CI |
Management board established |
| CII |
Social screening requirements
A social screening report has not been prepared for the site.
| Criterion |
Eligibility |
| A |
|
| B |
|
| C |
|
| D |
Literature sources
ADB (1999) Draft coastal and marine protected areas plan. Hanoi: Asian Development Bank.
Anon. (undated) [Scientific report on Thanh Phu Wetland Nature Reserve]. Unpublished report. In Vietnamese.
Buckton, S. T., Nguyen Cu, Ha Quy Quynh and Nguyen Duc Tu (1999) The conservation of key wetland sites in the Mekong Delta. Hanoi: BirdLife International Vietnam Programme.
Buckton, S. T., Nguyen Cu, Ha Quy Quynh and Nguyen Duc Tu (2000) [The conservation of key wetland sites in the Mekong Delta]. Hanoi: BirdLife International Vietnam Programme. In Vietnamese.
Pham Trong Thinh (1998) [Investment plan for Thanh Phu Wetland Nature Reserve, Thanh Phu district, Ben Tre province, 1999-2003]. Ho Chi Minh City: Ho Chi Minh City Sub-FIPI. In Vietnamese.
Scott, D. A. (1989) A directory of Asian wetlands. Gland: IUCN.
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