Cát Bà National Park
| Cát Bà National Park | |
|---|---|
|
IUCN category II (national park) | |
|
View of the forested limestone landscape of Cát Bà National Park | |
| Location | Vietnam |
| Nearest city | Hai Phong |
| Coordinates | 20°47′50.00″N 107°24′25.50″E / 20.7972222°N 107.4070833°ECoordinates: 20°47′50.00″N 107°24′25.50″E / 20.7972222°N 107.4070833°E |
| Area | 152.00 km2 (58.69 sq mi) |
| Established | 1986 |
Cát Bà National Park is a World Heritage Site designated as a biosphere reserve in northern Vietnam. The park is part of Cát Bà Island in Hạ Long Bay and is administered by the city of Haiphong. The park is located approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Hai Phong, covering about 263 square kilometres (102 sq mi) and comprising 173 square kilometres (67 sq mi) of land and 90 square kilometres (35 sq mi) of inshore water.
The Cát Bà langur, also known as the white-headed langur (Trachypithecus poliocephalus) is resident within the park and is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as a critically endangered primate; 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).[1]
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. The island is mainly limestone with alternating narrow valleys running north-east to south-west. There are many rugged hills with elevation to 500 metres (1,600 ft); most are in the range 50–200 metres (160–660 ft).
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> 50 centimetres (20 in), 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 16,196.8 hectares (40,023 acres), of which 10,931.7 hectares (27,013 acres) is forest and 5,265.1 hectares (13,010 acres) of sea. Forest includes primary, secondary and mangrove.
Biological resources
Flora
Over 1,500 species of plants have been recorded including 118 trees and 160 plants with medicinal properties.[2]
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, deer, macaques and squirrels. The island is on a major migration route for waterfowl which feed and roost in the mangrove forests.[2]
HOW TO GET TO NATIONAL PARK
From Cat Ba Town, you can contact Catba Express Bus & Tours, they do daily trip to National Park with hiking in the Park and visiting Trung Trang cave by experience English guide. The tour depart at 9.am and 2pm, you can send you request to: info@catbaexpress.com or hotline: +841248244999. This is new choice so they even have no information on the website yet.
By the way, I recommend this company for the Bus service to get to Cat Ba or come back to Ha Noi as below:
Bus Ha Noi - Cat Ba Island: services provided by CatBa Express Bus. Pick up (8:15, 11:45, 14:45) in Ha Noi and (9:00, 12:30, 15:20) from CatBa Island to Ha Noi. Time to move out 3 hours 20 minutes, with an ECO Bus costs 360.000 vND (~16$) one way and it is more convenient if you book round trip. (Children under 5 year old: Shared with parents, children over 5 year old: charged as adult) Service on the bus: Wifi, power outlet, water, tisue,... You can book tickets from "http://catbaexpress.com/" or 37B Nguyen Huu Huan and depart here. They also provide a very nice Full Day trip to explore Lan Ha Bay included kayak. NOTE: CATBA EXPRESS run the mordern bus (UNIVER GLOBAL - BY HUYNDAI MOTOR COMPANY) even in Cat Ba island, they use the finist one. DROP OFF AND PICK UP: EVERY HOTEL
Time of departure: Ha Noi - Cat Ba Island - Pick up: 7h30 - 8h15, Ha Noi - Dinh Vu (Bus) 8h15- 10h15, Dinh Vu - Cai Vieng(speed boat) 10h15 - 10h45, Cai Vieng - Cat Ba (bus) 10h45 - 11h30 - Pick up: 11h00 - 11h45, Ha Noi - Dinh Vu (Bus) 11h45- 13h45, Dinh Vu - Cai Vieng(speed boat) 13h45 - 14h15, Cai Vieng - Cat Ba (bus) 14h15 - 15h00 - Pick up: 14h00 - 14h45, Ha Noi - Dinh Vu (Bus) 14h45- 16h45, Dinh Vu - Cai Vieng(speed boat) 16h45 - 17h15, Cai Vieng - Cat Ba (bus) 17h15 - 18h00
Time of departure: Cat Ba Island - Ha Noi - Pick up: 8h30 - 9h00, CatBa - Cai Vieng (Bus) 9h00- 9h45, Cai Vieng - Dinh Vu(speed boat) 9h45 - 10h15, Dinh Vu - Ha Noi(bus) 10h15 - 12h15 - Pick up: 12h00 - 12h30, CatBa - Cai Vieng (Bus) 12h30- 13h15, Cai Vieng - Dinh Vu(speed boat) 13h15 - 13h45, Dinh Vu - Ha Noi(bus) 13h45 - 15h45 - Pick up: 15h30 - 15h30, CatBa - Cai Vieng (Bus) 15h30- 16h15, Cai Vieng - Dinh Vu(speed boat) 16h15 - 17h00, Dinh Vu - Ha Noi(bus) 17h00 - 19h30.
See also
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cat Ba National Park. |
- ↑ Plowden, Tim (1 April 2016). "Trailing the world's rarest monkeys". New Scientist (3066): 14.
- 1 2 "Cat Ba National Park". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 24 April 2016.