Blueprint for conserving globally important biodiversity in Indochina published
Copyright 2001 WWF International
October 23, 2001
Hanoi, Vietnam - A significant scientific report entitled "Towards a Biodiversity Vision for the Forests of the Lower Mekong Ecoregion Complex" was released today by the WWF Indochina Programme. The report presents the first attempt at a common vision for conserving four of the world's priority ecoregions - Greater Annamites, the Central Indochina Dry Forests, the Cardamom Mountains and the Mekong River and floodlands.
The report is the results of a collaboration by over 80 scientists representing over 35 government and non-government institutions, to identify the biological conservation priorities of these ecoregions that cover the vast majority of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
The scientists have prioritized 26 areas where conservation efforts should be focused if this globally important biodiversity is to be conserved.
These ecoregions are included by WWF in a priority list known as the Global 200, a selected number of natural jewels which are the most important ecoregions in the World to be conserved.
Some of the world's most remarkable biodiversity are found within the four ecoregions included under the Forests of the Lower Mekong Ecoregion Complex. This includes the rare and unique forest plants and animals of the Greater Annamites including the Saola, the strange bovid species whose discovery in 1992 shocked the scientific world, and the world's most endangered large mammal - the Javan Rhinoceros.
In the centre of Indochina lie the flat, expansive areas of "dry" forest that once supported impressive herds of large mammals comparable to the plains of Africa.
The region also includes the great Mekong River and the floodlands related to it such as the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, Southeast Asia's largest lake.
In the southwest of Indochina lie the forest covered Cardamom Mountains, one of the last, great wildernesses still remaining in the region.
"The publication of this document signifies the culmination of several year's collaboration between some of the region's most distinguished biologists and marks an important step for conservation in Indochina" said Michael Baltzer, the WWF Indochina Ecoregion Action Programme Coordinator.
WWF and other conservation organisations are promoting ecoregion scale conservation to successfully conserve the world's biodiversity, in response to the increasingly recognised need to focus conservation efforts more strategically, aiming at larger and more ambitious scales.
In 1999, the WWF Indochina programme began its conservation programme for the ecoregion's under the umbrella of the Forests of the Lower Mekong. The first stage of this process was to design a vision for success.
In March 2000, over 80 scientists met in Phnom Penh, Cambodia to collaborate on the first regional biological assessment of conservation priorities. In preparation for this meeting these scientists help piece together four major studies on the mammal, bird, freshwater and vegetation conservation priorities.
WWF is presently working with its government partners to establish conservation in the priority landscapes identified in the report. It is working to develop two landscape scale conservation initiatives, one in the Central Annamites within the Greater Annamites Ecoregion and one in the Eastern Plains of the Central Indochina Dry Forests Ecoregion.
These initiatives are focused on mobilising conservation at large scales, protecting key species, promoting sustainable development and by laying the foundations for lasting conservation through environmental education, sustainable finance and capacity building activities.
For further information contact:Mike Baltzer, Forests of the Lower Mekong Ecoregion Action Programme Coordinator, WWF Indochina, Tel: +84 4 733 8387 (ext. 151), email: erbc@wwfvn.org.vn
Nguyen Diep Hoa, Communications Unit Manager, WWF Indochina, Tel +84 4 733 8387 (ext. 126), email: hoa@wwfvn.org.vn