Cát Bà National Park is a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

designated as a

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

in northern

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

. The park is part of

Cát Bà Island Cát Bà Island is the largest of the 367 islands spanning 260 km2 (100 sq mi) that comprise the Cat Ba Archipelago, which makes up the southeastern edge of Lan Ha Bay in Northern Vietnam. Cat Ba island has a surface area of 285 km2 (1 ...

Hạ Long Bay Hạ Long Bay or Halong Bay ( vi, Vịnh Hạ Long, ) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular travel destination in Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam. The name Hạ Long means "descending dragon". Administratively, the bay belongs to Hạ Lon ...

and is administered by the city of

Haiphong Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta. Haiphong wa ...

. The park is located approximately east of Hai Phong, covering about and comprising of land and of inshore water. The Cát Bà langur, also known as the

white-headed langur The white-headed langur (''Trachypithecus leucocephalus'') is a critically endangered species of langur endemic to Guangxi, China. Taxonomy It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Cat Ba langur (''T. poliocephalus''), which is now thou ...

(''Trachypithecus poliocephalus'') is resident within the park and is classified by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

as a critically endangered

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter includin ...

; one of the rarest in the world.

History

Cát Bà National Park was established on 31 March 1986 under No.79/CP decision of the Council of Ministers of Vietnam (now the government). The park has been a popular tourist destination, since the mid-1990s with wealthy Chinese and Vietnamese tourists. The tourists created a demand for traditional medicine and development and logging led to the near extinction of the white-headed langur with numbers falling from 2600 to just 40 in 2003. In 2016 there are 67 (± 5).

Geography

Cát Bà National Park is situated off the north-east shore of Viet-nam and covers most of Cát Bà island; the park headquarters are at

Trung Trang Trung may refer to: * Hồ Văn Trung (giant), Vietnamese man who grew to 8 ft 5 in (2.57m) *Derung people, also known as Trung people, an ethnic minority in southwest China *Derung language, also known as the Trung language, a Sino-Tibetan langua ...

. The island is mainly

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

with alternating narrow valleys running north-east to south-west. There are many rugged hills with elevation to ; most are in the range . The geographic coordinates are: :20 ° 43'50 "-20 ° 51'29" north latitude. :106 ° 58'20 "-107 ° 10'50" east. There are five main soil groups: * The limestone soil: It is weathered soils or brown reddish-brown limestone and sandstone, soil> , pH = 6.5 to 7. Distributed under the forest canopy, scattered in the garden. * The hills are forested with brown soil or weathered limestone, less acidic or near neutral. In this soil white or gray yellow brown clay shale development on the hills, with thin and rocky soil. * The valleys have soil on limestone, concentrated in the valleys, the natural forest cover. * The Thing Valley land flooding, mainly developed by the accretion process, the rainy season usually submerged, surface soil medium or thin. * The accretion of land submerged by product deposition in the estuary, the mangrove area development on the Cai Vieng, Phu Long. The area of the park is , of which is forest and of sea. Forest includes

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works ...

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

and

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

Biological resources

Flora

Over 1,500 species of plants have been recorded including 118 trees and 160 plants with medicinal properties.

Fauna

So far 282 species have been recorded. These include 32 species of mammals, 78 birds species, 20 species of reptiles and amphibians, 98 species of zooplankton, 196 species of marine fish and 177 species of coral. The most commonly seen mammals include

civet A civet () is a small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests. The term civet applies to over a dozen different species, mostly from the family Viverridae. Most of the species diversit ...

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

macaques The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and (in one instance) Gibraltar. Macaques are principal ...

and squirrels. The island is on a major migration route for

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which ...

which feed and roost in the mangrove forests.

References

External links

Vietnam online

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cat Ba National Park National parks of Vietnam Geography of Haiphong