Dam Doi Bird Sanctuary Nature Reserve
| Alternative site name(s) Cac San Chim, Ngoc Hien, San Chim Ca Mau Province(s) Ca Mau Area 132 ha Coordinates 8°56' - 8°57'N, 105°13' - 105°14'E Agro-ecological zone Mekong Delta Decreed by government Yes Management board established No |
Investment plan prepared No VCF eligibility criteria met B Social screening criteria met None Conservation needs assessment prepared No Operational management plan prepared No Tracking tool completed No Yes |
Management history
Dam Doi bird sanctuary, together with Cha La and Bac Lieu bird sanctuaries (see separate site cards), was included on Decision 194/CT of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, dated 9 August 1986, as a 500 ha nature reserve with the name Cac San Chim (MARD 1997). A survey of Dam Doi conducted by the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute (FIPI) in 1992 (Do Tuoc et al. 1992) recommended that a management plan for a 132 ha nature reserve should be prepared for the period up to 2000.
Currently, Dam Doi bird sanctuary is under the management of Dam Doi Forest and Aquaculture Enterprise; the bird sanctuary has three members of staff based at a single guard station (Ca Mau Provincial FPD in litt. 2003). The site is not included on a list of Special-use Forests to be established by the year 2010, prepared by the FPD of MARD (FPD 2003).
Topography and hydrology
Dam Doi bird sanctuary is situated in an intertidal area, alongside the Dam Doi river, in the coastal zone of the Mekong Delta. Previously, the site comprised mangrove and mudflat, drained by an extensive network of canals. Since 1994-1995, all the mudflats and many of the canals have been converted into shrimp ponds. These ponds have prevented brackish water entering the site, so that now only freshwater is present, and water levels in the canals are reduced.
Biodiversity values
The total area of the nature reserve is 132 ha, comprising 43 ha of mangrove plantation, 21 ha of natural mangrove forest and 12 ha of scrub. Canals and shrimp ponds comprise a further 38 ha. The natural mangrove forest is dominated by Stenochloena palustris, Excoecaria agallocha, Xylocarpus sessilis, Derris trifolia, Sonneratia ovata, S. caseolaris and Avicennia alba. A total of 61 plant species have been recorded at the nature reserve.
The known fauna of the nature reserve includes 16 species of mammal and 116 species of bird. Fifteen of the bird species listed in the Red Data Book of Vietnam or Birds to Watch 2 have been recorded at Dam Doi in the past. These include Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, Black-headed Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus, White-shouldered Ibis Pseudibis davisoni and Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala (Hoang Cuong 1993). However, the bird population at Dam Doi has declined severely during the past two decades: in 1981, 100,000 birds were recorded at Dam Doi but that number had crashed to only 200 by 1995. In 1999, only one nationally threatened bird species was recorded at Dam Doi by a BirdLife/Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR) survey team: Cotton Pygmy-goose Nettapus coromandelianus. Only two or three nesting pairs of this species were observed (Nguyen Cu verbally 2000).
Conservation issues
Twenty years ago, Dam Doi bird sanctuary was the largest, in terms of numbers of birds, in the Mekong Delta. In recent years, however, the number of birds at the site has declined greatly as a result of dramatic changes to the natural habitats of the reserve (Dang Trung Tan 1998). The formation of a network of shrimp ponds, resulting in the drainage of mudflats and a drop in water salinity, coupled with the impact of a major typhoon in 1995, has degraded the natural mangrove forest, killing all the large trees (Dang Trung Tan 1998). This site no longer provides suitable habitat for most species of waterbirds that once inhabited the area. Currently, however, the staff of the nature reserve are trying to implement reforestation and protection activities with the support of the district authorities and the provincial FPD.
Other documented values
Dam Doi has economic importance as a site for aquaculture production, particularly shrimps.
Related projects
In 1992, with funding from the government of Vietnam, FIPI and IEBR conducted a survey of the site and made management recommendations for the period up to 2000.
In 1998, with financial support from Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee, Ca Mau Wetland Centre implemented a project to monitor bird colonies in Ca Mau province.
A coastal wetland development and protection project, funded by the World Bank and implemented by MARD, is being conducted in four provinces in the Mekong Delta, including Ca Mau. It is not yet clear, however, whether any project activities will affect Dam Doi bird sanctuary.
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. In addition, the site is not under appropriate conservation management. While the site is managed as a Special-use Forest by a forest guard station, it is under the management of a state forest enterprise.
| Criterion |
Eligibility |
| AI |
|
| AII |
|
| BI |
Decision No. 194/CT, dated 09/08/86 |
| BII |
Nature Reserve |
| BIII |
Under provincial management |
| CI |
|
| CII |
Social screening requirements
A social screening report has not been prepared for the site.
| Criterion |
Eligibility |
| A |
|
| B |
|
| C |
|
| D |
Literature sources
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.
Cong An Nhan Dan [People's Police] (2002) [Ca Mau: many bird sanctuaries destroyed.] Cong An Nhan Dan [People's Police] 14 March 2002. In Vietnamese.
Dang Trung Tan (1998) [Report on monitoring bird colonies in Ca Mau province. Unpublished report to Ca Mau Provincial Department of Science, Technology and the Environment]. In Vietnamese.
Do Tuoc et al. (1992) [The status of Dam Doi bird colony and its recommended management to 2000]. Unpublished report to the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute. In Vietnamese.
Hoang Cuong (1993) [Bird survey in Dam Doi (Ngoc Hien) bird colony]. Unpublished report. In Vietnamese.
Scott, D. A. (1989) A directory of Asian wetlands. Gland: IUCN.
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