In Cambodia, payments to protect an endangered bird are no simple matter

By Abigail Seiff // 19 April 2018

STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — At the tip of a small sandbar jutting into the Mekong, four fishermen unfurl a net, half an eye on the old man lecturing them. In a gravelly voice, 64-year-old Meak Phoeurn informs the group that this is a conservation area, that there is a rare bird nearby and they better stay away from her eggs. He spins around and points to the rolling dunes and high grass and, in a flash of inspiration, warns them there are cameras everywhere.

“Be careful, you’re going to be trapped in the security cameras, ok? You’re going to be in jail, so you better be careful, you never know.”

Later, laughing at his own audacity, Phoeurn says the idea came to him after seeing a drone last year. There are, of course, no security cameras on this wild, uninhabited slip of land. The trick is just one in an arsenal honed over a decade of figuring out how, exactly, to save a vanishing bird.

The river tern was once so common in this part of the Mekong that its eggs could be collected by the basketful. Today, there are about 60 birds remaining in all of Cambodia. Between January and April, the river terns lay eggs on the numerous sandbars that appear in the dry season — directly in front of a string of villages. For about 25 days, until they hatch, the eggs lie uncovered, directly on the sand. Keeping away fishermen, children, water buffalo, and rats is no easy task. 

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Nearly 7,000 Rare Birds Fledge From Nests In Cambodia In Over A Decade: Conservationist Group

 Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88)  7 days ago  Tue 03rd April 2018 | 12:36 PM

PHNOM PENH, April 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News, app - 3rd Apr, 2018 ):

A conservationist group said in a statement on Tuesday that they had protected 3,800 nests of 11 globally threatened bird species, leading to the fledging of 6,806 birds in the Northern Plains of Cambodia in Preah Vihear province since 2002.

The group is comprised of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Cambodian Ministry of Environment (MoE) and community members. The group set up a nest protection program in the early 2000s to prevent the widespread collection of eggs and chicks.

Under the program, local people living the Chhep Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) and the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary (KPWS) in the province are offered conditional payments if they successfully locate, monitor and protect nests until fledging.

"Nest protection has reduced threats from egg collection, nest disturbance and logging," said Rours Vann, WCS's wildlife monitoring team leader in the KPWS. "The success of the program has been closely linked to our research into the ecology of key bird species and strong working relationships with local communities.

Read on  

Habitat loss threatens bird species

April 4, 2018

Mom Kunthear / Khmer Times  Share:    

The Wildlife Conservation Society yesterday said that it has protected more than 3,800 nests of 11 globally threatened bird species in tandem with the Ministry of Environment since 2002, leading to the hatching of nearly 7,000 birds in Preah Vihear province.

At the same time, WCS raised concerns that their hard work to protects the birds may be undermined by a changing threat as poaching has dropped but habitat loss has increased.

Rours Vann, WCS’s wildlife monitoring team leader in the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary, said yesterday that the tallied figures mark a success for the organisation’s work with the ministry, but noted WCS remains concerned.

He said that their efforts in nest protection have reduced the threat of egg poaching, but a new threat of habitat loss remains worrisome.

“When communities have the opportunity to obtain socio-economic benefits from their wildlife assets, they are more motivated to protect them,” he said. “But we are still worried about the safety of these birds as they are being disturbed by land concessions, building of houses and the villagers’ use of poison to catch fish – which causes birds to die.”

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Three critically endangered red-headed vulture nests discovered in Cambodia’s Chhep Wildlife Sanctuary

Date:  January 29, 2018

Source:  Wildlife Conservation Society

Summary:

Three nests of the Critically Endangered Red-headed vulture were found in January in Chhep Wildlife Sanctuary by conservationists. The population of this species in Cambodia is possibly less than 50 individuals. These nest discoveries give hope that conservation efforts may save this species from extinction.

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3 rare black-necked storks hatched in Cambodia's wildlife sanctuary

Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-08 14:47:50|Editor: Chengcheng

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Three black-necked stork chicks have been hatched in Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary (KPWS) in the Northern Plains in Cambodia's Preah Vihear province, giving hope to the future conservation of this rare species in the country, a Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) statement said on Friday.

