Cat Tien National Park offers visitors an opportunity to discover natureand contemplate the beauty of mountains, glass-plots, forests of hightrees, waterfalls and diversified ecosystems with rare plant and animalspecies. An insight by the Nhan Dan (People) online newspaper.
CatTien National Park, located about 150km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City,is the largest and most attractive ecotourism destination in thesoutheast region.
It features special tourism activities such asbird-watching, camping, boating and green tourism. It covers a vastarea of more than 72,000ha and belongs to three provinces: Dong Nai, LamDong and Binh Phuoc. Unlike other well-known national parks such as CucPhuong, Bach Ma and Ngoc Linh, Cat Tien boasts a terrain of forest andmountain, along with diversified natural scenery.
The climate at the park includes two seasons, the dry from December to April and the rainy, from May to November.
Thepark contains mainly lowland forests and swamp, forming differenthabitats, such as evergreen and semi-deciduous forests, freshwaterwetlands, lakes, large areas of bamboo, grassland and flooded forests.It is of international significance for its biodiversity values. Todate, it has been confirmed that the park is home to 1,610 species offlora, comprising 724 branches, 162 families, and 75 groups. Amongthese, 34 species are listed in the Vietnamese Red Book.
Therange of fauna within Cat Tien National Park includes 77 mammals, 318birds, 58 reptiles, 26 amphibians and 130 fishes, many of which areendemic to Vietnam and Indochina. Many of the animals in the park arelisted in Vietnam’s Red Book and the IUCN Red Book. Among the largemammal species whose presence has been confirmed in the park are Javanrhinoceros, gaur, Asian elephant and the lesser one-horned rhinoceros,all of which are at risk of extinction.
With these natural advantages, the park has begun offering attractive tours to allow visitors to discover the park.
Travellersto Cat Tien National Park will learn about centuries-old trees like a700-year-old redwood (Afzelia xylocarpa) tree, a 400-year-old Tung tree(Tetrameles nudiflora) and a Crape-myrtle (Lagerstroemia) tree throughthe Bang Lang tour. Bird-watching tours are also popular among those whoare interested in ecotourism.
There are 318 bird species in thepark, typifying biological diversity as well as rare genetic types forscientists to explore and research. With those natural features, thecentre for ecotourism is building tours for scientific research. For abird-watching tour, there are teams that register as long as two yearsin advance to choose the optimal time of in a year to see the birds.Those tours are mainly for scientists who study the flora and fauna ofthe forest ecosystem.
One of the trademarks of Cat Tien NationalPark is a nocturnal animal tour that offers visitors an opportunity tosee the wild animals in their natural habitat. In the untouched forest,sunk in darkness, the centre’s specialised vehicles transport visitorsto a green pasture, wet with dew. From 8–9 pm tourists can relax whilelooking for wild boars chasing each other through the night or for stagsand deer grazing freely around the park.
Visitors may comeacross crocodiles in the Bau Sau. During the rainy season, the pond'sarea swells to 2,000ha while in the dry season, it is only 200ha.Therefore, during the dry season it is necessary for visitors to take a5km walk out to the wetland to see amphibians and reptiles in the wild.
Inaddition to ecotourism tours, visitors can opt for cultural tours whichdiscover Oc Eo cultural relics and visit Ma and S'tieng ethnic villagesin Ta Lai Commune.
On November 10, 2011, Cat Tien National Parkwas recognised by UNESCO as the 411th World Biosphere Reserved Zone. OnAugust 4, 2005, the Secretariat of Ramsar Convention recognised Bau SauWetlands (belong to the park) as the 1,499th Ramsar Site of the worldwith total area of 13,759ha (of which 5,360ha are seasonal wetlands and8,399 are year-round wetlands).-VNA
CatTien National Park, located about 150km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City,is the largest and most attractive ecotourism destination in thesoutheast region.
It features special tourism activities such asbird-watching, camping, boating and green tourism. It covers a vastarea of more than 72,000ha and belongs to three provinces: Dong Nai, LamDong and Binh Phuoc. Unlike other well-known national parks such as CucPhuong, Bach Ma and Ngoc Linh, Cat Tien boasts a terrain of forest andmountain, along with diversified natural scenery.
The climate at the park includes two seasons, the dry from December to April and the rainy, from May to November.
Thepark contains mainly lowland forests and swamp, forming differenthabitats, such as evergreen and semi-deciduous forests, freshwaterwetlands, lakes, large areas of bamboo, grassland and flooded forests.It is of international significance for its biodiversity values. Todate, it has been confirmed that the park is home to 1,610 species offlora, comprising 724 branches, 162 families, and 75 groups. Amongthese, 34 species are listed in the Vietnamese Red Book.
Therange of fauna within Cat Tien National Park includes 77 mammals, 318birds, 58 reptiles, 26 amphibians and 130 fishes, many of which areendemic to Vietnam and Indochina. Many of the animals in the park arelisted in Vietnam’s Red Book and the IUCN Red Book. Among the largemammal species whose presence has been confirmed in the park are Javanrhinoceros, gaur, Asian elephant and the lesser one-horned rhinoceros,all of which are at risk of extinction.
With these natural advantages, the park has begun offering attractive tours to allow visitors to discover the park.
Travellersto Cat Tien National Park will learn about centuries-old trees like a700-year-old redwood (Afzelia xylocarpa) tree, a 400-year-old Tung tree(Tetrameles nudiflora) and a Crape-myrtle (Lagerstroemia) tree throughthe Bang Lang tour. Bird-watching tours are also popular among those whoare interested in ecotourism.
There are 318 bird species in thepark, typifying biological diversity as well as rare genetic types forscientists to explore and research. With those natural features, thecentre for ecotourism is building tours for scientific research. For abird-watching tour, there are teams that register as long as two yearsin advance to choose the optimal time of in a year to see the birds.Those tours are mainly for scientists who study the flora and fauna ofthe forest ecosystem.
One of the trademarks of Cat Tien NationalPark is a nocturnal animal tour that offers visitors an opportunity tosee the wild animals in their natural habitat. In the untouched forest,sunk in darkness, the centre’s specialised vehicles transport visitorsto a green pasture, wet with dew. From 8–9 pm tourists can relax whilelooking for wild boars chasing each other through the night or for stagsand deer grazing freely around the park.
Visitors may comeacross crocodiles in the Bau Sau. During the rainy season, the pond'sarea swells to 2,000ha while in the dry season, it is only 200ha.Therefore, during the dry season it is necessary for visitors to take a5km walk out to the wetland to see amphibians and reptiles in the wild.
Inaddition to ecotourism tours, visitors can opt for cultural tours whichdiscover Oc Eo cultural relics and visit Ma and S'tieng ethnic villagesin Ta Lai Commune.
On November 10, 2011, Cat Tien National Parkwas recognised by UNESCO as the 411th World Biosphere Reserved Zone. OnAugust 4, 2005, the Secretariat of Ramsar Convention recognised Bau SauWetlands (belong to the park) as the 1,499th Ramsar Site of the worldwith total area of 13,759ha (of which 5,360ha are seasonal wetlands and8,399 are year-round wetlands).-VNA
