Phuoc Binh Proposed Nature Reserve
| Alternative site name(s) Thuong Da Nhim Province(s) Ninh Thuan Area 19,814 ha Coordinates 11°58' - 12°09'N, 108°40' - 108°48'E Agro-ecological zone South-eastern Decreed by government No Management board established Yes |
Investment plan prepared No VCF eligibility criteria met A, B, C Social screening criteria met None Conservation needs assessment prepared No Operational management plan prepared No Tracking tool completed No Yes |
Management history
Decision No. 194/CT of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, dated 9 August 1986, decreed the establishment of Thuong Da Nhim Nature Reserve in Lam Dong province, with a total area of 7,000 ha (MARD 1997). According to Eames (1995), the provincial authorities of Lam Dong and Ninh Thuan provinces proposed establishing Thuong Da Nhim Nature Reserve with two sectors: the Nui Ba-Nui Bi Dup sector in Lam Dong province, with a total area of 71,850 ha; and the Phuoc Binh sector in Ninh Thuan province, with a total area of 25,866 ha.
In 1993, a management board for Bi Dup-Nui Ba Nature Reserve was established by Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee (Lam Dong Provincial FPD in litt. 2000). This nature reserve comprised the Nui Ba-Nui Bi Dup sector of the former Thuong Da Nhim Nature Reserve in Lam Dong province, and was based on the government decrees for both Thuong Da Nhim and Nui Ba Nature Reserves (MARD 1997).
It appears that a proposal to establish a nature reserve at Phuoc Binh was submitted to the former Ministry of Forestry by Ninh Thuan Provincial People's Committee on 9 September 1993 (Eames and Nguyen Cu 1994) but never approved. Instead, the Phuoc Binh sector of the former Thuong Da Nhim Nature Reserve was classified as watershed protection forest, under the management of Ninh Thuan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD).
On 12 September 2000, Ninh Thuan Provincial DARD sent Official Letter No. 398/SNNPTNT-LN to MARD, in order to propose changing the management category of Phuoc Binh from watershed protection forest to nature reserve (Le Trong Trai verbally 2000). Following this request, a nature reserve management board was established on 26 September 2002. The management board has 18 members of staff, based at two guard stations, and is under the management of Ninh Thuan Provincial DARD (Ninh Thuan Provincial FPD in litt. 2003).
Phuoc Binh is included on a list of Special-use Forests to be established by the year 2010, prepared by the FPD of MARD, as a 19,814 ha nature reserve (FPD 2003); this list has not yet been approved by the government.
Topography and hydrology
Phuoc Binh proposed nature reserve is located in Bac Ai district, Ninh Thuan province, on the eastern edge of southern Annamite mountains. The topography of the proposed nature reserve is dominated by several high peaks in the west of the site, the highest of which reaches 1,978 m. The east of the site decreases in elevation towards the coastal plain of south-central Vietnam. The many streams that originate in the proposed nature reserve feed the Cay river, which reaches the East Sea at Phan Rang town.
Biodiversity values
Phuoc Binh proposed nature reserve supports a range of forest types, including mixed timber and bamboo forest, coniferous forest and evergreen forest. In addition, there are large areas of agricultural land distributed along the Da May and Ta Hop streams in the south-east of the site. The evergreen forest contains elements of both lower and upper montane forest formations. The dominant tree families are the Fagaceae and the Lauraceae, although a range of coniferous tree species also occur, including Pinus dalatensis, Fokienia hodginsii, Podocarpus imbricatus and P. neriifolius (Eames and Nguyen Cu 1994).
In 1994, the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute and the WWF Vietnam Programme conducted a field survey of Phuoc Binh proposed nature reserve. During this field survey, a number of globally threatened mammal species were recorded, including Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbon Hylobates gabriellae, Gaur Bos gaurus and Southern Serow Naemorhedus sumatraensis (Eames and Nguyen Cu 1994). In addition, 93 bird species were recorded, including five restricted-range species: Crested Argus Rheinardia ocellata, Yellow-billed Nuthatch Sitta solangiae, Collared Laughingthrush Garrulax yersini, Short-tailed Scimitar Babbler Jabouilleia danjoui and Vietnam Greenfinch Carduelis monguilloti (Eames and Nguyen Cu 1994). Consequently, Phuoc Binh lies within the Da Lat Plateau Endemic Bird Area (Stattersfield et al. 1998). In addition, Phuoc Binh qualifies as an Important Bird Area (Tordoff 2002).
Conservation issues
Around 600 people live inside Phuoc Binh proposed nature reserve, and a further 7,000 people inhabit the buffer zone (Ninh Thuan Provincial FPD in litt. 2003). These people mainly belong to the Ra-glai, Chu and Kinh ethnic groups. They practice a mixture of wet rice and shifting cultivation, and experience, on average, two months of hunger per year (Ninh Thuan Provincial FPD in litt. 2000). According to Ninh Thuan Provincial FPD (in litt. 2000), the main threats to biodiversity at Phuoc Binh proposed nature reserve are clearance of forest for agriculture and forest fire.
Other documented values
The forest at Phuoc Binh proposed nature reserve plays an important role in protecting the catchment of the Cay river, which provides water for irrigation and domestic use for communities in Ninh Thuan province.
Related projects
Currently, the main source of funding for forestry activities at Phuoc Binh Watershed Protection Forest comes from the national 661 Programme. Prior to 1999, the main source of funding was the national 327 Programme.
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
Phuoc Binh is eligible for VCF support because it meets criteria A, B and C.
| Criterion |
Eligibility |
| AI |
SA3 - Southern Annamites Main Montane Block |
| AII |
VN038 - Phuoc Binh |
| BI |
Proposed Special-use Forest |
| 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
Eames, J. C. (1995) Endemic birds and protected area development on the Da Lat plateau, Vietnam. Bird Conservation International 5(4): 491-523.
Eames, J. C. and Nguyen Cu (1994) [A management feasibility study of Thuong Da Nhim and Chu Yang Sin Nature Reserves on the Da Lat plateau, Vietnam]. Hanoi: WWF Vietnam Programme and the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute. 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.
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