NATIONAL PARKS

Content includes:
A/ Map 

B/ National parks

     1/ Tram Chim national park - 1st Ramsar site of Mekong delta

     2/ Can Gio mangrove forest - World biosphere reserve

     3/ Ba Be national park

     4/ Cat Ba biosphere reserve - Cat Ba national park

     5/ Phu Quoc national park

C/ Phu An bamboo village: A bamboo collection of more than 200 specimens brought together according to their origin region (the North, the Highlands, the South East and the Mekong Delta)

A/ Map

Small green colour shows the national park position and its name

"VQG" means National Park

 

Pic:  http://www.vncreatures.net/map.php

B/ National parks

1/ Tram Chim national park -  the 1st Ramsar site in Mekong delta

·    Tram Chim National Park is one of the last natural wetlands of the once vast plain of reeds in Dong Thap province of Mekong delta

·      

      The 7,313 ha park provides an ideal habitat for 231 species of bird, including 32 rare and precious species, especially the red-head cranes and 130 species of fish 

·     

      The park includes an ecotourism area with a forest of cajuput, covering nearly 3,000 ha which is considered the “lung” of the Dong Thap region

·     Coming to Tram Chim in dry season from December to May, visitors have chance to see birds flying on the vast mangrove fields including cranes 1.5m high weighting at 10-15kg each, purple herons with 1m span, and long-neck geese

 In the beginning of 2012, Tram Chim has been recognized by Ramsar Convention as the 2000th Ramsar site of Wetlands of International Importance in the world.

(Please proceed to "Destination - Mekong delta - Dong Thap" for detail with how to get there, where to stay...)

Pic: vietnamguidebook

 

 

 

Pics of red headed cranes: dongthap.gov.vn

 

2/ Can Gio - World Biosphere Reserve 

Mangrove forest - world biosphere reserve

In Vietnam war, Can Gio mangrove forest as well as the other mangrove forests in the Southern Vietnam provided strong resistance bases for Vietnam guerillas. To destroy the living and hiding areas of guerillas, bombs, canonfires, toxic chemical, especially "agent orange" were used by USA army. Of the total mangrove area in the Southern Vietnam of 291,000 ha, 105,000 ha or 36 percent were spayed by herbicides and chemical defoliants in high concentrations one or more times. And the Can Gio mangrove forest was almost completely killed. Many species of fauna such as crocodiles, tigers became extinct. Monkeys, lizards, birds, which used to be found in great numbers also decreased gradually after war...

Awareness of significance of mangrove forest, Sai Gon city invested in reforestation since 1978. By year of 1998, 40,000 ha of dense mangrove forest was planted. In 2000, Can Gio mangrove forest was recognised by UNESCO as world biosphere reserve. And Can Gio mangrove forest now has 74,750 ha. It is regarded as "green lung" of Sai Gon city.

The Can Gio mangrove forest has a high biodiversity with more than 127 species of fish, 130 species of bird, 30 species of reptiles, 19 species of mammals and 52 species of flora...

(Please proceed to "Destination - Saigon - Can Gio" for detail with how to get there, where to stay...)

                                                              Mangrove forest' canal

 

                                                                       Mangrove's roots

                                                              Mangrove' roots

                                                                     Mangrove leaves

                                                                  Mangrove flowers

Monkey island and salt water crocodiles

There are more than 1,000 monkeys in nature in Can Gio (Vietnamese: " Lam vien Can Gio"). They see tourists everyday. On weekends they come out a lot as more tourists come with food for feeding (Its not recommended to bring food and feed the monkeys!)

Its easy to see many baby monkeys running along the road, the mother carrying and feeding the newborn, the leaders are fighting for their positions in the group, a lot of monkeys hanging on the mangrove trees or on the roof of the house...

Attention!!! Dont touch the monkeys. Be careful with your belongings, especially your glasses, camera, caps, hats... The monkeys used to steal these things and run quickly into forest. Call security if the monkeys get angry and attack you (The security officers just always stand around)

Entrace fee for Monkey island (Lam vien Can Gio) is 30,000VND/adult/weekday; 35,000VND/adult/weekend

The Lam vien Can Gio raises many salt water crocodiles and there is fishing game here (20,000VND/time). The salt water crocodiles were in many rivers of Can Gio mangrove forest. They dissapeared because of toxic chemical spraying in the war. They were "famous" for hunting people!

