Bird Life Tieng Anh-01.qxd - Birdlife International in Indochina

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Control hunting by means of appropriate provincial, district or commune-level regulations,
combined with training and appropriate incentives for local communities.
• Incorporate environmental considerations into future aquacultural development plans.
Changes since 1996. A survey of 18 coastal wetland sites in the Red River Delta by BirdLife
International and FIPI in 1996 identified Nghia Hung as the second most important site for wetland
conservation, and proposed the area be established as a nature reserve. 3 The effects of hunting, overexploitation
and habitat loss to aquaculture, however, have massively devalued the biodiversity
importance of this site. Today, not one of the seven globally threatened bird species once found at
Nghia Hung now occurs, and just one species (Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus) occurs
at a level of more than 1% of the Asian biogeographic population. An estimated 30,000 shorebirds
were present in April 1994, but fewer than 1,000 shorebirds were recorded in late March 2005
(Nguyen Duc Tu and Le Trong Trai 2005). This has been a sad loss of what only a decade ago
was one of the foremost sites for migrant waterbirds in Asia.
5. Site ranking
An attempt has been made to quantify and rank the six Red River Delta sites according to their
conservation importance (see Tables 1 and 2).
It is important to appreciate, however, that although waterbirds may concentrate at a few sites, they
utilise the entire coastal zone during migration where they are at risk from a variety of threats.
Therefore, it is vital to implement appropriate conservation measures along the entire Red River
Delta coastline and not just at a handful of key sites in order to protect the unique and globally
important avifauna of the region.
Criteria used are explained in the notes to the scoring system (see Table 2). This ranking gives an
order of relative importance for the six IBAs as follows: Xuan Thuy (first, 44 points), Thai Thuy
(25 points), Tien Hai (19 points), Tien Lang (10 points), Nghia Hung (8 points) and An Hai (6
points).
6. General conclusions and recommendations
The Red River Delta is a vital location for biodiversity conservation in Indochina. It is of paramount
importance for migratory waterbirds visiting and passing through the region from north-east Asia
and Siberia to Australasia, and there is an international obligation to maintain its integrity and habitat
quality.
However, a major threat to bird populations throughout the coastal zone of the Red River Delta is
hunting, frequently in the form of mistnetting, often using taped calls. This technique is indiscriminate
and particularly serious during migration periods. Hunting was identified as a potential problem at
all sites, although hunting is nowadays stirctly controlled within Xuan Thuy National Park and at
Thai Thuy IBA. Also significant is the threat of habitat loss, particularly conversion of mangrove
and mudflats into aquacultural ponds. Better planning is required at all levels to develop aquaculture
in a more sustainable manner.
Control of hunting and better land-use planning, particularly with respect to aquaculture development,
are therefore the two key conservation issues that need to be addressed in the Red River Delta region.
Specific conservation recommendations for each site are given in the relevant sections of this report.