Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Ornithological information The site is an important staging and wintering area for migraory waterbirds. During surveys in 1988 and 1994, more than 20,000 waterbirds were observed. During the spring of 1996, it was estimated that 33,000 shorebirds passed through the nature reserve.

Site description Xuan Thuy Nature Reserve is situated in the coastal zone of the Red River Delta, at the mouth of the main channel of the Red River, known as the Ba Lat River. The southern boundary is formed by the Vop River. The site comprises three islands and intervening areas of intertidal mudflats. Ngan island, the largest island, consists mainly of aquacultural ponds, most of which contain mangrove. Lu island consists of a large sandy area, as well as coastal marshes and a small area of aquacultural ponds. Xanh island, the smallest island, is a thin sandy island, which is still increasing in size as a result of deposition of sediment carried by the Red River. This island together with parts of Lu island, is submerged at high tide.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Protected areas

Protected area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Xuan Thuy	Nature Reserve	7,680	is identical to site	7,100
Xuan Thuy Natural Wetland Reserve	Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar)	12,000	is identical to site	12,000

Local conservation groups The local conservation group below is working to support conservation at this IBA.

Habitats

Management considerations The site has insufficient funding, infrastructure and the nature reserve staff have limited training. Due to these constraints the staff are unable to plan and implement effective wetland management. Direct threats are listed in the data view.

Conservation response In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the nature reserve, three things are necessary. Firstly, a programme of training for nature reserve staff. Secondly, a management plan that balances the economic, coastal protection and biodiversity values of different habitat types and promotes environmentally land-use practices. Thirdly, a financing machanism for the nature reserve that reduces the dependence of nature reserve managers on funds for mangrove afforestation, an activity which is incompatible with conservation of mudflats and the globally threatened bird species that depend on them.

Further web sources of information 

Site account from Directory of Important Bird Areas in Vietnam: key sites for conservation (Tordoff 2002)

References BirdLife International and the Forest Inventory and Planning Instutute (2001) Sourcebook of existing and proposed protected areas in Vietnam. Hanoi, Vietnam: BirdLife International Vietnam Programme and the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute.Pedersen, A. and Nguyen Huy Thang (1996) The conservation of key coastal wetland sites in the Red River Delta. Hanoi: BirdLife International Vietnam Programme.

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Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Xuan Thuy. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 22/05/2013

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