                                                             

                                                                   Mother and baby

                                                                  Baby crocodiles

   

3/ Ba Be national park 

Ba Be national park

Ba Be national park was established in 1992 in Ba Be district of Bac Kan province. 

The center of the park is Ba Be lake which is often called “the blue mirror of Vietnam Northeast mountainous area”. And the surroundings are great limestone mountains, dense tropical rainforest, rice fields, rivers, waterfalls and caves…

In the park, there are many villages of Mong, Tay, Dao ethnic minority groups. Among them, some Tay people villages with traditional stilt houses located around the lake, are good choices for tourists who love experiencing homestay.

Thanks to its high biodiversity concentration with 1268 species of  plant, 81 species of animal, 322 species of  bird, 44 species of  reptile, 106 species of fish and more than 300 species of butterfly…, Ba Be, in 2004, was recognized as the heritage park of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. And in 2011, it was recognized as the 1938th Ramsar site of the world by The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance

Attetion: Hunting is strictly forbidden in this 44,750ha national park but the Tay, Mong, Dao ethnic groups who stay around the park are permitted to fish. (In fact, the park is often invaded seriously!)

Ba Be lake

Having been formed approximately 200 million years ago at the end of Cambri era, Ba Be lake with 500ha, is the largest natural freshwater lake of Vietnam and is home to hundreds species of fish.  In 1995, the lake was recognized as one of the 20 special freshwater lakes in the world that need protection. 

Some other information:  

•     The lake is located at an altitude of 150m above sea level and surrounded by limestone mountains with green forests. The average depth of the lake is 20m. The deepest is 35m 

•     “Ba” means number 3. “Be” means lake. Ba Be actually is formed by three lakes of Pe Leng, Pe Lu, Pe Lam. 

•     The best way to discover/enjoy the lake is taking a motorised boat trip from Buoc Lom boat station which is about 4km from the park headquarter. 
       The most popular routes are:  1/ Ba Be lake - Puong cave - Fairy pond - An Ma temple (450,000VND or 23USD/boat); 2/ Ba Be lake - Puong cave - Fairy pond - Dau Dang waterfall (550,000VND or 27USD/boat)

•     Pac Ngoi, one of the Tay ethnic minority villages with traditional stilt houses, is located near the lake. Many houses in this village offer homestay service.

(Please proceed to "Destination - Northeast - Ba Be" for detail with how to get there, where to stay...)                                                   

                                                            

                                                           Pics: Vietnamguidebook

                                          

4/ Cat Ba biosphere reserve - Cat Ba national park

Cat Ba biosphere reserve

Cat Ba World Biosphere Reserve, an archipelago of Cat Hai district of Hai phong city, in northeast Vietnam, which is adjacent to the Ha Long bay world heritage site, is internationally important for its limestone karst geomorphology and is one of the best examples in the world of a fengcong and fenglin karst landscape invaded by the sea. 

Its 366 limestone islands contain landforms, caves and cave deposits that provide evidence of a long history of erosion and landscape evolution. Many of the small islands rise steeply or vertically from the shallow marine waters and are the distinguishing features of the region. Most of the bigger islands are covered by evergreen tropical monsoon forest. 

Beside the limestone islands, the archipelago also has  a number of regionally important habitat types including fringing coral reefs, mangrove forests, seagrass beds, flooded willow forest and tropical limestone forest. Most of the habitats are under severe threat especially due to encroachment.

The archipelago has a  high number of endemic floral and faunal species. The golden-headed langur (Trachypithecus poliocephalus) is one example, a species endemic to the Cat Ba island that is listed as one of the ten rarest primates in the world due to its restricted range and small population size.   



Cat Ba national park 
(Went to Cat Ba national park in a rainy day. It was closed. Plan to trek through the park in the future)

Cat Ba national park is home to a diverse range of terrestrial and marine life.

Founded in 1986, the park was the first in Vietnam to include land and sea areas. Today the park covers 162km2, 109km2 of which are terrestrial ecosystems, with the remainning 53km2 comprising of marine ecosystems.

The terrestrial ecosystems of the park include tropical monsoon forest, flooded willow forest. The  marine ecosystems comprise fringing  coral reefs, sandy beaches, mangrove forest, tidal flats...

