In 1998, international bird conservation groups focused attention on the site after rediscovery of Edward’s Pheasant (Lophura edwardsi) in these hills, a fowl thought extinct. Today the site is part of a government forest strategy to create a system of 2 million ha of special use forest (national parks, nature reserves and historical sites) throughout the country and it is listed as one of the sites destined to become a nature reserve (41,548 ha) in 2010 (Barney 2005). Local forests around Khe Tran are one of the key biodiversity areas of the province, since many rare and endangered species of plants.
