Nakai-Nam Theun 2The key to this richness is the topographical and botanical variability already described. Slow-flowing rivers and adjacent forest on the Nakai Plateau provide habitat for scarce species such as White-winged Duck (7) Cairina scutulata, Lesser Fish-eagle Ichthyophaga humilis, Pied Falconet Microhierax melanoleucos and River Lapwing (8) Vanellus duvaucelii. Mid-altitude river systems are home to Blyth's Kingfisher Alcedo hercules and Tawny Fish Owl Ketupa flavipes. Lowland/foothill semi-evergreen forest supports populations of many Indochinese specialities including Red-collared Woodpecker Picus rabieri, Pale-headed Woodpecker Gecinulus grantia, Indochinese Green Magpie Cissa hypoleuca, White-winged Magpie Urocissa whiteheadi and Rufous-throated Fulvetta Alcippe rufogularis. The vast expanse of evergreen fagaceous forest provides habitat for Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo Carpococcyx renauldi, Green Cochoa Cochoa viridis, Red-tailed Laughingthrush Garrulax milnei and Rufous-necked Hornbill Aceros nipalensis amongst many others. The Beautiful Nuthatch Sitta formosa is usually found on the boughs of Fokienia hodginsii, while Spectacled Fulvetta Alcippe ruficapilla, Whiskered Yuhina Yuhina flavicollis and Chestnut-tailed Minla Minla strigula are confined to cloud and elfin forest close to the summits of the highest peaks. The 'everwet' forests of the proposed northern extension are a stronghold of Short-tailed Scimitar-babbler Jabouilleia danjoui and Crested Argus Rheinardia ocellata, with many individuals of the latter species calling from arenas on ridge-tops, often close to new logging roads but always difficult to catch sight of, no matter how cautiously they are approached. Spotted Wren Babbler Spelaeornis formosus occurs in forested valleys and Jerdon's Bushchat Saxicola jerdoni breeds locally in riverine scrub and stands of Imperata grassland.
Mammals Nakai-Nam Theun is perhaps most significant for the important populations of threatened mammals it supports. Asian Elephant Elephas maximus and Gaur Bos gaurus survive in the area. Approximately nine primate species occur, including three that are Globally Threatened or Data Deficient (9): Pygmy Loris Nycticebus pygmaeus (provisionally identified, pending research into Nycticebus taxonomy in South-East Asia), Douc Langur Pygathrix nemaeus (the most important population of the red-shanked form in the world (10)) and an as yet unidentified pale-cheeked gibbon of the Nomascus subgenus, probably of the form leucogenys or siki (again, taxonomic relationships in this group remain unclear: Thomas Geissmann in litt. 1998). Along just one stretch of incompleted road above the village of Ban Navang, 15 species of carnivore have been recorded, including many rare cats such as Asiatic Golden Cat Catopuma temmincki, Marbled Cat Pardofelis marmorata, Clouded Leopard Pardofelis nebulosa and Tiger Panthera tigris (11). On the basis of current, admittedly patchy, knowledge, the NBCA emerged as the second most important area in the world outside Madagascar for the conservation of small carnivores (12). Most remarkably, several new mammal species have recently been described from the area. The most distinct of these discoveries is the Saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis (13,14). To date, this extraordinary long-horned bovid has evaded biologists in the wild but several have been captured or killed by villagers in Nakai-Nam Theun and the proposed northern extension (15,16). It is known only from the central Annamites of Laos and Vietnam, and Nakai-Nam Theun possibly contains the most viable population of the species in a legally protected area (5). Another newly described large mammal, the Giant Muntjac Megamuntiacus vuquangensis (18), occupies a restricted world range centred around this region (17,18,19). A small dark muntjac, possibly the recently described Muntiacus truongsonensis (20), also occurs in less disturbed tracts of montane evergreen forest in the area. Furthermore, a distinctive forest rabbit found in the area (probably Nesolagus sp.) awaits formal description (R.J. Timmins in litt. 1997), and the Indochinese Warty Pig Sus bucculentus was recently rediscovered in the area (21) after being considered extinct (22). These findings have focused much popular attention on the region, (23,24,25,26) showing it to be inadequately studied but confirming its status as a critical area for conservation. In conclusion, it cannot be stressed emphatically enough that the species richness and conservation importance of the mammal community at Nakai-Nam Theun is truly exceptional, surpassing almost all other protected areas in South-East Asia. Conservation and the future The Nam Theun 2 project has stimulated and financed a series of important ecological studies in Nakai-Nam Theun NBCA since 1995, resulting in our current knowledge and a comprehensive management plan for the area (2). It also proposes to fund local conservation action for several decades with a portion of profits accrued through the sale of electricity. However, the optimistic implications of this potential funding are counterbalanced by the absence of any precedent amongst hundreds of comparable development projects around the world: despite frequent promises to the contrary, it is difficult to cite a single example of hydropower development positively influencing biodiversity conservation. In essence, Nam Theun 2 will destroy one recently outstanding area and facilitate access to another. The resultant degradation is likely to be painfully predictable, no matter how many millions of dollars are poured into preventing it. The major difficulty facing conservationists in Laos is not money. As Berkmüller et al.(27) state, 'low skill levels, limited motivation and insufficient institutional capacity pose greater constraints to management implementation than funding'. Nevertheless, given the 'dam scenario' an opportunity presents itself, however elusively, for development and conservation to work in tandem for the benefit of the Lao people and their environment. Whether this opportunity is grasped, or whether the profits are enjoyed exclusively in the corporate and political sectors, remains to be seen. |
