Title
Hoolock gibbon survey and monitoring in Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary, Sagaing Region, Myanmar
Author(s)
WCS Myanmar
Published
2019
Abstract
The Hoolock Gibbon survey conducted in Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary was
generously funded by the Arcus Foundation. The WCS Myanmar conducted this
research from 2013 to 2017 in close collaboration with the Forest Department,
Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division in particular, as a long-term monitoring
program of Eastern and Western Hoolock gibbons. In Myanmar, deforestation,
habitat loss and hunting have caused Hoolock gibbons to be a threatened species
and extirpated them from much of their historical range. Along with a few surveys
for gibbon conservation, scientific information and overall conservation status of
gibbon species are still poorly understood in Myanmar.
WCS Myanmar working in close collaboration with the Forest Department has
carried out other conservation activities in Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary
concurrently with this research. Those activities include SMART patrolling, law
enforcement monitoring, community led natural resource management initiatives
including village consultations and land use zoning, infrastructure development
for effective conservation interventions, and monitoring of land cover changes.
This report thoroughly explains all these project activities over five chapters.
According to these four years of research, it is learnt that, year by year, the gibbon
population trend is steadily increasing while threats to gibbons have significantly
decreased. This is undoubtedly a result from effective patrolling using SMART, the
development of infrastructure and facilities such as ranger stations and mini
training-cum-meeting hall, and empowering community members in natural
resource management around the edges of the sanctuary. Another indicator of
conservation success was, strongly indicated by spatial analysis of Landsat images,
the significant increase of forest cover in both core area and buffer area of the
sanctuary.
This report explains how this long-term intervention for Hoolock Gibbon
conservation within Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary has been achieved by the close
collaboration between Forest Department and WCS Myanmar together with the
Arcus Foundation.
Keywords
Hoolock Gibbon
Full Citation
WCS Myanmar. Hoolock Gibbon survey and Monitoring in Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary, Sagaing Region. . 2019. Yangon, Myanmar. WCS and Forest Department.
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