Installed more than 900 photo traps to monitor wildlife in Vietnam
Photo trap systems are installed in a number of National Parks, Conservation Areas and protected forests in Vietnam to collect information on endangered wildlife.
The photo trap will automatically record all land mammals and birds weighing 500g or more as they move in front of the sensor. These tools are able to help monitor the distribution and behavior of endangered species that are interesting and difficult to track information by other methods.
The camera trap system has been installed by WWF-Vietnam in Quang Tri, Quang Binh, Thua Thien Hue, Lam Dong province, Vu Quang National Park, Cuc Phuong National Park since December 2021. The system consists of more than 900 research stations serving conservation monitoring in Vietnam, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Sustainable Forest Management and Biodiversity Conservation (VFBC) Project.
Technicians set a camera trap in the Quang Nam protected forest in March 2022. Photo: WWF
“Based on information from previous camera trap installations, researchers have identified a further 900 stations for the installation of the new camera trap system,” said Nguyen Quang Hoa Anh, Conservation Area Manager and law enforcement in Thua Thien Hue province, said the Biodiversity Conservation Component. These stations cover an area of almost 900,000 hectares of natural forest. This is an area located in the biodiversity corridor of North and Central Truong Son, which is considered to have the highest level of biodiversity in the country, recording the emergence of many rare and endemic animal species, such as the large gill Truong Son gill…
According to Mr. Hoa Anh, camera traps were first used by WWF in 2005 to capture images of interesting species such as the Saola, Truong Son’s gills, bears… by focusing on high probability points. . From 2014 to 2020, camera traps were installed in 9 areas such as Bach Ma National Park, Bac Hai Van Special Use Forest, Phong Dien Nature Reserve, Saola Thua Thien Hue Conservation Area, Park Song Thanh Country (Quang Nam), Saola Quang Nam Conservation Area … Here, the system has recorded and collected more than 120,000 images of 36 species of mammals and 40 species of birds. Of these, 5 species are classified as critically endangered, 5 critically endangered and 2 critically endangered according to the IUCN Red List.
Technician checks camera trap after installation. Photo: WWF
The area where the new camera system is installed is also a place to conserve the habitat of various endangered species such as the saola, elephant… Currently, the Biodiversity Conservation Component is coordinated by WWF with the Project Management Agency. In the forestry project, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is implementing camera trap installation and monitoring process is expected until 2025.
“We hope to collect data on the distribution and behavior of wild species in the area and their changes from year to year. We expect to see an increase in population size and species distribution density. through periods of monitoring as well as opportunities to record images of species of high conservation value such as the saola, giant gills …”, said Mr. Vu Van Hung, Project Director of VFBC.
Photo trapping is a survey method that does not have a major impact on land mammal and bird populations. The information collected will also become data for National Parks, Conservation Areas, Protection Forest Management Boards and special use forests in Vietnam to better identify biodiversity resources in their management areas for appropriate management actions.
Minh Thu
at Blogtuan.info – Source: vnexpress.net – Read the original article here
