Bạch Mã National Park

16.182107.9058Koordinaten: 16 ° 10 ' 55 "N, 107 ° 54' 21" E

The Bach Ma National Park ( Vietnamese Quốc gia Vuon Bach Ma ) is a national park in Vietnam. It is located 45 km southeast of Hue and 85 km north- west of Hoi An and forms the core of the last closed forest area in Central Vietnam. The park, established in 1991 is 22,000 hectares in size and has a variety of vegetation zones from the coastal plain to the nearly 1,500 -meter summit of Mount Bach Ma.

History

The French founded in already the 30s of the 20th century on the summit plateau a small summer resort, which was mainly visited by French colonial officials. First protection zones have been established since 1937, a fortified summit road was already in operation from 1939. With the defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu (1954 ) Bach Ma was quickly forgotten. During the Vietnam War the American forces recognized the strategic importance of the Bach Ma mountain to check from there the coastal plain between Hue and Da Nang. Directly on the summit established the military a helicopter base and defend it against numerous attacks of the Vietnamese resistance. Even today, remember trenches and a dilapidated tunnel system below the summit. The forests increased by Agent Orange damage. Plans to put a portion of the tunnel systems for tourism purposes repaired were abandoned in favor of nature conservation. As a side effect, the plants are now inhabited by animals, especially bats.

After the war, the area around Mount Bach Ma was managed by several state forest enterprises. The fulfillment of ambitious production quotas had priority over sustainable forest management, and within a few years the formerly lush tropical rainforest has been cleared.

Flora and Fauna

The park is considered a floristic center of high biodiversity in Indochina; here there are more than 1400 species of plants described. This is about one fifth of all species in Vietnam to only 0.07 percent of the country. According to a list available at the park entrance here live 330 species of birds that can be observed. Some rarities such as the Perlenpfau ( Rheinardia ocellata ) or the silver pheasant ( Lophura nycthemera beli ) are relatively common, rare one sees the Edwards pheasant ( Lophura edwardsi ).

Nature and infrastructure

The National Park Service maintains several hiking trails ( map available at the Visitor Center ), which are easy to handle with sturdy shoes. From the highest point of the mountain you can enjoy a panoramic view of the mountains of the Annamite chain to the lagoon of Cau Hai and the upstream coast in good weather. Worth seeing is the 200 m-high waterfall rhododendron. A staircase with 689 steps leads to the foot of the waterfall. Along the Five Lakes hiking path or the path pheasant find more cascades.

The Park Service manages several inns at the park entrance and on the summit plateau, which offer themselves as a base for day excursions. Some of the old colonial buildings in the park have been stylishly renovated and are now used as guest houses. With more than 8,000 mm annual rainfall of Mount Bach Ma leads in the rain statistics of Vietnam; during the rainy season from November to January, there can often be raining for days.