sourcebook

Management history

Decision No. 194/CT of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, dated 9 August 1986, decreed the establishment of Bach Ma-Hai Van National Park, with a total area of 40,000 ha (MARD 1997). However, following the preparation of the national park investment plan, the area was divided into three: Bach Ma National Park, Bac Hai Van proposed cultural and historical site and Nam Hai Van proposed cultural and historical site (Vu Van Dung in litt. 2000).

In 1994, an investment plan was prepared for Bac Hai Van, which proposed establishing a 14,547 ha cultural and historical site. This investment plan was approved by Thua Thien Hue Provincial People's Committee in the same year (FPD 1998). In 1999, a revised investment plan was prepared by Hue Forest Inventory and Planning Sub-Institute. This investment plan was approved by the provincial people's committee on 27 April 1999, following Decision No. 784/QD (Thua Thien Hue Provincial FPD in litt. 2000). The site is currently managed as a Special-use Forest by Phu Loc District FPD; the head of the district FPD is the head of a project management board for forest protection and reforestation activities at the site (Thua Thien Hue Provincial FPD verbally 2003). After the completion of the tunnel that is currently being built through the Hai Van pass, Thua Thien Hue Provincial FPD (verbally 2003) would like Bac Hai Van to be incorporated within a newly established Hai Van-Hon Son Tra Marine Protected Area (see Hai Van-Hon Son Tra site card).

Bac Hai Van is included on a list of Special-use Forests to be established by the year 2010, prepared by the FPD of MARD, as a 14,547 ha cultural and historical site (FPD 2003); this list has not yet been approved by the government. According to Thua Thien Hue Provincial FPD (verbally 2003), however, the area of Bac Hai Van is 7,183 ha.

Topography and hydrology

Bac Hai Van proposed cultural and historical site is situated in southern Thua Thien Hue province. The proposed cultural and historical site is bordered to the west by Bach Ma National Park, to the south by Da Nang city and to the east by the East Sea. The proposed cultural and historical site is approximately 35 km long and 6 km across at its widest point.

Bac Hai Van is situated on the northern face of a mountain ridge running west-east from the central Annamite mountains to the East Sea. At the eastern end of the proposed cultural and historical site is Hai Van pass, over which National Highway 1 passes. All streams originating within the site drain to the north, either directly into the sea, or into one of the lagoons that characterise this part of the Vietnamese coastline. The highest point in the proposed cultural and historical site is Hon Chay mountain at 1,413 m.

Biodiversity values

Bac Hai Van proposed cultural and historical site lies at the southern extent of the Annamese Lowlands Endemic Bird Area (Stattersfield et al. 1998). However, although the avifauna of neighbouring Bach Ma National Park has been well studied, less information is available about Bac Hai Van. Historically, several restricted-range bird species were recorded at Bac Hai Van, including Annam Partridge Arborophila merlini, Edwards's Pheasant Lophura edwardsi and Crested Argus Rheinardia ocellata (Delacour and Jabouille 1927). However, the current status of these species at the site is not clear, and it is possible that at least the former two species have become locally extinct as a result of loss of evergreen forest at low elevations.

According to Thua Thien Hue Provincial FPD (in litt. 2000), the cultural and historical site contains 8,904 ha of natural forest land and 2,009 ha of plantation forest land. However, it would seem that a significant proportion of this land does not support forest, as the total area of forest given by FPD (1998) is only 5,962 ha. The main plantation species are Acacia auriculiformis, A. mangium and Pinus sp. (Vu Van Dung in litt. 2000).

Conservation issues

Thua Thien Hue Provincial FPD (in litt. 2000) identify extraction of timber and hunting of wildlife as the biggest threats to biodiversity at Bac Hai Van proposed cultural and historical site. Because Bac Hai Van is located close to major centres of population, the pressures on the natural resources of the area are high. A total of 30,753 people live in the four buffer zone communes. The site is bisected by National Highway 1, which facilitates access to the proposed cultural and historical site and may increase levels of exploitation. The main railway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City also bisects the site, and there are plans to build a tunnel under Hai Van pass for National Highway 1 to pass through.

Bac Hai Van proposed cultural and historical site is an important component of a wider conservation landscape. The site is contiguous with Bach Ma National Park to the west and with Nam Hai Van proposed cultural and historical site to the south. Just a little further to the south lies Ba Na-Nui Chua Nature Reserve. Collectively, these areas protect the eastern extent of the last contiguous belt of forest running between the international border with Laos and the East Sea. In combination with forest areas to the west, in Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue provinces and Laos, these protected areas protect an unbroken transition zone of natural habitats.

In their review of Vietnam's protected areas system, BirdLife and FIPI proposed extending Bach Ma National Park to the east by 22,500 ha (Wege et al. 1999). Such an extension would include Bac Hai Van proposed cultural and historical site.

Other documented values

According to FPD (1998), the justification for establishing Bac Hai Van is the scenic landscape of Hai Van pass. The scenery of Hai Van pass is well known nationwide (Vu Dung undated), and many travellers between Hue and Da Nang cities stop at the top of the pass to enjoy the panoramic views.

Related projects

Bac Hai Van proposed cultural and historical site is included with the project area of the medium-sized World Bank/GEF project Green Corridor: Meeting Global Conservation Targets in a Productive Landscape. The aim of this project is to provide the additional resources required to demonstrate and ensure that by improving the management of productive landscapes, global conservation targets can be met whilst sustaining benefits to local communities and provincial coffers. The project has a duration of four years, and is scheduled to commence implementation in 2004.

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 funding because it is a cultural and historical site.

Criterion	Eligibility
A_I	CA1 - Central Annamites
A_II
B_I	Proposed Special-use Forest
B_II
B_III	Under provincial management
C_I
C_II	Managed as a Special-use Forest by Phu Loc District FPD

Social screening requirements

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

Criterion	Eligibility
A
B
C
D

Literature sources

Anon. (1997) Extract from report: "the buffer zone workshop": Bach Ma-Hai Van, Hue 18-20 August 1997. Unpublished extract.

Davis, S. D., Heywood, V. H. and Hamilton, A. C. eds. (1995) Centres of plant diversity: a guide and strategy for their conservation. Cambridge, U.K.: WWF and IUCN.

Delacour, J. and Jabouille, P. (1927) [Ornithological research in Tranninh (Laos), Thua-Thien and Kontum (Annam) provinces and some other regions of French Indochina]. Paris: Societe Nationale d'Acclimatation de France. In French.

Eve, R. (1996) Bach Ma, Hai Van, Ba Na: why protect them?. Hue: EC/WWF Bach Ma National Park Project. In English and French.

Eve, R. (1996) Bach Ma, Hai Van, Ba Na: why protect them?. Hue: EC/WWF Bach Ma National Park Project. In English and Vietnamese.

Soer, A. (1997) Some reflections on the objectives, outputs and activities, now and in the future. Unpublished report to the Bach Ma-North Hai Van Natural Resource Area and Associated Buffer Zones Technical Advisory Committee.

Vu Dung (undated) Technical and economic feasibility study for the establishment of the national park of Mach Ma. Unpublished report.

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