Phou Xieng Thong National Protected Area is a national protected area in Salavan and Champasak provinces of southern Laos. This park, the country's only park on the

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...

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

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...

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'; th, ปากเซ) is the capital and most populous city of the southern Laotian province of Champasak, and the second most populous city in Laos. Loc ...

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 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,

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 previo ...

, banteng, pangolin, monitor lizard and leopard. Pavo muticus3

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,

grey-headed parakeet The grey-headed parakeet (''Psittacula finschii'') is closely related to the slaty-headed parakeet which together form a super-species. It is found in Southeast Asia from north-eastern India to Vietnam. The binomial of this bird commemorates the ...

and

red-collared woodpecker The red-collared woodpecker (''Picus rabieri'') is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found in Cambodia, China, Laos, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destructio ...

. 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 pluma ...

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 The grey-faced tit-babbler (''Mixornis kelleyi'') is a species of bird in the family Timaliidae. It is found in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. See also *Kelley-Roosevelt ...

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 Early years Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarke ...

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