The marine biodiversity
The marine biodiversity of the park is extremely high with more than 500 species living just on the sea floor. Worms, snails, mussels, crabs, sea stars and other simple-bodied creatures are all represented. Going further are around 200 species of fish which live in the surrounding sea. Coral reefs found around with close to 200 different species recorded. Visitors to the park may also be lucky to observe the sea turtles and dolphins which occasionally visit the area. 

The terrestrial plants
Cat Ba has more than 1500 species of plant, many of which are nationally and internationally listed as rare or endangered. 661 species are traditionally used for medicinal purposes and 18 are certified as being pharmaceutically active.

The terrestrial animals  
The most famous of terrestrial animal is golden-headed langur. Its one of the most endangered primate species in the world with only 60 - 70 individuals remaining. 

Other are mammals include: Southern serow, Leopard cat, small Indian civet, Rhesus macaque, Black giant squirrel, Variuos bat species.

Roughly 160 species of resident and migratory birds including the oriental pied hornbill, the red-whiskered bulbul and the rare and endangered fish owl

Around 190 species of butterfly....  

Trails and Activities in the park
1/ Forest Education Trail: Start at the park headquarters. This 2.5km trail will introduce you to some of the wonders of Cat Ba island and its forest (Short trail: 1 - 2 hour each way) 

2/ Kim Giao forest - Fire-watch tower (Dinh Ngu Lam): allows you to experience the forest which is home to the rare, endangered and ancient Kim Giao trees. The trail continues onto the Fire-watch tower which offer spectacular view of the area (Short trail: 1 - 2 hour each way)

3/ National park HQ - Ao ech (frog lake) - Viet Hai commune - Lan Ha bay: This trail provides a much harder challenge. First you will visit a magnificent flooded willow forest in a valley high above sea level. The water is the largest concentration of freshwater on the island (1.5 - 2 hours one way to "frog lake"). Then continue the trail to Viet Hai commune, a traditional settlement within the park. The last destination is Lan Ha bay where a boat will take you back to Cat Ba town. (Long trail: Headquarters to Lan Ha bay is about 3 - 5 hours, not including the boat trip)

Fee: 15,000VND/pax (Short trail); 35,000VND/pax (long trail)
        Guide: 300,000VND (if you need, please call the park's staff, Ms Huyen to book: 0987 138 168)
      Motorised boat from Lan Ha bay back to Cat Ba town is accommodate to 15 people at a cost of 600,000VND

                                                                                                       (Source: Cat Ba national park)
 

                                                                  Pics: catbalangur.com

 5/ Phu Quoc national park

Situated in the North-East of Phu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang, the park has special and unique biodiversity values compared to other national parks across the country.

Located on an island that has a mixture of continental and coastal climate, the park possesses a rich ecosystem of primeval, secondary and indigo forests.

Its indigo forests are distributed across sloping hills and lowlands that are flooded in the rainy season.

The topography of the national park is hilly, although not particularly steep, with its highest point at 603m on Mount Chua.

Drained by numerous, mainly seasonal, streams, the only sizeable river on the island is the Rach Cua Can River, which winds through the southern part of the park before flowing into the sea on the west coast of the island.

Remarkably, the national park alone is home to more than 920 species of plants and a large diversity of coral reef. Phu Quoc Island supports 12,794 ha of lowland evergreen forest, 86 percent of which is within the national park itself.

At lower elevations, the national park shows distinctive formations of Melaleuca, a family of trees that sport evergreen leaves, alternately arranged in dark green and grey-green colours.

In regards to local fauna, a list of 43 mammal species belonging to 18 families and 6 orders has been compiled in the park.

 Silvered langur, slow loris, pygmy loris, crab-eating macaque, stump-tailed macaque, small-clawed otter and fruit bats are just some of the rare species that conservationists are concerned about.

Due to the plentiful coral reef on the south of the island, there are over 120 species of fish, 130 species of mollusk and 62 species of sea weed recorded in the area.

Interestingly enough, Phu Quoc is also one of only two places in Vietnam where the Dugong, a marine species on the brink of extinction, can be found.

Phu Quoc National Park proves to be a fantastic destination for tourists as it offers a wide range of activities such as camping, trekking and swimming. It is also ideal for those who want to study a wide variety of tropical forests.

                                                                                             (Source: Vietnamnet/VOV online)

 C/ Phu An bamboo village (Lang tre Phu An)

                                                             

Lang Tre Phu An

124, Route 744
Phu An Village
Ben Cat District
Binh Duong Province
http://www.ecobambou-phuan.org

The village 

At the meeting point of Thi Tinh and Saigon rivers, Phu An had a peaceful countryside landscape of rice fields and rubber trees crops  before the war.

