Stung Sen Wildlife Sanctuary

Last updated
Stung Sen Wildlife Sanctuary
Cambodia physical map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia
Nearest city Kampong Thom City
Coordinates 12°38′06″N104°31′15″E / 12.634978°N 104.520950°E / 12.634978; 104.520950 Coordinates: 12°38′06″N104°31′15″E / 12.634978°N 104.520950°E / 12.634978; 104.520950 [1]
Area6,335 ha (24.46 sq mi) [1]
Established2001 [1]
Official nameStung Sen
Designated2 November 2018
Reference no.2365 [2]

Stung Sen is a protected multiple use management area and wildlife sanctuary in the Kampong Thom Province of Cambodia. It is located near the south-eastern tip of the Tonlé Sap, one of three wildlife sanctuaries around the lake, including Boeng Tonlé Chhmar and Prek Toal. [3]

Kampong Thom Province Province in Cambodia

Kampong Thom is a province (khaet) of Cambodia. It borders the provinces of Siem Reap to the northwest, Preah Vihear to the north, Stung Treng to the northeast, Kratie to the east, Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang to the south, and the Tonle Sap to the west.

Cambodia Southeast Asian sovereign state

Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is 181,035 square kilometres in area, bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest. The sovereign state of Cambodia has a population of over 16 million. The official religion is Theravada Buddhism, practised by approximately 95 percent of the population. The country's minority groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams and 30 hill tribes. The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh, the political, economic and cultural centre of Cambodia. The kingdom is an elective constitutional monarchy with a monarch, currently Norodom Sihamoni, chosen by the Royal Throne Council as head of state. The head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Hun Sen, the longest serving non-royal leader in Southeast Asia, ruling Cambodia since 1985. In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla under the name "Kambuja". This marked the beginning of the Khmer Empire, which flourished for over 600 years, allowing successive kings to control and exert influence over much of Southeast Asia and accumulate immense power and wealth. The Indianised kingdom facilitated the spread of first Hinduism and then Buddhism to much of Southeast Asia and undertook many religious infrastructural projects throughout the region, including the construction of more than 1,000 temples and monuments in Angkor alone. Angkor Wat is the most famous of these structures and is designated as a World Heritage Site. After the fall of Angkor to Ayutthaya in the 15th century, a reduced and weakened Cambodia was then ruled as a vassal state by its neighbours. In 1863, Cambodia became a protectorate of France, which doubled the size of the country by reclaiming the north and west from Thailand.

Tonlé Sap combined lake and river system in Cambodia

Tonlé Sap refers to a seasonally inundated freshwater lake, the Tonlé Sap Lake and an attached river, the 120 km (75 mi) long Tonlé Sap River, that connects the lake to the Mekong River. They form the central part of a complex hydrological system, in the 12,876 km2 (4,971 sq mi) Cambodian floodplain covered with a mosaic of natural and agricultural habitats that the Mekong replenishes with water and sediments annually. The central plain formation is the result of millions of years of Mekong alluvial deposition and discharge. From a geological perspective, the Tonlé Sap Lake and Tonlé Sap River are a current freeze-frame representation of the slowly, but ever shifting lower Mekong basin. Annual fluctuation of the Mekong's water volume, supplemented by the Asian monsoon regime causes a unique flow reversal of the Tonle Sap River.

Contents

Vegetation

The dominant vegetation of the Stung Sen is open deciduous dipterocarp forest, permanent and seasonal wetlands and grasslands. The forests in the region are flooded in the rainy season. In the dry season, water recedes, leaving water only in a few permanent watercourses like the Stung Sen river and its larger tributaries and in small pools. These water bodies support semi-evergreen forest and thick bamboo forests. [4]

Birds

Stung Sen provides habitats for a number of threatened species. The sarus crane (Grus antigone) and lesser adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus) breed here. Other globally threatened and near-threatened species like the giant ibis (Thaumatibis gigantea), white-shouldered ibis (Pseudibis davisoni), greater adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius), black-necked stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus) and grey-headed fish eagle (Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus) have been recorded here. [4] The sanctuary has been designated as a protected Ramsar site since 2018. [2]

