Dao Tien Forest Regeneration Project

Dao Tien, as a small island on the edge of Cat Tien National Park, has had a traumatic post.  The area has been subjected to spraying with agent-orane during the American War, many years of selective logging and, unti 2000, opportunistic logging of hard wood trees.  This has left the forest severely damaged, which has resulted in a mosaic of forest types, often dominated by rattan and bamboo, limiting the natural germination of many trees including the vital fruit trees needed by gibbons for food and shelter.  Although primates, especially the gibbons, have been found to be very adaptable to forst change, they do have their limits!

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Dao Tien Forest Regeneration Project

A Forest Fit For Gibbons
 

  • On the southern tip of Dao Tien we have created a 20ha semi-free forested area for final training of rehabilitated gibbons before they return to live in the wild in the forest.  In this area they re-learn to travel in the forest high in the trees, stay off the ground and, most importantly, forage for and eat wild fruits.

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  • During the time the gibbons are rehabilitated inthis area, we slowly reduce the food we provide, encouraging individuals to forage more and more for wild fruits.

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  • Sadly, though, we have found that the area is not rich enough in fruit trees to be a true test of the indidivual gibbon's wild foraging abilitiey.

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  • In this area, with rich soil and a tropical climate, vegetation grows fast, so we want to rectify the cumulative effect of the damage of the past and make the area richer and taller, at the same time providing improved opportunities for our animals to learn the skills required to live in the wild and provide us with a better test for final gibbon rehabilitation.

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  • After the semi-free area is regenerated, we plan to continue in the main forest on Dao Tien.

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Female gibbon in the semi-forested area Lagerstroema trees are important in providing
tall trees for gibbons to travel on


Our regeneration project involves collecting wild tree seeds every month from the forest and germinating and cultivating them, in preparation for planting during the peak of the rains.  Some fruit trees, wuch as fruit trees from the mangosteen family, can produce fruit within 5 years.  The project is being led by K Hoai, one of our primate care staff who has an excellent indigenous knowledge of the forest and has worked for many years as a forest ranger.

 

K Hoai caring for his seedlings Volunteers help collect wild fruit
   
K Hoai planting his seeds

Project Status 2011
 
  • A large tree nursery as been built for seedling germination.

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  • Six species of tree fruit and non-fruit tree have been germinated so far, including Garcinia (Clusiaceae) and Afzelia xylocarpa (Fabaceae).

Large tree nursery has been built for seedling germination
   
Garcinia seedling Afzelia seedlings

Afzelia Xylocarpa conservation status Endangered.  Afzelia can reach 30 metres tall with a trunk up to 2 metres in diameter in a mature specimen.


Help Us Create a Forest Fit For Gibbons

Get Involved in Forest Regeneration

Siagon South International School (SSIS) Garden Club has started a joint project with Dao Tien/ Cat Tien National Park.  The club is germinating and growing on Garcinia (Bua) fruit tree seeds.  For more information go to http://ldbconnect.com/GardenClub/daotien/ 

For the project to work once the young trees are planted, we need to cut back the bamboo and rattan to give the trees space to grow.  this will be a task every few months for up to four years, which takes time and money, resulting in a forest truly fit for gibbons.

If you would like to get involved in our reforestation project, either with seed germination or ground clearing as a volunteer in Vietnam or outside Vietnam through fundraising support, please contact us at support@go-east.org.