Bala Forest

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Summary

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• Siamangs (Symphalangus syndactylus) and agile gibbons (Hylobates agilis) are present in Bala Forest.
• In 2005 it was estimated that 19 groups of siamangs and 136 groups of agile gibbons occur in the site.
• The population trends are unknown.
• The site has a total size of 168 km².
• Key threats to apes are forest fragmentation as a result of agricultural expansion and collection of non-timber products.
• Conservation activities are not documented.
• The site is part of the Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary.

Site characteristics

The site is located in the southernmost part of Thailand, in the San Kara Kiri mountain range, bordering Belum Forest Reserve in Malaysia (BirdLife International 2021). The site is part of the Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary, which comprises two non-adjacent sectors: the Bala sector in Narathiwat province, and the Hala sector in Yala province (BirdLife International 2021). Although both siamangs and agile gibbons occur in southern Thailand, the range of siamangs is very small and confined to the Bala Forest (Nongkaew et al. 2018). The Bala Forest is found in a mountain range with an altitudinal range of 100 to 953 m above sea level (Nongkaew et al. 2018). The forest resembles the Malayan mixed dipterocarp forests more than the more seasonal, semi-evergreen forests farther north (Nongkaew et al. 2018).

Table 1. Basic site information for Bala Forest

Species	Symphalangus syndactylus, Hylobates agilis
Area	168 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 5.787548 , Lon: 101.809392
Type of site	Protected area (Wildlife Sanctuary)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist montane forest
Type of governance

Types of sites Governance types Habitat types

Ape status

In a 2005 survey, siamangs occurred mostly in the southwestern part of Bala Forest, close to the Malaysian border, while agile gibbons were more evenly distributed throughout the site (Nongkaew et al. 2018).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Bala Forest

Species	Year	Total number groups (95% CI)	Density ​​[groups/km²​] (95% CI)	Total number indiv. (95% CI)	Area	Method	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Hylobates agilis	2005	2.27	136		Bala Forest	Fixed point triangulation	Nongkaew et al. 2018	Densities ranged from 1. 05 to 3.27 groups km-2. Mean density of agile gibbons in Bala Forest was 2.27 groups km-2 (SE = 0.18).
Symphalangus syndactylus	2005	0.32	19		Bala Forest	Fixed point triangulation	Nongkaew et al. 2018	The density of siamangs ranged from 0 to 1.43 groups km-2 (average = 0.32, standard error (SE) = 0.08 groups km-2)

Sampling methods Analytical frameworks

Threats

The expansion of agricultural areas along the border with Malaysia has resulted in loss of forest connectivity between Bala Forest and the forests in Kelantan, Malaysia. Although most of the forest appears to be old-growth, much of the forest was selectively logged before 1990 (Nongkaew et al. 2018). Local people were not found hunting gibbons during a survey of the area in 1995. However, local communities do collect non-timber products such as fruits of Baccaurea spp., Dialium spp., and Garcinia atroviridis species, which are also foods for the apes (Nongkaew et al. 2018). About 9% of people collect these fruits by cutting trees, thus reducing available food sources for the gibbons. It is therefore crucial to reduce the cutting of fruit trees to allow both species to survive in this small area (Nongkaew et al. 2018).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Bala Forest

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Present (unknown severity)	Loss of forest connectivity to the forests across the border with Malaysia, due to expansion of agricultural areas along the border (Nongkaew et al. 2018).	Ongoing (2018)
5 Biological resource use	5.2 Gathering terrestrial plants	High (more than 70% of population affected)	People from neighbouring villages collect non-timber products, including fruits that are also food for siamang and agile gibbons (Nongkaew et al. 2018).	Ongoing (2018)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present (unknown severity)	Much of the forest was selectively logged before the 1990s (Nongkaew et al. 2018).	1990

Threats

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Bala Forest

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Challenges

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Bala Forest

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
1 Site management
2 Resources and capacity
3 Engaged community
4 Institutional support
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Enablers

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Bala Forest

Category	Behavior	Observation type	Prevalence	Observation dates	Source	Habituation	Species	Comment
	Not reported

Behaviours

References

BirdLife International (2021) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Hala Sector, Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary and Bang Lang National Park. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 19/12/2021.

Nongkaew, S., Bumrungsri, S., Brockelman, W. Y., Savini, T., Pattanavibool, A., & Thong-Ari, S. (2018). PoPulation Density anD Habitat of siamang anD agile gibbon in bala forest, soutHern tHailanD. Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society, 62(2).

Page created by: APES Atlas Team Date: 2021-12-29