Ban quản lý rừng Quốc gia Kon Ka Kinh

Kon Ka Kinh Nature Reserve is located in the Western Highlands of Vietnam. The nature reserve coversn41,710 ha, ranges in elevation from 570 to 1,748 m and supports a range of montane habitat types. Analysisnof vegetation data shows that an area of 8,247 ha, equivalent to 20% of the nature reserve has been degradednby past commercial logging activities and continuing illegal timber extraction. A further 12,286 ha, or 29%nof the nature reserve, has been cleared by commercial logging or shifting cultivation and now supports anrange of secondary vegetation types.nDuring the field survey, 652 vascular plant species were recorded, including 16 globally threatened speciesn(IUCN 1997) and 10 species endemic to Vietnam. Many of the plant species recorded at Kon Ka Kinh arenof high economic value, particularly the timber species Fokienia hodginsii. To the south of Mount Kon KanKinh, the highest point in the nature reserve, lies a 2,000 ha plateau that supports mixed coniferous andnbroadleaf forest dominated by F. hodginsii. This habitat sub-type is not represented elsewhere in Vietnam’snprotected areas system, and is one of the key conservation features of Kon Ka Kinh Nature Reserve.nForty two species of mammal, 160 species of bird, 51 species of herpetile and 209 species of butterfly werenrecorded during the field survey. These included 12 globally threatened species (IUCN 1996), five restrictedrangenbird species and three mammal species endemic to Indochina. One of these endemic mammal species,nTruong Son Muntjac Muntiacus truongsonensis, was only discovered in 1997, and is currently known onlynfrom one other protected area in Vietnam.nDuring the field survey, an undescribed taxon of laughingthrush Garrulax was collected. This taxon is closelynrelated to Rufous-throated Laughingthrush G. rufogularis, and may constitute a species new to science.nAt least eight butterfly taxa recorded at Kon Ka Kinh Nature Reserve may be new for science, and at leastnseven species may be new records for Vietnam. One mammal species, Moluccan Whiskered Bat Myotis ater,nis a new record for Vietnam. In addition, several plant species recorded during the field survey may representnnew records for Vietnam or new species for science.nA total of 27,210 people live in the seven communes that comprise the buffer zone of Kon Ka Kinh NaturenReserve, at a density of 16.9 people/km2. Seventy one percent of the inhabitants of the buffer zone belong tonthe Ba Na ethnic minority, with most of the remainder belonging to the Kinh (ethnic Vietnamese) ethnicngroup. Only 51% of the households in the buffer zone are permanently settled, although there are plans tonsettle more households as part of the government-sponsored ‘Fixed Cultivation and SedentarisationnProgramme’.nThe main economic activities in the buffer zone are agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and forest productncollection. Most Kinh households, who practice wet rice cultivation, produce sufficient rice for the wholenyear. However, most Ba Na households, who generally practice shifting cultivation, only produce enoughnrice for four to nine months of the year; during the remainder of the year they depend upon other crops suchnas cassava and maize, or exploit forest resources. Exploitation of certain forest resources is occuring atnunsustainable levels, and potentially the most harmful activities, from a conservation perspective, are huntingnand rattan collection. Timber extraction by local people is believed to occur at low levels; a more seriousnproblem is illegal timber extraction by groups of loggers from other parts of Vietnam.

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