Xe Champhone Wetlands. 16/06/2010; Savannakhet Province; 12,400 ha; 16°23'N 105°13'E.

A large plain consisting of marshes, swamps, and flooded woodland forest. The site is an outstanding example of a river with many oxbow lakes, deep pools and mats of dense floating vegetation, rare in Lao. It supports the largest population of the critically endangered Siamese Crocodiles (Crocodylus siamensis) in the country and protects other species such as the endangered Elongated Tortoise (Indotestudo elongata). As the water level recedes during the dry season, crocodiles and fish migrate to permanently flooded deep ponds and marshes. Fish use the site as a spawning area and as a migration path during the wet season.

Local people engage in rice paddy farming, communal fishing, and cattle and water buffalo raising. Traditional management systems such as sacred areas and local taboos play an important role in the protection of some parts of Xe Champhone Wetlands and its resources.

Threats to the site include conversion for agriculture, collection of crocodile eggs, and disturbance to crocodile hatching areas due to flooding caused by the construction of weirs.

The office of Agriculture and Forestry and the Administration of Water Resources and Environment is responsible for the management of this site. Ramsar site no. 1942. Most recent RIS information: 2010.