A Model for the Future Conservation
of Southeast Asian Turtles
 |
Research: Le Thien Duc records daily ecology
notes. (Click on photo for details).
|
The decline of turtle and tortoise populations worldwide has caused serious concern among scientists and wildlife conservationists for more than twenty years. But in the decade of the 90s, with China’s transition to a market economy and its increased affluence, the age-old traditional use of turtles for food and medicine has increased dramatically. The impact of the Chinese market on the already precarious status of Asian turtle populations has reached disastrous proportions (see The Asian Turtle Crisis).
But the Cuc Phuong Conservation Project (and its Turtle Conservation and Ecology Project) in Vietnam may very well be a model for future programs to save the turtles of Southeast Asia. The greater Cuc Phuong Project, established in 1996, is a multifaceted conservation initiative, implemented and administered by Fauna and Flora International (FFI) in cooperation with Cuc Phuong National Park and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Major project components include a community-based conservation education program active in 35 schools and 15 communes surrounding the park, a socioeconomic research program to examine the relationship between local communities and forest resource use, a visitor education program targeting the park’s 40,000 annual visitors, and biological research on the park’s fauna and flora.
The Cuc Phuong Conservation Project manages two species conservation programs for wildlife threatened by the illegal trade: the Owston’s Palm Civet (Chrotogale owstoni) Conservation Program and the Turtle Conservation and Ecology Project.
The Turtle Conservation and Ecology Project, focusing on tortoises and freshwater turtles confiscated from the trade, was initiated in 1998. Since then it has developed steadily, and in the summer of 1999, with official endorsement from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Turtle Project was formally integrated into the larger Cuc Phuong Conservation Project, making it the first official tortoise and freshwater turtle conservation program in Vietnam. For more details about the scope, goals, and activities of this important conservation effort, see the reports below.
“Report to TRAFFIC SEA: Compiled Notes on the Wildlife Trade in Vietnam (January–May 2000)”
View/download PDF copy of this report.
Download MSWord copy of this report.
“The Turtle Conservation and Ecology Project”
Overview: objectives and scope of the Turtle Program (PDF* version; see link below)
Download MSWord copy of this report.
Cuc Phuong Report: News from the Cuc Phuong Conservation Project,
Volume III, Issue 1, January 2000 (PDF* version; see link below)
Download MSWord copy of this report.
“Report to TRAFFIC Vietnam: Compiled Notes on the Wildlife Trade in Vietnam
(November–December 1999)”
View/download PDF copy of this report.
Download MSWord copy of this report.
“Report to TRAFFIC Vietnam: Compiled Notes on the Wildlife Trade in Vietnam (October 1999)”
View/download PDF copy of this report.
Download MSWord copy of this report.
“Trade Action Report, Ninh Binh Seizure (July 1999)”
View/download PDF copy of this report.
Download MSWord copy of this report.
|
The Tortoise Reserve Joins Asian Turtle Conservation Effort
The AZA Chelonian Advisory Group and the Australian Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria have identified the Cuc Phuong Turtle Conservation and Ecology Project as a primary site for urgently needed regional conservation of Asian turtles.
To help raise funds for Asian turtle conservation (and at this time all monies will be directed to the Cuc Phuong Conservation Project), the Tortoise Reserve has set up an account at the Tennessee Aquarium to receive donations for Cuc Phuong. To jumpstart the effort, the Tortoise Reserve will match any one donation up to $1,000 from a herpetological or turtle and tortoise society. Contributions in any amount are encouraged, all will be acknowledged, and all contributions are tax deductible. Contributors will receive periodic updates on the program’s progress. Donations should be made payable to the Asian Turtle Conservation Program and sent to the attention of Dave Collins, Asian Turtle Conservation Program Coordinator, Tennessee Aquarium, PO Box 11048, Chattanooga, TN 37401, USA. E-mail:
dec@tennis.org
|
 * To view and print PDF (Portable Document Format) documents, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your system. If you don’t already have Acrobat Reader, follow this link to download your free copy now.
|
Contacts: Douglas Hendrie, Cuc Phuong Conservation Project Director: dhendrie@fpt.vn
Dave Collins, Asian Turtle Conservation Program Coordinator: dec@tennis.org
Jim Van Abbema, NYTTS, this Web site: jvanabbema@nytts.org
This site is sponsored by the New York Turtle and Tortoise Society: nytts.org
|
Click on thumbnail
pictures for details
and full-size view.
|
Turtle enclosures
at the Center
|
Delivering plants for turtle enclosures
|
Indotestudo elongata hatching at the Center
|
Conservation Awareness Program
|
Children tour the Conservation Center
|
Workshop for Ninh Binh rangers
|
Soc Son rangers identify turtles
|
Rangers' seize shipment of Cyclemys
|
A seized shipment of Malayemys
|
|
|
|
