sourcebook

Management history

Hoang Lien Son-Van Ban is not listed on any government decision regarding the Special-use Forests system, nor is it included on a list of Special-use Forests to be established by the year 2010, prepared by the FPD of MARD (FPD 2003). However, Lao Cai Provincial FPD, with support from the WWF Strengthening Protected Areas Management in Vietnam Project, have proposed the establishment of a nature reserve at the site (SPAM 2002). This proposal has been incorporated into the approved provincial management strategy for Special-use Forests (Lao Cai PPC 2003).

According to Lao Cai Provincial FPD (in litt. 2003), Hoang Lien Son-Van Ban proposed nature reserve covers 31,189 ha in Nam Xay, Nam Xe and Minh Luong communes, Van Ban district. In addition, a 31,128 ha buffer zone is proposed in Tham Duong, Duong Quy, Dan Thang and Nam Chay communes. To date, however, a management board has not been established, and the site remains under the management of Van Ban District FPD.

Topography and hydrology

Hoang Lien Son-Van Ban proposed nature reserve is situated in the Hoang Lien mountains, 40 km south-east of Mount Fansipan, the highest mountain in Vietnam. The proposed nature reserve is mountainous, with many peaks over 2,000 m. The highest point (2,875 m) is in the north of the proposed nature reserve, on the border with Hoang Lien National Park. The district is bisected by a river valley, which runs from south-west to north-east. Elevations along this valley are less than 200 m.

Biodiversity values

Remote sensing data reveal that Van Ban district supports the largest area of natural forest in the Hoang Lien mountains of Vietnam. In addition, Van Ban district is one of the few parts of the Hoang Lien mountains to support significant areas of hill evergreen forest, a vegetation type that has been almost entirely lost from Hoang Lien National Park (Tordoff et al. 1999), and is scarce in other parts of the Hoang Lien mountains and elsewhere in northern Vietnam.

Hill evergreen forest is distributed at elevations between 600 and 1,400 m. While this habitat has been degraded by selective timber extraction, the forest canopy is still closed in most areas. Elevations between 1,400 and c.2,200 m support lower montane evergreen forest. Upper montane evergreen forest is distributed at elevations between c.2,200 and at least 2,650 m. Lower montane evergreen forest is characterised by the presence of the globally near-threatened conifer Fokienia hodginsii. In addition, anthropogenic habitats, including grassland, scrub and agricultural land, are present at various elevations (Averyanov et al. 2002a).

Between 2000 and 2002, a series of field surveys were conducted by the Fauna & Flora International (FFI) Vietnam Programme, BirdLife International and other organisations, during which a number of globally threatened mammal species were recorded in and around the proposed nature reserve, most notably Black-cheeked Crested Gibbon Hylobates concolor and Owston's Civet Chrotogale owstoni (S. Swan verbally 2002). The site was also found to be important for bird conservation, as it supports a number of species of conservation concern, including the globally vulnerable Beautiful Nuthatch Sitta formosa (Tordoff et al. 2002). Consequently, the site qualifies as an Important Bird Area (Tordoff 2002). Furthermore, the site supports Vietnamese Salamander Paramesotriton deloustali, a globally vulnerable amphibian species, currently known only from northern Vietnam (Tordoff et al. 2002). Finally, a number of globally threatened plant species have been recorded at the site, including the globally vulnerable conifer Taiwania cryptomerioides, which is known from no other site in Vietnam (Farjon 2002, Nguyen Tien Hiep et al. 2002).

Conservation issues

A total of 1,275 people live inside the proposed nature reserve, and a further 9,533 people live in the buffer zone (Lao Cai Provincial FPD in litt. 2003). Many of the inhabitants of Van Ban district practice wet rice cultivation in valley bottoms; however some households still practice shifting cultivation on hill slopes. Local people engage in a number of activities with negative impacts on biodiversity, including hunting and selective extraction of high value timber species, particularly Fokienia hodginsii.

One human activity with potentially significant impacts on biodiversity in Van Ban district is cardamom cultivation. Although some canopy trees are retained in cardamom plots, canopy cover can be reduced by up to 80%, through indiscriminate removal of trees, and current methods of drying cardamom pods require more firewood than can be generated within the plots. Indirect impacts include hunting and exploitation of non-timber forest products by farmers staying in the forest for extended periods during the planting and harvesting seasons.

Van Ban district is bisected by a river valley, along which runs provincial road 279. Forest has already been cleared along this road for cultivation and human settlement, isolating forest areas in the north of the district from those in the south.

Some of the most extensive areas of relatively undisturbed evergreen forest, particularly hill evergreen forest, are located in the south-east of Van Ban district, outside of the proposed nature reserve. These areas support important populations of a number of species of global conservation concern, including Black-cheeked Crested Gibbon, Vietnamese Salamander and T. cryptomerioides, and should be placed under appropriate conservation management, through either Special-use Forest designation or local stakeholder-based approaches. It is of particular concern that some of these forest areas are designated as production forest, and have quotas for the extraction of high value timber species, including F. hodginsii.

Other documented values

Hoang Lien Son-Van Ban proposed nature reserve protects part of the catchment of the Red River.

