Preventing unrecoverable biodiversity loss in the Annamite Mountains Bioregion, with actions for January 2025 to December 2027.
Strategy
What is at stake
Stretching over 1,100 km along the border of Lao and Viet Nam and extending into eastern Cambodia, the Annamite Mountains hold one of the highest concentrations of endemic species of any continental area on earth. Localized ever-wet tropical rainforest conditions, stable over a long geological timescale, have produced both evolutionary stasis, in species like the Saola and the Annamite Striped Rabbit that have changed little since the Miocene, and island-like adaptation of the kind seen in the Galapagos.
The region is also a living museum under acute pressure. Industrial-scale snaring has swept through Annamite forests since the early 1990s, and conservation investment here has been low relative to the stakes. Specialists estimate that a new species could be discovered in the Annamites every day, and that many undocumented species are already close to global extinction. Without urgent change, the Saola and much other irreplaceable Annamite biodiversity may be lost permanently.
Our vision
The Annamite Mountains Bioregion retaining its current levels of biodiversity, free from the existential threats of this time, valued by, and supporting the health and prosperity of local and global communities alike.
Our mission
Our mission is to protect the rich biodiversity of the Annamite Mountains Bioregion by leading efforts to prevent unrecoverable biodiversity loss through a combination of direct interventions, empowering national conservationists, conducting applied research and priority setting, and collaborating with key stakeholders.
Over the next 25 years we will focus on preventing the global extinction of species such as the Saola and the Large-antlered Muntjac, as well as the many cryptic and otherwise overlooked species facing imminent global extinction, while protecting and restoring the irreplaceable Annamite ecosystems that sustain them.
Our ten-year goals
Prevent the extinction of three iconic Annamite species, the Saola, the Large-antlered Muntjac and the Bolikhamxay Leaf Monkey, while protecting critical in situ ecosystems and the irreplaceable biodiversity they sustain.
Maximize our impact by working with partners and other stakeholders on direct interventions, capacity building, applied research and priority setting.
Adhere to a dynamic and adaptive approach, identifying and capitalizing on conservation gaps and opportunities as they arise, to prevent the extinction of other species facing imminent global extinction, especially those that act as flagships for irreplaceable sites and ecosystems.
Establish an in situ Annamite Research and Conservation Center at a critical site for irreplaceable biodiversity in the Annamite Mountains Bioregion.
Why we work on the species we do
Conservation resources tend to flow toward charismatic, well-known species, and toward biodiversity loss that is comparatively easy to prevent. That is a reasonable instinct, but it leaves a gap.
Species such as the Tiger and the Asian Elephant have insurance populations elsewhere. If they are lost from the Annamites, they can in principle be restored. Biodiversity at the resilient end of the spectrum will, in most scenarios, recover with or without our involvement.
The Saola, the Large-antlered Muntjac and the cryptic endemic species they represent have no such fallback. Many are undescribed and hold no place in any collection or breeding program. Once they are gone, they are gone, and the ecosystems they leave behind are permanently poorer.
We therefore direct our resources to the part of the spectrum where investment now changes the long-term outcome most: unrecoverable loss. We measure our work against a business-as-usual counterfactual, and we prioritize continuously, on the basis of scientific evaluation rather than profile. We follow the Open Standards approach to conservation planning, and our goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound.
The four cornerstones of our strategy
Our cornerstones are the foundations of our long-term strategy. Together they are designed to fill the strategic gaps in the Annamite conservation landscape and to deliver measurable, lasting conservation gains.
One. Direct intervention
We implement evidence-based conservation interventions, both in situ and ex situ, for species facing imminent global extinction and for the ecosystems crucial to their survival.
Saving the Saola
Our near-term objective is to answer a single question: can Saolas be reliably detected in the wild and safely captured, making it a viable strategy to save the species from extinction? Between 2025 and 2027 we are completing a two-year systematic search at carefully selected sites in Bolikhamxay Province, Lao, at an unprecedented level of intensity. Once Saolas are found, search protocols will pivot rapidly to gather the behavioral and ecological knowledge needed for capture and conservation breeding. Whatever the result, the search is generating unprecedented systematic data on other Annamite biodiversity, lessons for other species at risk, and conservation capacity among Annamite nationals.
The Large-antlered Muntjac
Working closely with the Government of Lao, we are assessing candidate sites for their significance to species facing imminent global extinction and for the feasibility of success. At the most appropriate site we will establish an approach built on immediate intervention, to protect and stabilize populations of Large-antlered Muntjac and other species on the precipice of extinction.
