1. GENERAL INFORMATION

Established by PM Decree 210, February 1996

Scale I: 50,00

Scale I: 100,000

Scale I: 200,000

Scale I: 1,000,000

Salavan
Xekong

Samuoy [Salavan]
Ta-Oy [Salavan]
Kaleum [Xekong]

The eastern boundary follows the border with Vietnam .

The southern boundary follows the rivers Nam Talon, Xe Lon and Xe Kong till the village Ban Talouy Gnai. Approximately 4 km south of Ban Talouy Gnai the NBCA boundary leaves the Xe Kong and proceeds west along the mountain slopes towards the southern loop of the Xe Lanong.

The western and northern boundary of the NBCA run mainly where the mountain slopes start to rise from the undulating land of the river valleys. The western boundary skirts the villages below the slopes east of Muang Ta-Oy running about 2 km east of Houay Takan till it reaches Huoay Tanghak. Here it turns eastwards. The northern boundary remains south of but adjacent to the road leading from Ta-Oy to Samuoy and reaches the Vietnamese border south of the national border crossing at Dane Dalai.

1335 km2 (Reference: Protected Area Fact-Sheets, Annex 3 to the Mid-1995 Status Report on Protected Area System Planning and Management in Lao PDR, Forest Resources Conservation Sub-Programme of the Lao-Swedish Forestry Cooperation Programme, IUCN).
1498 km2 (Calculated by the Forest Cover Monitoring Project MRC/GTZ)

Proposed
Extensions

Stakeholder
Villages and
Population

Due to lack of information and the fact that the Land and Forest Allocation has not yet been implemented in most of the area, it is only possible to distinguish two types of villages:

The numbers of persons are the data of the National Population Census 1995 conducted by the State Planning Committee of the National Statistical Centre.

Principal Local
Resource
Uses

Ethnic
Composition

* For four villages in Kaleum District the data are missing.

Since October 1996, the Forest Management and Conservation Programme (FOMACOP), a joint undertaking of the Government of Lao PDR (GoL), the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank (WB), the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), and the Government of Finland through FINNIDA, has been assisting the Lao government in the Management of Xe Sap NBCA.

Physical
Features

Xe Sap NBCA lays in the Southeast Asia monsoon climate. During the winter (November – February), when the sun is to the south of the equator the climate is under the influence of the cold continental high pressure region over China. The winds are clockwise around the high and come from the northeast over Southeast Asia. This is the Northeast Monsoon, characterized by cold dry air and infrequent light rain.

For the summer (May – August), the sun is to the north of the equator and heats the land mass beneath to a degree that causes an extensive low pressure region called Intertropical Convergence Zone and the Monsoon Trough. Warm winds from the southwest carry moisture from the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand to the part of the trough in the Lao PDR region where vertical convection causes rainfall, large amounts during the height of the monsoon season. This is the Southwest Monsoon. The air is warm, and humidity high.

Main Forest
Types

Forest
Cover

This calculation was realized by the Forest Cover Monitoring Project (FCMP) MRC/GTZ. It is based on interpretation of 1996/97 Landsat TM with the NBCA boundaries as shown on topographical maps 1:100 000 provided by FOMACOP project. Verification with the original documents has not taken place. Therefore the data might be only approximate.

Other Habitat
Features

Recorded
Vertebrates

* Not yet described

Biodiversity

Values

previously thought to be endemic to Vietnam, and Kinabaluchloa sp., a genus of bamboo not previously recorded from Lao or Vietnam (only provisionally identified).

Because of it's geographical position in the Southern Annamites, it's altitude range and variation, and it's undisturbed old-growth evergreen forest types, as well it's extensive areas of high elevation, Xe Sap has unique importance in the NBCA system in Lao PDR.

Both are important watershed systems supporting human communities as well as biodiversity and endangered wildlife species. In the Xe Kong River, e.g., live at least part of the year Irrawaddy Dolphins, one of the most endangered species of Lao PDR. The Xe Banghiang, which is bordering Dong Phou Vieng NBCA is known for it's wealth in fish with respect to species diversity and quantity.