The black-necked stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus) is a very rare bird species in Asia and is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as "near threatened", the statement said, adding that an estimated 15,000 to 35,000 individuals exist globally, with the vast majority of them in Australia.

"Less than 10 pairs are known to exist in Cambodia, the only country in Southeast Asia where the bird is regularly recorded," it said.

Yoeun Yerb, a WCS-supported nest protector, said he was happy to see these three black-necked stork chicks because they were a rare bird, not often seen in the forest.

"We achieved our goal of guarding the nest and strongly hope that others will help safeguard this species," he said.

The Bird Nest Protection Program in the Northern Plains of Cambodia is a payment structure designed to combat the threat of egg and chick collection, the statement said. Under the scheme, local people living in the protected areas are offered conditional payments if they successfully locate, monitor and protect nests until the birds fledge.

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Rare ibis discovered

September 1, 2017

Ven Rathavong / Khmer Times Share:    

Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Environment Ministry have found two pairs of critically endangered giant ibis in Mondulkiri’s Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary.

They are the first of the species found in the sanctuary for ten years.

“This finding confirms once again that Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary is a biodiversity hotspot and vital for conservation of globally threatened mammal and bird species,” WCS said yesterday.

The giant ibis (Thaumatibis gigantea) is Cambodia’s national bird, and exists only in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

There are about 194 mature individuals in the global population, with about 99 percent living in Cambodia.

Research team leader Sot Vandoeun said his team spent almost fifteen days searching for the species in the area.

Old reports and previous research had confirmed the presence of the species, however they had no accurate population number.

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Researchers in Cambodia find nest of rare riverine bird

Updated: Jul 20, 2017 - 9:19 PM

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Wildlife researchers in Cambodia have found a breeding location for the masked finfoot, one of the world's most endangered birds, raising hopes of its continuing survival.

The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society said Thursday its scientists, along with conservationists from Cambodia's Environment Ministry and residents along the Memay river in the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary, discovered the only confirmed breeding location in Cambodia for the very rare species.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has placed the bird on its red list of globally endangered species because its worldwide population of less than 1,000 is declining at an alarming rate. It is found only in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Poaching and cutting down the trees where the bird lives are causing the population decline, said Eng Mengey, a communications officer at the Wildlife Conservation Society.

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19 critically endangered giant ibis nests discovered in Cambodia: conservationist group

Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-02 18:49:57|Editor: Song Lifang

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- A conservationist group has found 19 nests of globally endangered giant ibis during the current breeding season in the Northern Plains of Cambodia in Preah Vihear province, a Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) statement said on Wednesday.

Community members and conservationists are working together under the Bird Nest Protection Program to protect these nests from human disturbances and other threats, the statement said.

Giant ibis (Thaumatibis gigantea), Cambodia's national bird, is listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and exists only in Cambodia and Laos, it said, adding that about 99 percent of the global population, estimated to contain 194 mature individuals, lives in Cambodia.

"As of July this year, our research team has recorded 19 nests of the giant ibis; 14 located in Chhep Wildlife Sanctuary and five in the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary," said Thong Sokha, wildlife research and monitoring team leader for Environment Ministry and WCS in Chhep Wildlife Sanctuary.

He said the species' breeding period is between June and September, and the team is now working closely with local communities to monitor those recorded nests and search for new ones in both sanctuaries.

Continued http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-08/02/c_136494183.htm

Tourists urged to visit endangered birds

Bird conservationists are calling on tourists to visit critically endangered birds living in Preah Vihear province’s Kulen Promtep and Chhep wildlife sanctuaries.

Dep Oun, the head of Tmatboey community in Preah Vihear, said locals had set up eco-tourism facilities in the area in 2008, but they only receive 200 tourists every year.

An eco-lodge with more than 10 rooms is available to visitors, allowing people to get up close and personal with birds such as the Giant Ibis and White-shouldered Ibis.

Both birds are listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. The Giant Ibis is also Cambodia’s national bird.

“We want more tourists, including local people, to visit so our community can survive,” Mr. Oun said. “Their visit will contribute to the preservation of some of the rarest birds in the world and improve the livelihoods of villagers.”

Mr. Oun said the only people that now visit are foreigners, who are mostly birdwatchers from Europe. The community estimates it could earn about $10,000 each tourist season, which runs from October until April, but only a handful of local tourists have ever visited.