Sarus crane species of bird

The sarus crane is a large non-migratory crane found in parts of the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia. The tallest of the flying birds, standing at a height of up to 1.8 m, they are a conspicuous species of open wetlands in south Asia, seasonally-flooded Dipterocarp forests in south-east Asia, and Eucalyptus-dominated woodlands and grasslands in Australia. The sarus crane is easily distinguished from other cranes in the region by the overall grey colour and the contrasting red head and upper neck. They forage on marshes and shallow wetlands for roots, tubers, insects, crustaceans and small vertebrate prey. Like other cranes, they form long-lasting pair-bonds and maintain territories within which they perform territorial and courtship displays that include loud trumpeting, leaps and dance-like movements. In India they are considered symbols of marital fidelity, believed to mate for life and pine the loss of their mates even to the point of starving to death. The main breeding season is during the rainy season, when the pair builds an enormous nest "island", a circular platform of reeds and grasses nearly two metres in diameter and high enough to stay above the shallow water surrounding it. Increased multi-season agriculture is often thought to have led to declines in Sarus crane numbers. However, more careful assessments show sarus crane numbers to have increased due to expansion of wet crops following the Green Revolution and the associated increases in artificial watering structures such as canals and reservoirs. The stronghold of the species is in India, where it is traditionally revered and lives in agricultural lands in close proximity to humans. Elsewhere, the species has been extirpated in many parts of its former range.

Lesser adjutant species of bird

The lesser adjutant is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. Like other members of its genus, it has a bare neck and head. It is however more closely associated with wetland habitats where it is solitary and is less likely to scavenge than the related greater adjutant. It is a widespread species found from India through Southeast Asia to Java.

Giant ibis species of bird

The giant ibis, the only species in the monotypic genus Thaumatibis, is a wading bird of the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is confined to northern Cambodia, with a few birds surviving in extreme southern Laos and a recent sighting in Yok Đôn National Park, Vietnam.

Related Research Articles

Geography of Cambodia

Cambodia is a country in mainland Southeast Asia, bordering Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, the Gulf of Thailand and covers a total area of 181,035 km2 (69,898 sq mi). The country is situated in its entirety inside the tropical Indomalayan ecozone and the Indochina Time zone (ICT).

White-shouldered ibis species of bird

The white-shouldered ibis is a relatively large ibis species in the Threskiornithidae family. It is native to small regions of Southeast Asia, and is considered to be one of the most threatened bird species of this part of the continent.

Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary is a 21.47-square-kilometre (8.29 sq mi) protected area in Tamil Nadu, South India at Point Calimere.

Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary (PCWBS) is a 21.47-square-kilometre (8.29 sq mi) protected area in Tamil Nadu, South India along the Palk Strait where it meets the Bay of Bengal at Point Calimere at the southeastern tip of Nagapattinam District. The sanctuary was created in 1967 for conservation of the near threatened blackbuck antelope, an endemic mammal species of India. It is famous for large congregations of waterbirds, especially greater flamingos. International name: Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary, IBA Code: IN275, Criteria: A1, A4i, A4iii. The 7-square-kilometre (2.7 sq mi) core area of this sanctuary has been proposed as a National Park

Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve

The Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve is a protected area in the Terai of eastern Nepal covering 175 km2 (68 sq mi) of wetlands in the Sunsari, Saptari and Udayapur Districts. It comprises extensive mudflats, reed beds, and freshwater marshes in the floodplain of the Sapta Kosi River, and ranges in altitude from 75 to 81 m. It was established in 1976 and designated as a Ramsar site in December 1987.

Samlaut Multiple Use Area

Samlaut Multiple Use Area is a 599.16 km2 (231.34 sq mi) large multiple use management area in northwestern Cambodia that was established in 1993. It is part of the Cardamom Mountains in Battambang and Pailin Provinces.

Dipor Bil permanent freshwater lake in a former channel of the Brahmaputra river, of great biological importance and also essential as the only major storm water storage basin for the city of Guwahati

Dipor Bil, also spelt Deepor Beel , is located to the south-west of Guwahati city, in Kamrup district of Assam, India It is a permanent freshwater lake, in a former channel of the Brahmaputra River, to the south of the main river. It is also called a wetland under the Ramsar Convention which has listed the lake in November 2002, as a Ramsar Site for undertaking conservation measures on the basis of its biological and environmental importance.

Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary

Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area covering 2,514.68 km2 (970.92 sq mi) in eastern Cambodia that was established in 1993. It is heavily forested and straddes Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, and Kratie provinces. It is home to a variety of endangered wildlife such as banteng, tiger, gaur, dholes and sun bear, as well as leopards, Eld's deer, sambar deer, muntjacs and wild pigs. In addition, a number of rare birds are present: surveys have confirmed the presence of green peafowl, greater and lesser adjutant storks, sarus cranes, oriental pied hornbills, giant ibises, white-shouldered ibises, milky and wooly-necked storks, and vulture sp., which are increasingly rare in most of South and Southeast Asia.

Tonlé Sap Biosphere Reserve

The Tonlé Sap Biosphere Reserve is a unique ecological phenomenon surrounding the Tonlé Sap or Great Lake of Cambodia. In 1997, it was successfully nominated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Central Asian Flyway organization

The Central Asian Flyway (CAF), Central Asian-Indian Flyway, or Central Asian-South Asian Flyway is a flyway covering a large continental area of Eurasia between the Arctic Ocean and the Indian Ocean and the associated island chains. The CAF comprises several important migration routes of waterbirds, most of which extend from the northernmost breeding grounds in Siberia to the southernmost non-breeding wintering grounds in West Asia, India, the Maldives and the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Boeng Tonle Chhmar

Boeng Tonle Chhmar is a 145.6 km2 (56.2 sq mi) large multiple use management area in Cambodia bordering Tonlé Sap lake that was established in 1999. It is located in Peam Bang Commune in Kampong Thom Province.

Bundala National Park National Park in Sri Lanka

Bundala National Park is an internationally important wintering ground for migratory water birds in Sri Lanka. Bundala harbors 197 species of birds, the highlight being the greater flamingo, which migrate in large flocks. Bundala was designated a wildlife sanctuary in 1969 and redesignated to a national park on 4 January 1993. In 1991 Bundala became the first wetland to be declared as a Ramsar site in Sri Lanka. In 2005 the national park was designated as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO, the fourth biosphere reserve in Sri Lanka. The national park is situated 245 kilometres (152 mi) southeast of Colombo.

Central Indochina dry forests Ecoregion in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests

The Central Indochina dry forests are a large tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregion in Southeast Asia.

Sundarbans East Wildlife Sanctuary

Sundarbans East Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected forest in Bangladesh, extends over an area of 31,227 ha. of mangrove forest. It was established in 1977 under the Bangladesh Wildlife (Preservation) (Amendment) Act, 1974, having previously been a forest reserve. It is the most fertile of the three, non-adjoining wildlife sanctuaries established in the Sundarbans at that time, the others being the Sundarbans West Wildlife Sanctuary and the Sundarbans South Wildlife Sanctuary. The dominant mangrove species is "sundri" from which the Sundarbans region gets its name.

Stung Sen Dam

Stung Sen Dam is a proposed multipurpose dam to be located on the Stung Sen River. The river originates in Preah Vihear and flows to the Tonlé Sap Lake in Kompong Thom, southeast of Phnom Rovieng, Cambodia. Under MoU study project and Feasibility Study by Korean company. The large reservoir would submerge Kompong Putrea. Exact data for reservoir size and number of displaced people is not available, nor is any information on the importance of the Stung Sen's flow to the Tonle Sap Lake or fisheries.

Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary Wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, India

Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary, covering about 1,197 km2 (462 sq mi), is the largest wildlife sanctuary of Madhya Pradesh state in India. This wildlife sanctuary is a part of 5500 km2 of forested landscape. It is located in the centre of the state covering parts of Sagar, Damoh, Narsinghpur, and Raisen Districts. It is about 90 km from Jabalpur and about 56 km from Sagar.

Prek Toal

Prek Toal is a bird sanctuary and Ramsar site located within the Tonlé Sap Biosphere Reserve, at the north-west corner of the Tonlé Sap. It is a popular area for ecotourism and birdwatching given the area's rich biodiversity and rare waterbirds, particularly abundant during the dry season.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Open Development Cambodia: Stung Sen" . Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Stung Sen". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  3. ↑ Trevor Ranges (2010). National Geographic Traveler Cambodia. National Geographic Society. pp. 201–. ISBN   978-1-4262-0520-0.
  4. 1 2 "Upper Stung Sen Catchment". BirdLife International. Retrieved 7 January 2014.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.