Virachey National Park ( km, ឧទ្យានជាតិវីរជ័យ) is a
national park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
in north-eastern
Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
covering an area of .
The park is one of only two Cambodian
ASEAN Heritage Park
ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHP) are selected protected areas in the ASEAN region that are known for their unique biodiversity and ecosystems, wilderness and outstanding values in scenic, cultural, educational, research, recreational and tourism. Its vi ...
s.
The park overlaps
Ratanakiri and
Stung Treng
Stung Treng City ( km, ទីក្រុងស្ទឹងត្រែង) ( lo, ຊຽງແຕງ ) is the capital of Stung Treng Province, Cambodia. It is the major city (and capital) of both the district and province.
Geography
Stung Tren ...
Provinces. The park's flora and fauna is threatened by
illegal logging
Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...
. Administration of the park is the responsibility of the Cambodian Ministry of Environment.
Description
Located in some of the most deep and isolated jungles of Cambodia, Virachey is largely unexplored and holds a large assortment of wildlife, waterfalls and mountains. The park comprises dense semi-evergreen lowlands,
montane forests
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...
, upland savannah, bamboo thickets and occasional patches of mixed deciduous forest. Most of the area lies above 400 meters up to 1,500 meters.
References
Further reading
*Baird, Ian G. "Making Spaces: The ethnic Brao people and the international border between Laos and Cambodia" in the journal ''Geoforum'' 41 (2010) 271-281
*Baird, Ian G. and Philip Drearden "Biodiversity Conservation and Resource Tenure Regimes: A Case Study from Northeast Cambodia" in the journal ''Environmental Management'' Vol. 32, No.5, pp. 541–550
*Bourdier, Frederic. ''The Mountain of Precious Stones: Ratanakiri, Cambodia.'' The Center for Khmer Studies, Phnom Penh, 2006.
*Bourdier, Frederic. "Development and Dominion: Indigenous Peoples of Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos." White Lotus Press, Bangkok. 2009.
Cambodia's Last Frontier Falls by Stephen Kurczy in the Asia Times Online.
Conservation International Preliminary Report 2007
External links
Virachey National Parkin th
UNEP-WCMC World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA)from the
World Conservation Monitoring Centre
The UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is a collaboration centre of UN Environment Programme, based in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. UNEP-WCMC has been part of UN Environment Programme since 2000, and has r ...
Eco-Tourism in Virachey National ParkVirachey National Park on Facebook
National parks of Cambodia
Geography of Ratanakiri province
Geography of Stung Treng province
Protected areas established in 1993
ASEAN heritage parks
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