He pointed out that he and other villagers used to be hunters, but had become conservationists when they understood how endangered the birds were.

However, he said his community still needs to find a way to earn an income.


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Heat, water shortages affecting rare bird life

Thu, 5 May 2016

Igor Kossov

Conservationists are expressing concern that some of the Kingdom’s endangered birds are not reproducing this year due to extreme heat stress, inability to find enough food and habitat loss from wildfires and human encroachment.

“They aren’t able to gain enough weight” to nest and lay eggs, said Ross Sinclair, the country director of Wildlife Conservation Society.

Affected species include the white-shouldered ibis, the giant ibis and the sarus crane, which range from vulnerable to critically endangered, according to Sinclair.

“This drought is not contributing to their recovery,” Sinclair said. “Increased stress on [endangered] animals is not good news for conservation.”

Meanwhile, BirdLife International program manager Bou Vorsak said Cambodia’s endangered vultures are losing nesting trees due to logging and fires on the Eastern Plains and along the Sesan River.

Vultures are especially needed this year to clean up the many animal corpses resulting from the record heat and water shortage, Vorsak said. By scavenging, vultures clean up the environment and reduce the chance of insect-borne disease.

While WCS and BirdLife don’t expect endangered ibis, crane and vulture numbers to actually decline this year, they don’t hope to see much of an increase year either.

Endangered bird populations had been increasing almost every year over the past decade until the recent interruption.

Source …

Cambodia’s extraordinary waterbird colony – Prek Toal - recognised as Ramsar Site

South-East Asia’s largest waterbird colony, the 21,342 hectares Prek Toal has been designated as a Wetland of International Importance (also known as a ‘Ramsar Site’), by the Royal Government of Cambodia and recognised by the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

Prek Toal’s Status as South-East Asia’s largest waterbird colony was under threat due to overharvesting of the waterbirds until the Ministry of Environment in close cooperation with the Wildlife Conservation Society started working back in 1999 to conserve the colony. The colony was a fraction of its current size, due to decades of egg and chick collection. Former egg collectors were employed as nest guardians, stationed on tree-top platforms throughout the breeding season to protect and monitor the breeding birds. The protection continues to this day, and Prek Toal now supports more than 50,000 breeding waterbirds of at least ten globally threatened species. These include Southeast Asia’s only breeding Spot-billed Pelicans, nearly half of the world’s Greater Adjutants and many thousands of storks and darters. It is for this reason that Prek Toal has received recognition as a Ramsar Site. Prek Toal attracts thousands of tourists annually and supports the most productive fishery in the Tonle Sap Lake. 

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Cambodia’s extraordinary waterbird colony – Prek Toal - recognised as Ramsar Site

South-East Asia’s largest waterbird colony, the 21,342 hectares Prek Toal has been designated as a Wetland of International Importance (also known as a ‘Ramsar Site’), by the Royal Government of Cambodia and recognised by the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

Prek Toal’s Status as South-East Asia’s largest waterbird colony was under threat due to overharvesting of the waterbirds until the Ministry of Environment in close cooperation with the Wildlife Conservation Society started working back in 1999 to conserve the colony. The colony was a fraction of its current size, due to decades of egg and chick collection. Former egg collectors were employed as nest guardians, stationed on tree-top platforms throughout the breeding season to protect and monitor the breeding birds. The protection continues to this day, and Prek Toal now supports more than 50,000 breeding waterbirds of at least ten globally threatened species. These include Southeast Asia’s only breeding Spot-billed Pelicans, nearly half of the world’s Greater Adjutants and many thousands of storks and darters. It is for this reason that Prek Toal has received recognition as a Ramsar Site. Prek Toal attracts thousands of tourists annually and supports the most productive fishery in the Tonle Sap Lake. 

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Vulture decline recorded in Cambodia

An annual vulture census carried out across Cambodia has recorded the second lowest population estimate for ten years. 

The new figures follow a major vulture poisoning incident that occurred in Cambodia’s Mondulkiri Protected Forest back in february when 13 vultures were found dead.

This is the largest vulture fatality ever reported from a poisoning incident in Cambodia.