Located in the iron triangle, bombed during the war, the village, left by its inhabitants, was in 1975 devastated. The creator Dr. Diep Thi My Hanh had the idea to transform her native village “the iron triangle” into “the green triangle”.

Dr. Diep Thi My Hanh made researches on bamboo which revealed that this plant has a high number of agro-ecological properties and could play an important role in erosion control.

The Phu An Bamboo Ecomuseum and Botanic Gardens were created in the framework of a four-part cooperation projet. It included the Rhone Alpes Region (France), the Binh Duong Province (Vietnam), the Pilat Natural Park (France) and the University Of Natural Sciences of Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam). From 2003, many works and settlements were done and Phu An soils, before very poor, started little by little to be better. Local authorities recognized Lang Tre Phu An name (literally Phu An, the bamboo village).

The Ecomuseum and Botanic Gardens’ missions

Today, Ecomuseum’s members, scientists, teachers, students get involved in :

• Preserve the Vietnam bamboo biodiversity and the South East region threaten plants.
• Set research programs on bamboo biological properties (under bamboo soils activity, fertility control and phytoremediation,…).
• Participate in a local sustainable development with inhabitants :
• Agricultural expansion and training: educating farmers to adopt practises respectful of the environment.
• Environment education and discovery class in French for young people from the village.
• Promotion of a form of tourism respectful of Phu An cultural and natural heritage that contributes to the inhabitants’ well-being.

Looking towards the future…

Recognizing Phu An village, and creating the Ecomuseum and the Botanic Gardens open a path to sustainable development. To continue this way and to maintain dynamism on the territory, we aim to turn Phu An into an ecological village. This project has different objectives:

• to improve healthy conditions of living of local population (sanitary settlement of houses, used water treatment, waste collection..).
• to avoid rural exodus and untamed industrialisation in maintaining rural areas attractive: enhancing productions and traditional know-how, developing ecotourism.
• to develop a sustainable agriculture using environmentally friendly method.
• to encourage enhancement and diversification of agricultural products (for example producing bamboo objects) to improve farmers’ living standards
• to variegate agricultural productions and specially bamboos to take advantage of research results concerning phytorémédiation.
• to preserve Phu An natural heritage.

The Ecomuseum : a place for everyone 

As an unavoidable and unique place, the Bamboo ecomuseum is a place for discovery, relaxation and nature. By walking through many adapted spaces for visit, it invites you with a lively and enriching manner to discover all the bamboo crop history in Vietnam.

During your visit, you can discover :

• The museum space and its shop which architecture was adapted to harmonize with nature in a frame of plants abundance. In a bamboo landscape, many activities allow you to become a bamboo specialist with fun.
• The projection room where you can watch films about bamboos.

By walking through the ecomuseum botanic garden paths, you will cross :

• The amusement park, its island and its pavilion which accommodates curious musical instruments.
• The unusual labyrinth where some enigmas must be solved to find the exit.
• The Zen area to benefit from some peaceful times under bamboo shadows and take a cool drink.
• The shop proposes you many bamboo objects and accessories.

Discovery Path

In order to extend your visit in Phu An, let’s have a walk on our discovery path that starts in the Ecomuseum. Walking or riding, with your family, you will meet Phu An inhabitants. They will be happy to welcome you and they will tell you about their history, share their know-how and traditions. A craft jaunt is also possible in order to discover the charming Saigon river

Opening time

The ecomuseum is opened every day from 9 am to 6 pm.

The Botanic Garden: a place for scientists, students and children of the village

We teach the children ( 9- 12 years olds)  in the village for the environment, ecology and French language. They learn English in school.

The botanic Garden includes a bamboo collection of more than 200 specimens brought together according to their origin region (the North, the Highlands, the South East and the Mekong Delta).

The nursery close from the Botanic Garden is here for multiplication of plantlets at request and allows students to make their experiments in the frame of their studies. 

Guided visits can be organised: thanks for contacting us to have a personalised welcoming.

The Research and Natural Resources Conservation Center runs the Botanic Garden with a Scientific Council and an Administrative Department.

(Source: http://www.ecobambou-phuan.org/notre-mission.html)

                                                                  Bamboo's flower