“REDISCOVERING THE SAOLA” WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS Hanoi, 2004 "REDISCOVERING THE SAOLA" Proceedings of the "Rediscovering the saola - a status review and conservation planning workshop" Pu Mat National Park, Con Cuong District, Nghe An Province VIETNAM 27-28 February 2004 Prepared and edited by James Hardcastle with Steph Cox Nguyen Thi Dao and Andrew Grieser Johns Workshop minutes compiled by: Kerin Seward Cover photo: Toon Fey Design and Layout: GraphicLink Printed in Hanoi, Vietnam 2004 Published by WWF Indochina Programme SFNC Project Pu Mat National Park ii “Rediscovering the saola” Workshop Proceedings ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The workshop was not possible without the support from WWF Indochina Programme and SFNC Project. Special thanks go to Mr. Andrew Weir, Mr. Dinh Van Cuong, Mr. Andrew Grieser Johns from SFNC Project, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Nhan from Pu Mat National Park, Mr. Eric Coull and Ms. Tran Minh Hien for their support towards this workshop. Thanks to James Hardcastle and Nguyen Thi Dao, WWF, for their preparation and coordination of the workshop and follow-up. Thanks also to Ms. Mac Tuyet Nga, WWF, and Ms. Phan Minh Thu, SFNC for their great work on arranging logistics for the workshop. Thanks also go to Mr. Dang Cong Oanh, vice director, PMNP and other park staff for their great work in arranging accommodation and support to the workshop. Special thanks to Tony Whitten, Mr Vu Van Dzung; Mr. Chu Van Dzung, Mr Nguyen Huu Dzung for chairing the workshop, and James Hardcastle, Mr. Le Van Lanh and Mike Baltzer for facilitation of the workhop. Finally, thanks to all participants who traveled internationally, regionally, nationally and locally to the workshop and made it a success. iii “Rediscovering the saola” Workshop Proceedings PREFACE The saola workshop represents the first time that both scientists and decision makers in Vietnam have concentrated on strategic planning for a single species. The saola has this honour both because of its unique charisma, which gives it the position of flagship species for the Annamite fauna, and because of its extremely precarious existence. This unique species stands on the very brink of extinction in the wild and there are no saola anywhere in captivity. The idea to hold this workshop, to focus national and international attention on the saola, has developed from the convergence of two programmes. Firstly, at the Pu Mat National Park, an important segment of the saola’s remaining range, the EC-funded SFNC project has supported a programme of conservation activities since 1997. Work has focussed on surveys and research, and on the implementation of activities to protect the forests and biodiversity. The National Park itself has recently adopted the saola as its emblem, making it a visible symbol of the park’s conservation efforts. Secondly, working from the level of regional and national conservation strategy development, WWF Indochina has also focussed down on the saola as a symbol of the Annamites Ecoregion and one of its most important, and rare, species. And hence these three organisations, Pu Mat National Park, the SFNC project and WWF Indochina have combined efforts to hold this workshop - a first step towards conservation of the saola and the region that it symbolises. These Proceedings of the workshop, which document the discussions and conclusions reached, are also only an initial step. Talk alone will not save the saola. Following on from this workshop and these Proceedings, the SFNC project and WWF Indochina will again work together to assist the Forest Protection Department of Vietnam to develop a national-level Action Plan for the saola, complementing one already completed by Lao PDR. Together these documents will provide a framework to succeed in rescuing the saola from the brink of extinction. Providing, of course, that the various stakeholders - international organisations, Vietnamese and Laotian authorities and local people - can be engaged to work together to conserve the saola and its habitat, and providing that the international community can provide ‘added value’ through financial means for them to do so. Dinh Van Cuong Andrew Weir Tran Minh Hien Co-director Co-director Vietnam Country Director SFNC SFNC WWF Indochina Programme iv “Rediscovering the saola” Workshop Proceedings ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ADB Asian Development Bank CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora CBD Convention on Biological Diversity EC European Commission EU European Union FFI Fauna and Flora International FIPI Forest Inventory and Planning Institute FPD Forest Protection Department IUCN The World Conservation Union Lao PDR Lao People’s Democratic Republic MARD Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development NBCA National Biodiversity Conservation Area NP National Park PA Protected Area PC People’s Committee PMNP Pu Mat National Park SFE State Forest Enterprise SFNC Social Forestry and Nature Conservation in Nghe An Province (SFNC) Project: ALA/VIE/94/24 supported by the European Commission SSG Species