Ramsar site profile : to assess infrastructure and capacity needs for Xe Champhone Wetlands, Champhone and Xonbuly Districts, Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR

The Xe Champhone wetlands in Savannakhet Province is one of two wetlands designated as Ramsar sites upon Lao PDR’s accession to the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention) in 2010. Initial steps have been taken to set up a Ramsar committee tasked with managing the site. However, to date, the only conservation activities that have occurred at the site to date have been a very small selection of international donor funded projects. Much more work will be required to implement larger scale conservation activities on the ground and to create a long term plan for managing the site. Before work on that Management Plan can progress and conservation activities can be implemented, a report or “profile” is needed to explain what is already known about the site and identify key information gaps. IUCN Lao PDR designed this profile to reflect Ramsar Convention’s 2003 “Guidelines for management planning for Ramsar sites and other wetlands” (Ramsar, 2003) and compiled information obtained during past surveys and projects within this site.