Phou Xieng Thong National Protected Area is a national protected area in Salavan and Champasak provinces of southern

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 ...

. This park, the country's only park on 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 ...

river, is home to a wide variety of animal and plant species, some endangered. The park is an

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

destination.

Geography

Phou Xieng Thong National Protected Area is located about north of

Pakse Pakse (or ''Pakxe''; French: ''Paksé''; Laotian: ປາກເຊ 'mouth of the river') is the capital and most populous city of the southern Laotian province of Champasak. Located at the confluence of the Xe Don and Mekong Rivers, the distri ...

and covers parts of Salavan's Khongsedone and Lakhonepheng districts and Champasak's Sanasomboun district. The park's decreed area is . The park's western boundary is the

river opposite Thailand's Ubon Ratchathani Province. Ubon's

Pha Taem National Park Pha Taem National Park (Thai:อุทยานแห่งชาติผาแต้ม) is a national park on the Mekong River in Ubon Ratchathani Province, northeast Thailand. Phou Xieng Thong National Protected Area in Laos is on the oppos ...

is located on the western bank. Phou Xieng Thong elevations range from about by the Mekong to the park's highest point, Phou Nangam at . Near-vertical cliffs rise from the Mekong to the plateau where most of the park is located.

History

In 1983 Phou Kang Heuan, an area within the present park, was declared a Forest Reserve. Logging was ended within current park boundaries in 1992. In 1993 Phou Xieng Thong was declared a National Reserved Forest and National Biodiversity Conservation Area. Wildlife surveys began in 1996.

Flora and fauna

The park's main forest type is semi-evergreen forest. Forest coverage is broken up by the rocky flats of the park's plateau at altitudes from to . The native forests of Phou Xieng Thong host a large variety of animals and birds, including endangered species. At least 16 mammal species and 188 bird species have been catalogued. Serow Capricornis sumatraensis

Animal species include

Asian black bear The Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), also known as the Asiatic black bear, moon bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species native to Asia that is largely adapted to an arboreal lifestyle. It is distributed from southeast ...

Sumatran serow The Sumatran serow (''Capricornis sumatraensis sumatraensis''), also known as the southern serow, is a subspecies of the mainland serow native to mountain forests in the Thai-Malay Peninsula and on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It was previ ...

banteng The banteng (''Bos javanicus''; ), also known as tembadau, is a species of wild Bovinae, bovine found in Southeast Asia. The head-and-body length is between . Wild banteng are typically larger and heavier than their Bali cattle, domesticated ...

pangolin Pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order Pholidota (). The one extant family, the Manidae, has three genera: '' Manis'', '' Phataginus'', and '' Smutsia''. ''Manis'' comprises four species found in Asia, while ' ...

monitor lizard Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and West African Nile monitor, one species is also found in south America as an invasive species. A ...

and

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 ...

The Phou Xiang Thong Important Bird Area (IBA) is located within the park. The IBA covers an area of including part of the Mekong's eastern bank. Endangered bird species in the IBA include

green peafowl The green peafowl (''Pavo muticus'') is a peafowl species native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia and Indochina. It is the national bird of Myanmar. Formerly common throughout Southeast Asia, only a few isolated populations survive in ...

, grey-headed parakeet and red-collared woodpecker. Bird species rare within the park include

red-vented barbet The red-vented barbet (''Psilopogon lagrandieri'') is an Asian barbet native to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, where it inhabits subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. Description Its plumag ...

eared pitta The eared pitta (''Hydrornis phayrei'') is a species of bird in the pitta family, Pittidae, and is found in Southeast Asia. Description It has formerly been placed into its own genus, ''Anthocincla'', on account of its apparent primitive charact ...

and grey-faced tit-babbler.

Threats

Phou Xieng Thong faces a number of environmental threats. Attempts have been made to create and expand settlements along the Mekong section of the park. Destructive fishing practices, including the use of explosives, have occurred along the park's streams. Hunting of pangolins and monitor lizards is a concern. Logging is on a small scale but poses a long-term threat to forests and bird species.

References

{{Reflist , 30em , refs = {{cite web , title = Phou Xiang Thong , url = http://www.ecotourismlaos.com/directory/protected_areas/phouxiengthong.htm , publisher =

Greater Mekong Subregion The Greater Mekong Subregion, (GMS) or just Greater Mekong, is a trans-national region of the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia. The region is home to more than 300 million people. It came into being with the launch of a development program i ...

Sustainable Tourism Development Project in Lao PDR , accessdate = 3 December 2014 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210830/http://www.ecotourismlaos.com/directory/protected_areas/phouxiengthong.htm , archivedate = 3 March 2016 {{cite book , last1 = Ray , first1 = Nick , last2 = Bloom , first2 = Greg , last3 = Waters , first3 = Richard , title = Lonely Planet Laos , edition = 8th , publisher =

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History 20th century Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen Wheeler, Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 19 ...

, date = February 2014 , pages = 223 , isbn = 978-1-7432-1825-9 {{cite web , url = http://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/phou-xiang-thong-iba-laos/text , title = Birdlife Data Zone: Phou Xiang Thong , date = 2003 , publisher =

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

, accessdate = 6 June 2017 National Biodiversity Conservation Areas Protected areas established in 1993 Geography of Salavan province Geography of Champasak province

Geography

History

Flora and fauna

Threats

See also

References