Related projects

Between 2001 and 2003, the FFI Vietnam Programme has implemented a conservation project in Van Ban district, with funding from the Darwin Initiative of the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

In 2003, the FFI Vietnam Programme, in collaboration with Lao Cai and Yen Bai Provincial FPDs, Lao Cai Provincial DARD and Hoang Lien National Park began implementation of a European Commission-funded project to promote conservation in the Hoang Lien mountains. A number of project activities will be implemented in Van Ban district, including community-based natural resources management and further protected area development.

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 currently ineligible for VCF support because it is not under appropriate conservation management.

Criterion	Eligibility
A_I	NH1 - Hoang Lien Mountains
A_II	VN058 - Van Ban
B_I	Proposed Special-use Forest
B_II	Nature Reserve
B_III	Under provincial management
C_I
C_II

Social screening requirements

A social screening report has not been prepared for the site.

Criterion	Eligibility
A
B
C
D

Literature sources

Averyanov, L. V. and Phan Ke Loc (2002) Pleione grandiflora in the Lao Cai province of northern Vietnam. Orchids 71(12): 1102-1108.

Averyanov, L. V., Phan Ke Loc and Tien Doan (2002a) Flora and vegetation survey of Van Ban district, Lao Cai province of northern Vietnam. Unpublished report to the Fauna & Flora International Vietnam Programme, Hanoi.

Averyanov, L. V., Phan Ke Loc, Do Tien Doan and Nguyen Tien Hiep (2002b) [The diversity of the flora of Vietnam 11: discovery of Pleione grandiflora (Rolfe) Rolfe in Lao Cai Province and its natural variations.] Genetics and Applications 2: 50-54. In Vietnamese.

Cox, S. and Tran Manh Hung (2002) Socio-economic status and forest resource use of three villages in Van Ban district, Lao Cai province, Vietnam. Unpublished report to the Fauna & Flora International Vietnam Programme, Hanoi.

Do Tien Doan (2001) Report on the distribution of the Taiwania cryptomerioides in Van Ban district, Lao Cai province. Unpublished report to the Fauna & Flora International Vietnam Programme, Hanoi.

Dong Thanh Hai and Lormée, N. (1999) Status assessment of the Black Gibbon (Hylobates concolor concolor) in Van Ban district, Lao Cai province, north Vietnam. Unpublished report to the Fauna & Flora International Vietnam Programme, Hanoi.

Farjon, A. (2002) Rare and possibly threatened conifers in Vietnam. Unpublished report to the Fauna & Flora International Vietnam Programme, Hanoi.

Geissmann T., Nguyen Xuan Dang, Lormée, N. and Momberg, F. (2000) Vietnam primate conservation status review 2000, part 1: gibbons. Hanoi: Fauna & Flora International, Indochina Programme.

Lao Cai PPC (2003) Management strategy for Special-use Forests in Lao Cai: 2003-2010. Lao Cai: Lao Cai Provincial People’s Committee.

Le Trong Dat, La Quang Trung and Trinh Dinh Hoang (2000) A biological survey of Nam Xay and Nam Xe communes, Van Ban district, Lao Cai province, with specific focus on the Western Black Crested Gibbon. Unpublished report to the Fauna & Flora International Vietnam Programme, Hanoi.

Long, B., Le Khac Quyet and Phung Van Khoa (2000) An assessment of the potential and priorities for conservation in Van Ban district, Lao Cai province. Unpublished report to the Fauna & Flora International Vietnam Programme, Hanoi.

Ngo Van Tri (2000) [A survey for Black Gibbons Nomascus concolor and other primate species in Van Ban district, Lao Cai province, north-western Vietnam.] Unpublished report to the Fauna & Flora International Vietnam Programme, Hanoi. In Vietnamese.

Nguyen Quang Truong (2002) A herpetological survey of Van Ban district, Lao Cai province. Unpublished report to the Fauna & Flora International Vietnam Programme, Hanoi.

Nguyen Tien Hiep, Do Tien Doan and Phan Ke Loc (2002) [The diversity of the flora of Vietnam 9: Taiwania Hayata and T. cryptomerioides Hayata (Taxodiaceae): new genus and species for the flora.] Genetics and Applications 1: 32-40. In Vietnamese.

SPAM (2002) Assessment of the Special-use Forest system and its management in Lao Cai province. Hanoi: Strengthening Protected Areas Management in Vietnam Project.

Thomas, P. (2003) Ex-situ conservation of Taiwania in Vietnam. Edinburgh: International Conifer Conservation Programme, Royal Botanical Gardens, Edinburgh.

Tordoff, A. W. ed. (2002) Directory of important bird areas in Vietnam: key sites for conservation. Hanoi: BirdLife International in Indochina and the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources.

Tordoff, A. W., Le Manh Hung, Nguyen Quang Truong and Swan, S. R. (2002) A rapid field survey of Van Ban district, Lao Cai province, Vietnam. Unpublished report to the BirdLife International Vietnam Programme and the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources.

Tordoff, A. W., Le Manh Hung, Nguyen Quang Truong and Swan, S. R. (2002) [A rapid field survey of Van Ban district, Lao Cai province, Vietnam]. Unpublished report to the BirdLife International Vietnam Programme and the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources. In Vietnamese.

Tordoff, A., Swan, S., Grindley, M. and Siurua, H. (1999) Hoang Lien Nature Reserve: biodiversity survey and conservation evaluation 1997/8. London: Society for Environmental Exploration.

Vietnam News (2002) Threatened black gibbons found in northern region. Vietnam News, 19 January 2002.

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