sourcebook

Management history

Bu Gia Map was included on Decision No. 194/CT of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, dated 9 August 1986 (MARD 1997), which proposed establishing a 16,000 ha nature reserve for the conservation of "Fabaceae and Lagerstroemia conservation forest, abundant birds and mammals" (Cao Van Sung 1995). An investment plan was prepared for Bu Gia Map Nature Reserve in 1994 (Anon. 1994), and was approved by the former Song Be Provincial People's Committee in 1995 (FPD 1998).

Bu Gia Map was upgraded to national park status, following Decision No. 170/TTg of the Prime Minister, dated 27 November 2002. The total area of the national park is 26,032 ha, comprising a strict protection area of 18,100 ha, a rehabilitation area of 7,832 ha and an administration area of 100 ha. According to the Prime Minister's Decision, the current area of the buffer zone is 15,200 ha, comprising 7,200 ha in Binh Phuoc province and 8,000 ha in Dac Lac province.

Prior to becoming a national park, Bu Gia Map was managed by a forest protection station, which reported to the provincial forest protection department. In 2003, a national park management board was established, under the direct management of the provincial people's committee, with technical support from the provincial forest protection department. The management board has 37 members of staff, based at four guard stations (Nguyen Van Hoang, Vice-director of Bu Gia Map National Park in litt. 2003). Currently, a national park investment plan has not been prepared for Bu Gia Map, although one is expected to be prepared by the end of 2003 (Le Trong Trai verbally 2003).

Bu Gia Map is included on a list of Special-use Forests to be established by the year 2010, prepared by the FPD of MARD, as a 26,032 ha national park (FPD 2003); this list has not yet been approved by the government.

Topography and hydrology

Bu Gia Map National Park is situated in the lowlands of southern Vietnam, and attains a maximum elevation of 700 m. The principal watercourses encompassed by the national park include the Dak Huyt stream, which flows along the border between Vietnam and Cambodia, and also the Dak Sam, Dak Sa, Dak Ka, Dak K'me and several other streams.

Biodiversity values

Natural forest covers 21,476 ha or 96% of the national park, comprising 388 ha of rich forest, 2,798 ha of medium forest, 1,692 ha of poor forest, 5,064 ha of mixed forest and 11,434 ha of bamboo forest. Non-forest areas, including scrub, bare land and water bodies, cover 854 ha (Anon. 1994).

According to Anon. (1997), 628 plant species have been recorded at Bu Gia Map National Park. These include a number of globally threatened species, such as Afzelia xylocarpa, Dalbergia cochinchinensis and Shorea guiso (Anon. 1997).

The results of field surveys conducted by the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR) between 1995 and 1997 (Nguyen Van Sang et al. 1997) show that Bu Gia Map National Park supports a total of 434 animal species, of which 59 are listed in the Red Data Book of Vietnam. Seventy three species of mammal are listed as occurring at the national park by Nguyen Van Sang et al. (1997). However, as this list includes data compiled from previous studies, the source of which is unverifiable, it should be considered as provisional, and many of the records contained within require confirmation.

In 2000, the Wildlife Conservation Society Cambodia Program and their counterparts conducted a wildlife survey of southern Mondulkiri province, Cambodia; an area contiguous with Bu Gia Map National Park. During this survey, a number of globally threatened mammal species were confirmed, suggesting that they may also occur at Bu Gia Map, at least seasonally. These species included Black-shanked Douc Pygathrix nemaeus, Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbon Hylobates gabriellae, Tiger Panthera tigris, Asian Elephant Elephas maximus and Gaur Bos gaurus (Walston et al. 2001). All of these species have been reported by local people to occur at Bu Gia Map (Le Trong Trai verbally 2003).

The avifauna of Bu Gia Map National Park has received little detailed study. However, at least one globally threatened species, Germain's Peacock Pheasant Polyplectron germaini, has been recorded at the site (Nguyen Tran Vy verbally 2001). Although insufficient reliable ornithological data are currently available to determine whether Bu Gia Map qualifies as an Important Bird Area, Tordoff (2002) considers that the site is likely to qualify, as it contains suitable habitat for the restricted-range species characteristic of the South Vietnamese Lowlands Endemic Bird Area, particularly the globally endangered Orange-necked Partridge Arborophila davidi.

Conservation issues

The major threats to biodiversity at Bu Gia Map are illegal timber extraction, hunting, over-exploitation of non-timber forest products, cultivation within the national park, and forest fire. During the conservation needs assessment for the national park, illegal timber extraction and hunting was assessed as being the most severe threats. Timber, particularly of high value species, such as Dalbergia sp. and Pterocarpus sp., is extracted illegally by local people working on behalf of traders; because of the number of people involved in this activity, the total volume of timber extracted is significant. Hunting and trapping are carried out be ethnic minority inhabitants of the buffer zone. Some hunting is for subsistence use but much is to supply the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products. As a result of increasing market demand, hunting pressure on wildlife populations in the national park is increasing, threatening the continued survival of many animal species.