Vultures have also abandoned a colony adjacent to a forest in the Mondulkiri Province after a Vietnamese company began clearing it.

“On their own, these data should not be considered evidence of a decline in the vulture population in Cambodia”, said Sum Phearun, BirdLife’s Cambodian Vulture Conservation Project Coordinator.

“The data is suggestive, though, that a decline is occurring amongst vultures in eastern Cambodia and we need to understand why and respond to it. Is it probably a result of a combination of poisoning, habitat destruction and disturbance or lack of consistency in conducting restaurants and inconsistencies in data collection at these sites.”

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Record numbers of White-shouldered Ibis in Cambodia

November 2013. A record number of White-shouldered Ibis have been recorded in the wild in Cambodia, making the known global population larger than previous studies suggested. These results once again confirm that Cambodia is the stronghold for this Critically Endangered species.

973 birds counted

The count of 973 follows nearly a decade's conservation work by international and local NGOs and government agencies. Since coordinated counts began in 2009, the known population for this species has been increasing every year, partly as a result of conservation actions, such as nest protection to improve chick survival, and partly due to increased survey effort and better knowledge of roost locations.

Land use changes and lack of protection a major issue

The future of this species is far from certain. Many of these birds are at risk of losing their habitat from imminent changes in land use and currently over three-quarters of the birds were censused on roosts outside the boundaries of legally protected areas. The counts have identified Western Siem Pang Proposed Protected Forest as the most important site.

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New endangered giant ibis found in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Jubilant conservationists expressed hope Tuesday for the survival of the critically-endangered giant ibis after a nest of the bird species was discovered in a previously unknown habitat in northeastern Cambodia.

Habitat loss and poaching has pushed the giant ibis to the edge of extinction, with around only 345 of the reclusive creatures -- distinctive for their bald heads and long beaks -- left anywhere in the world, 90 percent of them in Cambodia.

A farmer in Cambodia's Stung Treng province discovered the nesting site a few kilometres inland in the biodiverse Mekong Flooded Forest area last month, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said in a statement.

An inspection team from the WWF later saw an adult bird sitting on the nest with two eggs.

"The discovery of the giant ibis nest on the Mekong is extremely significant because it provides hope for the species' survival," said Sok Ko, Forestry Administration official and Bird Nest Project officer with WWF.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/08/20/new-endangered-giant-ibis-found-in-cambodia/#ixzz2cW3il0gj

Hiding in plain sight: New species of bird discovered in capital city

Cambodian tailorbird hiding in plain site

June 2013. A team of scientists with the Wildlife Conservation Society, BirdLife International, and other groups have discovered a new species of bird with distinct plumage and a loud call living not in some remote jungle, but in a capital city of 1.5 million people.

Cambodian tailorbird

Called the Cambodian tailorbird (Orthotomus chaktomuk), the previously undescribed species was found in Cambodia's urbanized capitol Phnom Penh and several other locations just outside of the city including a construction site. It is one of only two bird species found solely in Cambodia. The other, the Cambodian laughing thrush, is restricted to the remote Cardamom Mountains.

Ashish John/WCS

Lives in and around Phnom Penh

The wren-sized gray bird with a rufous cap and black throat lives in dense humid lowland scrub in Phnom Penh and other sites on the surrounding floodplain. Its scientific name, ‘chaktomuk', is an old Khmer word meaning four-faces, perfectly describing where the bird is found: the area centred in Phnom Penh where the Tonle Sap, Mekong and Bassac Rivers come together.

Near threatened

Only tiny fragments of floodplain scrub remain in Phnom Penh, but larger areas persist just outside the city limits where the Cambodian Tailorbird is abundant. The authors say that the bird's habitat is declining and recommend that the species is classified as Near Threatened under the IUCN's Red List. Agricultural and urban expansion could further affect the bird and its habitat. However, the bird occurs in Baray Bengal Florican Conservation Area, where WCS is working with local communities and the Forestry Administration to protect the Bengal florican and other threatened birds.

This same dense habitat is what kept the bird hidden for so long. Lead author Simon Mahood of WCS began investigating the new species when co-author Ashish John, also of WCS, took photographs of what was first thought to be a similar, coastal species of tailorbird at a construction site on the edge of Phnom Penh. The bird in the photographs initially defied identification. Further investigation revealed that it was an entirely unknown species.

