Project leader during the raptors survey at the north of Vietnam.

Vulture populations have declined heavily in Vietnam over the past two decades due to habitat loss, hunting and a shortage of carrion, the main food source of vulture species. Yok Don National Park is the only location with recent records of vulture species in Vietnam. However, these records need to be confirmed by systematic studies including an evaluation of distributional ranges, current status and threats in order to make appropriate recommendations for future vulture species’ protection.

Observing raptors from nest.

Our project will be an integrated work to address these problems in order to enhance raptor conservation in Vietnam. We will identify the current status and distribution ranges of vulture species at Yok Don National Park. All the data collected will be used for future study on the ecology and biology of vultures in Vietnam and for the future monitoring programme. All threats to vulture populations will be documented. Recommendations for the future protection of vulture species will be produced and the awareness of local people and communities raised. We believe raising awareness is extremely important and will be performed both during the surveys and after final results are known. Through this more people will be aware of the importance of the group, and so the impacts on vulture populations such as hunting and habitat destruction will be reduced.

The project will be conducted at Yokdon national park, central highland of Vietnam. This project will be the first study of threatened raptor species in Vietnam. Recruitment, training and coordination of team members from the national parks will help long-term monitoring of threatened raptor species and spread understanding about the importance of raptors, particularly for vulture species. Through this, more people will be aware of the importance of the group, and impacts such as hunting and habitat destruction will be partly reduced. The project will also identify threats, important distribution, nesting sites, collecting data on biology and ecology of Vulture species in order to help conservationists and decision makers making informed decisions about land-use and infrastructure development. The information will also help national parks to develop more sustainable eco-tourism, using threatened raptor species as a focus. Awareness raising among local communities will be carried out during the surveys by showing posters, videos and birds themselves.