Cultural
Values

Security|
Values

Recreation &
Tourism
Values

Principal
Threats

Reasons for
Extensions or
Excisions

1. Development Activities implemented by the Forest Management and Conservation Project (FOMACOP)

2. Other Project Initiatives

6. REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS

Costello, N. A. and Sulavan, K. (1993). Katu Folktales and Society. Ministry of Information and Culture. Institute of Research on Lao Culture and Society.

Duckworth, J. W. (1997). Small Carnivores in Laos: A Status Review with Notes on Ecology, Behavior and Conservation. Small Carnivore Conservation, The Newsletter and Journal of the IUCN / SSC Mustelid, Viverrid & Procyonid Specialist Group, 16, 1 – 21.

Duckworth, J. W. (1997). A Survey of Large Animals in the Central Annamite Mountains of Laos. International Journal of Mammalian Biology, 63: 239 – 250.

Duckworth, J. W., Timmins, R. J. and Evans, T.D. (1997).The Conservation Status of the River Lapwing Vanellus duvaucelii in Southern Laos. Biological Conservation, 84 (3): 215 – 222

Falke, M. (1999). The Geological Conditions of Xe Sap National Biodiversity Conservation Area, Salavan and Xekong Provinces (4 pp.).

Johnston, J. B. (1999). Inception Report: Conservation Advisor, Xe Sap NBCA. FOMACOP National Statistical Centre, State Planning Committee (1999). Population Census Results 1995, Saravane Province, Districts: Taoy and Samuoy, Sekong Province, District: Kaleum.

(These data, which are available normally only on diskette, have been printed out for Xe Sap NBCA)

Robichaud, W. G. (1998). Physical and Behavioral Description of a Captive Soala, Pseudoryx nghetinhensis. Journal of Mammology, 79 (2): 394 – 405.

Schaller, G.B. (1995). A Wildlife Survey in the Annamite Mountains of Laos, Dec. 1994 –Jan. 1995. Unpublished report to the Wildlife Conservation Society, Vientiane.

Schaller, G.B. (1995). A preliminary survey of the northern Xe Sap region, Salavan Province, April

25 – May 11, 1996. Unpublished field report. Wildlife Conservation Society.

Showler, D. A., Davidson, P., Vongkhamheng, C. and Salivong, K. (1998). A Wildlife and Habitat Survey of the Southern Border of Xe Sap National Biodiversity Conservation Area and the Dakchung Plateau, Xe Kong Province, Lao PDR. Final Report. Centre for Protected Areas and Watershed Management / Wildlife Conservation, Society Cooperative Program, Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Lao PDR. WCS Wildlife Conservation Society.

Steinmetz, R., Stones, I. and Chan-Ard, T. (1999). An Ecological Survey of Habitats, Wildlife and People in Xe Sap NBCA. WWF Thailand.

Sulavan, K. and Costello, N. A. (1994). Belief and Practice in Katu Agriculture. The Ministry for Education and Culture. The Institute of Research on Lao Culture.

Sulavan, Khamluan, T. Kingsada and N. A. Costello (1994). Aspects of Katu Traditional Medicine. Ministry of Information and Culture. Institute of Research on Lao Culture (534 pp.).

Sulavan, K, Kingsada, T. and Costello, N. A. (1996). Katu Traditional Education for Daily Life in Ancient Times. The Ministry for Education and Culture. The Institute of Research on Lao Culture.

Timmins, R. J., Evans, T. D., Khounboline, K. and Sisomphone, C. (1998). Status and Conservation of the giant muntjac Megamuntiacus vuquangensis, and notes on other muntjac species in Laos. Oryx 32(1): 59 – 67.

Timmins, R. J. and Vongkhamheng, C. (1996). A Preliminary Wildlife and Habitat Survey of Xe Sap National Biodiversity Conservation Area and the Mountains to the South, Salavan Province, Lao PDR. Wildlife Conservation Society New York.

Wagenbreth, I. and Vongsaly, S. (1999). Xe Sap National Biodiversity Conservation Area, Population Census Data 1995 (9 pp.).