Species Diversity And Illegal Trades Of Vietnamese Turtles In Nam Dong Conservation Area And Surrounding Areas Thanh Hoa Province

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MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF FORESTRY

STUDENT THESIS

SPECIES DIVERSITY AND ILLEGAL TRADES OF VIETNAMESE

TURTLES IN NAM DONG CONSERVATION AREA

AND SURROUNDING AREAS, THANH HOA PROVINCE

Major: Natural Resources Management

Code: D850101

Faculty: Forest Resources and Environmental Management

Student: Nguyen Thi Tam Anh Student ID: 1553090775

Class: K60 Natural Resources Management Course: 2015 - 2019

Advance Education Program

Developed in collaboration with Colorado State University, USA

Supervisor: Dr. Luu Quang Vinh

Ha Noi, 2019

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To be honest, I have received a plethora of not only guidance from my supervisors but

also help from organizations and friends during doing this research. I would never have been

able to finish my graduation thesis without these supports.

First of all, I would like to express the deepest appreciation to my research supervisor,

Dr. Luu Quang Vinh, who always trusted in me and continuously supported me in every

problem that occurred throughout the progress of this thesis. Without his guidance and

persistent help, this research would not have been accomplished.

Besides my adivisor, I would send a big thank to Mr. Pham Van Thong, Turtle

Sanctuary and Conservation Center, Vietnam who always supported and inspired me during

the interview and field survey at the field trip with valuable comments. My sincere thank also

goes to Mr. Lo Van Oanh and his family, taking good care of mine and supporting me with

the enthusiastic guidance to collect data when I stayed in his family.

This research would never have been carried out unless local authorities had allowed.

With practical support and legal permissions for the survey team during the interview and

field survey at the study site, therefore, I would like to extend my thanks to the Board

Management of not only Nam Dong Conservation Area but also local authorities from Quan

Son and Quan Hoa districts, Thanh Hoa Province. Moreover, I am grateful to local people for

sharing me with the experiments and welcoming me.

Never forget to thank to the Vietnam National University of Forestry has given me an

opportunity to apply the knowledge I learned from the school. I have got a new and useful

experience that is helpful for my future work.

Last not at least, I am much obliged to my beloved family for supporting me

spiritually throughout my life. They standed by and inspired me to complete the course.

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ABSTRACT

In terms of turtle species richness, Vietnam is the most of biodiversity countries

with ranking 9th in the world with 27 species being the tortoise and freshwater turtle.

However, those unique creature was suffered from many issues such as deforestation,

pollution and illegal trade. These problems are long-term conservation issues, driving

many turtle populations in Vietnam to the edge of extinction. Therefore, aims of this

study are to investigate species diversity and also to evaluate the scale and trend of

turtle trade, based on interviewing local people and field surveys in Nam Dong

Conservation Area and the surrounding areas, Thanh Hoa Province.

The interview results indicated that there were 9 tortoise and freshwater turtle

occurrence in the study. To specify, these are Geoemyda spengleri, Cuora mouhotii,

Cuora galbinifrons, Palea steindachneri, Manouria impressia, Pelodiscus sinensis,

Platysternon megacephalum, Sacalia quadriocellata, Cyclemys oldhamii. Of those,

Manouria impressia and Cuora galbinifrons are the most frequently cited species by

interviewees with 63.11% and 53%, respectively. The prices of species such as Cuora

galbinifrons, Platysternon megacephalum were higher than other species during the

study period, probably due to the rarity of the species and the higher demand from

China. Besides, 110 turtle individuals were observed on the local trade and 5 heads

were recorded from field surveys by researchers. This study also showed that Tam

Thanh commune was an important area for turtle conservation. Therefore, this area

should belong to Nam Dong Conservation Area. In addition, basing on current status

of the turtle trade, I recommended several measures for conservation and management

of turtle species in the study site such as expanding Nam Dong CA, having further

research, raising awareness of local people.

Keywords: turtle diversity, field survey, Vietnam, turtle illegal trade

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TABLE OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.......................................................................................................i

ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................................iii

TABLE OF CONTENT .........................................................................................................ii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...............................................................................................iii

LIST OF TABLE..................................................................................................................iv

LIST OF FIGURE ................................................................................................................. v

I. INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................. 1

II. LITERATURE VIEW....................................................................................................... 3

2.1. Turtle research in the world ............................................................................................. 3

2.2. Turtle research in Vietnam .............................................................................................. 4

III. GOAL, SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY............................................ 6

3.1. Goal................................................................................................................................ 6

3.2. Specific objectives .......................................................................................................... 6

3.3. Methodology................................................................................................................... 6

3.3.1. Study site ..................................................................................................................... 6

3.3.2. Data collection ........................................................................................................... 12

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION..................................................................................... 16

4.1. Species composition of turtle in Nam Dong CA and surrounding areas ......................... 16

4.2. Turtle species distribution of in Nam Dong CA and surrounding areas .......................... 20

4.3. Conservation status and illegal Trade ............................................................................ 25

4.3.1. Conservation status .................................................................................................... 25

4.3.2. Illegal turtle trade ....................................................................................................... 27

4.4. Recommendations......................................................................................................... 30

V. CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................. 32

REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 34

APPENDIX ......................................................................................................................... 37

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CA Conservation Area

TFT Tortoise and freshwater turtles

IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature

VU Vulnerable

LR Lower risk

LC Least concern

EN Endangered

NE Not evaluated

CR Critically Endangered