Specialist Group UNPD United Nations Development Programme WB World Bank WCS World Conservation Society WWF World Wide Fund for Nature v “Rediscovering the saola” Workshop Proceedings TABLE OF CONTENTS Workshop Overview . .viii Workshop Conclusions . .ix DAY ONE . .1 Opening speech: by Mr Nguyen Thanh Nhan . .1 Welcome speech by Mr Hoang Nhat Quang . .4 Opening remark by Dr Nguyen Ba Thu . .7 The saola - brief history . .9 Introduction from SFNC . .10 The discovery of the saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) in Vietnam . .11 The natural history of saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) and the species distribution in Laos . .14 Group work: Where do the saola remain? . .24 Group work: What are main threats to the saola . .26 Some endangered antelopes and the lesson we can draw on for the saola . .29 IUCN categories and criteria: principles and options for listing the saola . .31 Brief reponse to Prof. Leader - Williams on the question of “CR” status for the saola . .37 DAY TWO . .39 saola conservation in Thua-Thien Hue Province . .40 Study and conservation activities on saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) in Pu Mat National Park from 1993 to 2003 . .45 Status of the saola in Pu Huong Nature Reserve, Nghe An Province and the potential for conservation . .52 Result of a rapid saola situation analysis from Vietnam . .58 Some interim thoughts about the saola . .59 Group work: Actions for the saola . .60 Closing the meeting . .62 Closing remark by SFNC project . .63 Closing speech of Nghe An People’s Commitee . .66 vi Annex 1 Workshop agenda . .67 Annex 2 List of participants. .69 Annex 3 Report of survey on saola, Pseudoryx nghetinhensis. .71 Annex 4 Saola conservation in Quang Nam province . .101 vii “Rediscovering the saola” Workshop Proceedings WORKSHOP OVERVIEW Discovered to science in 1993, the saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) was the first large mammal to be described in more than half a century. As we move into 2004, the saola still remains elusive, and its very existence is severely threatened. Scientific research on the saola has been limited to date, due in part to the difficulty in accessing its habitat, scant knowledge of its distribution and status, and the low profile that the saola has been given until recently. This remarkably distinctive animal has one of the smallest ranges of any large mammal in the world. It is known for sure to inhabit only six provinces in Vietnam and three in Lao PDR. The saola is adopted here as a flagship species, representative of the fate of biodiversity in Indochina’s forests. It resides in the central mountain chain of the Annamites – an area of notably high global biodiversity value in itself. In the eleven years since the discovery of the saola, the population is believed to have rapidly declined, and it is listed as endangered by both IUCN and the Vietnam Red List. This eight-million year old animal may very well be facing the most difficult and dangerous period in its existence. The quest for development and progress in the region is taking its toll on the fragile saola, as infrastructure development results in the fragmentation and destruction of existing pockets of remaining habitat. Its range has already contracted mostly to nominally protected areas. Even so, hunting remains one of the biggest threats to the survival of this species. The saola is so new to science, and research so limited, that there may be other threats to the saola that conservation managers are currently not fully aware of. Its rarity, distinctiveness and the high degree to which it is threatened makes the saola one of the greatest priorities for conservation in Southeast Asia. The saola has become the flagship species for new efforts for the conservation of the Annamites Ecoregion (known as Truong Son in Vietnam and Sai Phou Luoang in Lao PDR). Conserving the saola is one of the ten key actions identified as immediate priorities for the successful preservation of this globally important ecoregion. This first ever workshop on the saola engaged a range of partners to “raise the standard” for conserving the saola across the Truong Son ecoregion. It focused discussion on underlying issues and practical solutions. Existing information from Vietnam and Lao PDR was pooled, reviewed and used together with indigenous knowledge to define a broad range of specific conservation actions that urgently need to be undertaken. The two-day workshop, “Rediscovering the saola,” was hosted by the Pu Mat National Park with the support of the EC-funded project Social Forestry and Nature Conservation in Nghe An province (SFNC) and WWF-Indochina. The workshop was attended by Vietnamese and Lao scientists, international specialists, representatives of conservation and protection agencies and representatives from upland communities. The workshop agenda and list of participants are provided in Annexes 1 and 2 respectively. Annex 3 details a rapid situation analyisis to give an overview of what we know, and what we have done over the past decade, to fuel the workshop discussion on appropriate conservation action to take forward.