The Bolikhamxay Leaf Monkey and its karst
After confirming in 2024 the existence of an undescribed species of leaf monkey in unprotected, isolated limestone karst in Bolikhamxay Province, we are developing a pilot program to establish, test and evaluate three alternative long-term in situ management strategies across three separate karst blocks, with a long-term experimental monitoring and evaluation plan. The program works closely with government, local communities and civil society, and is designed to deliver substantial reciprocal benefits to the communities who have long used these landscapes.
Two. Capacity building
Effective conservation in the Annamites over the long term depends on Annamite nationals holding the skills, knowledge and authority to lead it. We are committed to building that capability, to creating national conservation leaders, and to moving away from a long-standing model of foreigner-led technical input.
Within the next five to ten years we aim to establish a physical, in situ, state-of-the-art Annamite Mountains Research and Conservation Center, as an incubator for national conservation capacity and a hub for global scientific networking.
Between 2025 and 2027 we are training and mentoring new and existing members of our Annamite Mountains Research and Conservation Team, adding new scent detection dogs, taking concrete steps toward the research and conservation center including an initial feasibility study, strengthening partnerships with government and civil society, and continuing to build the global partner network that brings current science to the Annamites.
Three. Applied research
Gaps in what is known about Annamite biodiversity are a critical impediment to effective conservation, and a primary reason species sit at the edge of extinction.
We lead and steer applied research designed explicitly to answer pivotal questions: the characteristics of species facing imminent global extinction, the distribution of Annamite biodiversity, and the objective testing of innovative in situ interventions and their outcomes. Between 2025 and 2027 we are developing research concepts and strategies, forming research partnerships with stakeholders and donors, exploring a scientific think tank to guide the work, and beginning collaborative pilot research as opportunities arise.
Four. Priority setting
Conservation decisions across the Annamites need better tools. We are working with partners to develop and apply globally relevant biodiversity metrics and prioritization tools, including a metric for unrecoverable biodiversity loss that can form the basis for conservation gain and loss calculations, with the potential to be monetized.
These tools allow interventions to be assessed objectively, on probability of success and future conservation gain, across species, sites and strategies. They will shape our own future strategies, targets and in situ management plans, and we intend them to be useful to other stakeholders in the region. Between 2025 and 2027 we are developing the underlying concepts, forming working partnerships, and commencing a collaborative pilot phase.
Our values
Sustainability. A core component of our mission is helping to develop the national capacity effectively to manage Annamite biodiversity in perpetuity.
Scientific integrity. Our work is always grounded in facts and evidence.
Adaptability. We remain agile and always adaptive to ensure that our strategy evolves as needed, always looking for opportunities to act where action is most needed.
Innovation. To lead in developing and testing new approaches and technologies, in order to maximize positive long-term outcomes for Annamite biodiversity.
Creating conservation legacy. We are committed to preventing unrecoverable biodiversity loss in the Annamite Mountains Bioregion and ensuring that its ecosystems remain rich, long into the future.
Inclusivity. Local citizens and communities are at the core of our work, inspiring a future of locally driven conservation efforts.
How we deliver
Our Annamite Mountains Research and Conservation Team is self-contained and versatile. It brings together a Scent Detection Dog Unit and an Animal Tracking Unit, both firsts in mainland Southeast Asia, alongside a Technical Unit and a Logistics Unit, and an award-winning nature videographer who documents the scientific record of the work.
The team has extensive experience in deploying scent detection dogs, tracking large mammals, and processing biological samples for DNA analysis in the field. It deploys without reliance on external human resources, works alongside government and community-led law enforcement teams, and follows a leave no trace principle, removing non-compostable waste from the forest.
Built on partnerships
Working Dogs for Conservation. Since 2022, WD4C, the world’s leading conservation detection dog organization, has worked with us to establish the first national scent detection dog unit in Lao.
CyberTracker Conservation. The international standard for certifying the skill of wildlife trackers since the early 1990s, and a technical partner in the Saola search since 2020.
WCS Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory. In 2021 we partnered with the laboratory at the Bronx Zoo to develop a rapid, field-friendly, Saola-specific DNA test. When our trackers or dogs find a potential source of Saola DNA, the kit can return a result within two hours, in place of a wait of weeks or months.
WCS Lao. An alliance formed in 2021, built on shared goals for the Annamites. We work together in Bolikhamxay Province, where the search for Saolas continues and where the new species of leaf monkey was verified in 2024.
Government of Lao. We work in collaboration with the Department of Forestry and with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under a formal partnership agreement signed in January 2025.
Read the full strategy
Our strategy, with actions for January 2025 to December 2027, is available as a full illustrated document.
Support this work
The legacy we are building requires investment from donors who share our commitment to the Annamites. If you would like to discuss how you can help, contact us at info@saolafoundation.org.