"The modern discovery of an un-described bird species within the limits of a large populous city - not to mention 30 minutes from my home - is extraordinary," said Mahood. "The discovery indicates that new species of birds may still be found in familiar and unexpected locations."

The last two decades have seen a sharp increase in the number of new bird species emerging from Indochina, mostly due to exploration of remote areas. Newly described birds include various babbler species from isolated mountains in Vietnam, the bizarre bare-faced bulbul from Lao PDR and the Mekong wagtail, first described in 2001 by WCS and other partners.

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Catastrophic Loss of Cambodia's Tropical Flooded Grasslands

Mar. 14, 2013 — Around half of Cambodia's tropical flooded grasslands have been lost in just 10 years according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

The seasonally flooded grasslands around the Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia's largest freshwater lake, are of great importance for biodiversity and a refuge for 11 globally-threatened bird species. They are also a vital fishing, grazing, and traditional rice farming resource for around 1.1 million people.

Research published today in the journal Conservation Biology quantifies for the first time the area's catastrophic loss of tropical flooded grassland.

The grassland area spanned 3349 km² in 1995, but by 2005 it had been reduced to just 1817 km² -- a loss of 46 per cent.

Despite conservation efforts in some areas, it has continued to shrink rapidly since, with a further 19 per cent lost in four years (2005-2009) from the key remaining grassland area in the southeast of the Tonle Sap floodplain.

Factors include intensive commercial rice farming with construction of irrigation channels, which is often illegal. Some areas have also been lost to scrubland where traditional, low-intensity agricultural activity has been abandoned.

The research has been led by Dr Charlotte Packman from UEA's school of Environmental Sciences, in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society Cambodia Program and BirdLife International. It was funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund.

Dr Packman said: "Tropical and flooded grasslands are among the most threatened ecosystems globally. The area around the Tonle Sap lake is the largest remaining tropical flooded grassland in Southeast Asia. It is hugely important to both biodiversity and the livelihoods of some of the world's poorest communities. Our research shows that these grasslands are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130317221448.htm

Cambodia reports 3 new bird flu cases, 2 fatal

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia on Friday reported three new human cases of bird flu, two of them fatal, in the first three weeks of this year. That's as many cases as the Southeast Asian country reported in all of 2012.

The cases are among the first reported in 2013 for the virulent H5N1 virus, which the World Health Organization says has killed 360 other people worldwide since surfacing in 2003.

WHO and Cambodia's health ministry announced that a 15-year-old girl in a village in southeastern Takeo province and a 35-year-old man in central Kampong Speu province died after being hospitalized with H5N1, better known as bird flu. An 8-month-old boy in the capital, Phnom Penh, was treated and survived.

Cambodia reported three cases last year, all of them fatal. Since 2005, it has recorded 21 cases, 19 of them fatal.

The disease remains hard for people to catch, but experts fear it could mutate into a more deadly form that spreads easily from person to person. So far, most human cases have been linked to contact with infected poultry.

On Wednesday, international scientists who last year halted controversial research with the deadlybird flu virus said they were resuming their work as countries adopt new rules to ensure safety.

An outcry had erupted when two labs — in the Netherlands and the U.S. — reported they had created easier-to-spread versions of bird flu. Amid fierce debate about the oversight of such research and whether it might aid terrorists, those scientists voluntarily halted further work last January.

Those scientists announced Wednesday they were ending their moratorium now that health authorities have had time to determine how they will oversee high-stakes research involving dangerous germs. Several countries have already issued new rules.

Continued:  http://news.yahoo.com/cambodia-reports-3-bird-flu-cases-2-fatal-131138889.html

Bird Merit Release at Phnom Penh Riverside

Occassionally I go to check the cages where birds are held for merit release at a small temple along the river, opposite the Royal Palace. I did so today and although I did not find anything particular unusual I thought it would be good to post a blog about this practice. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of birds are sold every year (see article by N van Zalinge in Cambodia Bird News No.2). Lots of birds do not survive this ordeal, especially the insectivores like Barn Swallows, which starve to death in the period from capture to eventual release.

Read on: http://cambodiabirdingnews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/bird-merit-release-at-phnom-penh.html