Nam Et-Phou Louey National Park is a protected area in northern

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

, covering in three provinces:

Houaphan Houaphanh province (, , Romanization of Lao: ''Houaphan'' also ''Huaphan'') is a province in eastern Laos. Its capital is Xam Neua. Houaphanh province covers an area of . It is bordered by Vietnam to the north, east, and southeast, Xiangkhoua ...

Luang Prabang Luang Prabang (Lao language, Lao: wikt:ຫຼວງພະບາງ, ຫຼວງພະບາງ, pronounced ), historically known as Xieng Thong (ຊຽງທອງ) and alternatively spelled Luang Phabang or Louangphabang, is the capital of Lu ...

, and Xieng Khouang. It was designated a national park in 2019, and was previously designated a national protected area. The protected area included a core area where human access and wildlife harvest is prohibited and a 2,950 km² buffer area where pre-existing villages are allocated land for subsistence living. The park consists mainly of mountains and hills, with elevations ranging from 400 and 2257 metres. The area is the source of many rivers, including tributaries of the

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of and a drainage area of , discharging of wat ...

and the Mã. It is named after the Nam Et River and Phou Louey Mountain ('Forever Mountain'). The park has a tropical monsoon climate, and average annual rainfall ranges from 1400 to 1800 mm. There is a rainy season from May to October, and a dry season lasting the rest of the year. Villagers living in the Nam Et-Phou Louey National Park include Tai Dam, Tai Daeng, Tai Kao, Tai Puan, Tai Lue, Tai Yuan,

Khmu The Khmu (; Khmu: ; or ; ; ; ; ; ) are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The majority (88%) live in northern Laos where they constitute the largest minority ethnic group, comprising eleven percent of the total population. Alternative hi ...

, Hmong Kao, Hmong Lai, and Yao. Viengthong, a small town in Houaphan Province, is the site of the park headquarters and visitor centre, where tours into the park can be organised. The town has basic accommodation and a handful of restaurants. There are many biking and walking trails, as well as hot springs.

Flora and fauna

The predominant plant communities in the park are dry evergreen forest and semi-evergreen forest, with extensive areas of scrubland and secondary forest resulting human disturbance. The park covers portions of three forest

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

s, the

Luang Prabang montane rain forests The Luang Prabang montane rain forests ecoregion (WWF ID: IM0121) covers elevations over 800 meters in the Luang Prabang Range, Luang Prabang mountains that straddle the border between northern Thailand and north-central Laos, and the highlands th ...

Northern Indochina subtropical forests The Northern Indochina subtropical forests are a subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of northern Indochina, covering portions of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and China's Yunnan Province. Setting The Northern Indochina subtropical ...

, and Northern Thailand–Laos moist deciduous forests.Nam Et Phouloey
''DOPA Explorer''. Retrieved 30 May 2023. The area has a high level of

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

and endangered species including

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

clouded leopard The clouded leopard (''Neofelis nebulosa''), also called mainland clouded leopard, is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests from the foothills of the Himalayas through Northeast India and Bhutan to mainland Southeast Asia into South China. It w ...

Asian golden cat The Asian golden cat (''Catopuma temminckii'') is a medium-sized wild cat native to the northeastern Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and China. It has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2025, and is threatened by poaching ...

marbled cat The marbled cat (''Pardofelis marmorata'') is a small Felidae, wild cat native from the eastern Himalayas to Southeast Asia, where it inhabits forests up to an elevation of . As it is present in a large range, it has been listed as Near Threatene ...

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's div ...

gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...

Sambar deer The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent, South China and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe huntin ...

, white-cheeked gibbon,

sun bear The sun bear (''Helarctos malayanus'') is a bear species in the Family (biology), family Ursidae found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the only species in the genus ''Helarctos'' and the smallest bear species, standing nearly ...

, black bear,

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living Elephantidae, elephantid in the world. It is char ...

dhole The dhole ( ; ''Cuon alpinus'') is a canid native to South, East and Southeast Asia. It is anatomically distinguished from members of the genus ''Canis'' in several aspects: its skull is convex rather than concave in profile, it lacks a third ...

hornbill Hornbills are birds found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia of the family Bucerotidae. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a horny casque on the upper ...

, and three species of

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

. There are no records or evidence of tigers in the park since 2013, which means they are extinct in all of Laos. Leopards vanished from the park even earlier.

Ecotourism

The only access for visitors to see the park is by doing a tour organized by the area ecotourism unit. Nam Nern Night Safari boat tour (24-hour overnight tour) — This innovative and adventurous journey by traditional long-tail boat offers nature activities that include bird watching, wildlife tracking, nighttime wildlife spotting, medicinal plant exploration, and moderate hiking. This tour won the prestigious ‘World Responsible Tourism Award’ at the World Travel Mart in London, England, in 2013 and 2014. Trekking Tours The Nests (two or three days) is a family-friendly hike with overnights in cozy spherical baskets hanging from the trees. The trip is perfect to enjoy wildlife viewing from the observation tower (under construction) at the nearby Poung Nyied salt lick, which attracts animals such as the rare Sambar deer from far and wide. Trekking Tours Cloud Forest Climb (four or five days including ‘The Nests’) is a hiking trail to the summit of Phou Louey to one of the few cloud forests in the region. It is an option for the more adventurous. The hike goes through the evergreen forest and offers a rare opportunity to track wild species such as white-cheeked gibbon, leopards, bears and wild dogs using camera traps, which are set up along the trail and maintained by tourists. For more information contact the protected area headquarters.

References

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External links

Ecotourism Laos - Protected Areas

Geography of Houaphanh province Geography of Luang Prabang province Geography of Xiangkhouang province Tourist attractions in Laos National parks of Laos Northern Indochina subtropical forests Important Bird Areas of Laos

Flora and fauna

Ecotourism

See also

References

External links