The above threats are compounded by the limited capacity of the national park management board, in terms of personnel, training, equipment and funding, and by in-migration into the buffer zone. Over the last decade, the population of the buffer zone has increased significantly, as a result of in-migration, mainly spontaneous, from other parts of Vietnam.

Other documented values

Bu Gia Map is a site of historical importance because it was a resistance base during the Second Indochina War. Additionally, the site protects part of the watershed of the Dong Nai river.

Related projects

Field surveys of the national park's fauna and flora have been conducted by IEBR (Nguyen Van Sang et al. 1997) and the Institute of Tropical Biology, Ho Chi Minh City (Anon. 1997). In the case of the latter, fieldwork was conducted during three expeditions from 1995 to 1997. This project was financed by Song Be province. This same institute has also implemented a study of the biodiversity of Bu Gia Map National Park, starting in 1999 and continuing into 2000, which was funded by the government of Vietnam through the National Centre for Natural Science and Technology.

Conservation needs assessment

A conservation needs assessment was conducted for the site in August 2003 by BirdLife International, in collaboration with the national park management board, with support from the Cat Tien National Park Conservation Project. Based on an assessment of the biodiversity values of the site, and the direct and indirect threats to them, five high priority activities for VCF support were identified:

· capacity building for national park staff;

· improved coordination with other enforcement agencies;

· community co-management;

· participatory boundary demarcation to excise areas of cash crops in the periphery of the national park and to clarify the boundary with Dak Lak province;

· baseline biodiversity surveys and establishment of ecological monitoring.

Operational management plan

An operational management plan was prepared for the site in August 2003 by BirdLife International, in collaboration with the national park management board, with support from the Cat Tien National Park Conservation Project. The priority management actions formulated were as follows:

1. maintain the integrity of the lowland semi-evergreen forest ecosystem;

2. mitigate land-use conflict inside the national park;

3. demarcate the national park boundary;

4. control hunting and trapping of animal species;

5. control over-exploitation of NTFPs;

6. control forest fires;

7. conduct targeted biological research;

8. strengthen the capacity of the national park staff;

9. provide necessary equipment and infrastructure for the management board;

10. improve coordination with local authorities and other enforcement agencies;

11. implement an education and awareness programme;

12. engage local communities in conservation activities.

Eligibility against VCF criteria

The site is eligible for VCF funding because it meets criteria A, B and C.

Criterion	Eligibility
A_I	SA8 - Southern Annamites Western Slopes
A_II
B_I	Decision No. 170/TTg, dated 27/11/02
B_II	National Park
B_III	Under provincial management
C_I	Management board established
C_II

Social screening requirements

A social screening report was prepared for the site in August 2003. Bu Gia Map meets social screening criteria A, B and C. Bu Gia Map does not meet criterion D, because the national park management board has not yet negotiated and reached agreement with local communities on acceptable levels of local use of specified resources within the national park.

Criterion	Eligibility
A	The people’s committee chairmen of all communes located in the buffer zone and core area of the national park were consulted in the preparation of the conservation needs assessment
B	People living in the buffer zone and core area, and all sections of these communities, were consulted during the preparation of the conservation needs assessment
C	Draft results of the conservation needs assessment were fed back to all local communities and their comments were taken into account in the final conservation needs assessment
D

Literature sources

Anon. (1994) [Investment plan for Bu Gia Map Nature Reserve, Phuoc Long district, Song Be province]. Song Be: Song Be Provincial People's Committee. In Vietnamese.

Anon. (1997) [Conservation of the biodiversity of Bu Gia Map Nature Reserve, Phuoc Long district, Binh Phuoc province]. Binh Phuoc: Binh Phuoc Provincial Department of Science, Technology and the Environment. In Vietnamese.

Anon. (1997) [Nature elements of Bu Gia Map Nature Reserve]. Unpublished report to Binh Phuoc Provincial Department of Science, Technology and the Environment. In Vietnamese.

Binh Phuoc Provincial FPD (2002) [Feasibility study for buffer zone development at Bu Gia Map Nature Reserve, Phuoc Long district, Binh Phuoc province]. Binh Phuoc: Binh Phuoc Provincial Forest Protection Department. In Vietnamese.

Nguyen Van Sang, Pham Trong Anh, Truong Van La and Le Xuan Hue (1997) [The fauna (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects) of Bu Gia Map Nature Reserve]. Hanoi: Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources. In Vietnamese.

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.

Vietnam News (2002) Binh Phuoc authorities disclose forest damage. Vietnam News 7 December 2002.

Vietnam News (2003) Forestry rangers meet their match. Vietnam News 19 June 2003.

Vu Dinh Truc (2000) Country report: Vietnam. Country Report for the Group Training Course in Nature Conservation and Natural Parks supported by JICA.

Walston, J. Davidson, P. and Men Soriyun (2001) A wildlife survey in southern Mondulkiri province, Cambodia. Phnom Penh: Wildlife Conservation Society Cambodia Program.

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