Pù Mát National Park (Vietnamese: ''Vườn quốc gia Pù Mát'') 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 Nghệ An Province, in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

North Central Coast Bắc Trung Bộ (literally North Central Region, and often translated as North Central Coast) is one of the regions of Vietnam. It consists of six provinces: Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên–Hu� ...

region. It is part of the

Western Nghệ An Western Nghe An is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. It is located in Nghệ An Province in the tropical and temperate zone of Vietnam, and on the border with Laos. It was designated as a biosphere reserve in 2007, and recognised by UNESCO in 2011. It ...

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

. In the Thai language, Pù Mát means "high slope". This park was established by Decision 174/2001/QĐ-TTg, dated November 8, 2001, by the

Prime Minister of Vietnam The prime minister of Vietnam ( vi, Thủ tướng Việt Nam), officially styled as the Prime Minister of the Government of the Socialist Republic ( vi, Thủ tướng Chính phủ nước Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa), is the head of g ...

on upgrading Pù Mát Preservation Zone. This park is situated from N 18°46′to 19°12′and from E 104°24′to 104°56′. The park covers an area of 94,804 ha, spreading in three districts of

Tương Dương ''Tương'' (, Chữ Hán: 醬) is the name applied to a variety of condiments, a kind of fermented bean paste made from soybean and commonly used in Vietnamese cuisine. Originally, the term ''tương'' refers to a salty paste made from fermente ...

, Con Cuông and Anh Sơn of Nghệ An Province. Of the total area, the strictly protected area comprises 89.517 ha, and the ecological recovery area comprises 1.596 ha. A buffer area covers 86.000 ha.

Biodiversity values

2,461 plant species have been confirmed to occur at Pù Mát, some of which may be new to science; taxonomic work is currently underway to confirm this. The most widespread vegetation type in the national park is lowland evergreen forest. Pù Mát is probably one of the most important sites for mammal conservation in Vietnam. The Social Forestry and Nature Conservation in Nghe An Province (SFNC) surveys and research have confirmed the presence of five mammals endemic to Indochina:

northern white-cheeked gibbon The northern white-cheeked gibbon (''Nomascus leucogenys'') is a Critically Endangered species of gibbon native to South East Asia. It is closely related to the southern white-cheeked gibbon (''Nomascus siki''), with which it was previously con ...

red-shanked douc The red-shanked douc (''Pygathrix nemaeus'') is an arboreal and diurnal Old World monkey belonging to the Colobinae subfamily. They are endemic to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. They are known for their bright colors and express exhibit sexual dimo ...

saola The saola (''Pseudoryx nghetinhensis''), also called spindlehorn, Asian unicorn, or infrequently, Vu Quang bovid, is one of the world's rarest large mammals, a forest-dwelling bovine native to the Annamite Range in Vietnam and Laos. It was descr ...

Truong Son muntjac The Truong Son muntjac or Annamite muntjac (''Muntiacus truongsonensis'') is a species of muntjac deer. It is one of the smallest muntjac species, at about , half the size of the Indian muntjac (or common muntjac). It was discovered in the Truon ...

and

Annamite striped rabbit The Annamite striped rabbit (''Nesolagus timminsi'') is a species of rabbit native to the Annamite mountain range on the Laos-Vietnam border. The rabbit is striped, with a red rump, and resembles the Sumatran striped rabbit. It only recently beca ...

. The SFNC studies also confirmed the continued occurrence a number of other globally threatened mammals at Pu Mat, including

Assam macaque The Assam macaque (''Macaca assamensis'') or Assamese macaque is a macaque of the Old World monkey family native to South and Southeast Asia. Since 2008, it has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, as it is experiencing significan ...

Ussuri dhole The Ussuri dholeHeptner, V. G. & Naumov, N. P. (1998). Mammals of the Soviet Union Vol. II Part 1a, SIRENIA AND CARNIVORA (Sea cows; Wolves and Bears)', Science Publishers, Inc. USA., pp. 566–86, (''Cuon alpinus alpinus''), also known as the I ...

Indochinese tiger The Indochinese tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies that is native to Southeast Asia. This population occurs in Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos. In 2011, the population was thought to comprise 342 individuals, including ...

and

Indian elephant The Indian elephant (''Elephas maximus indicus'') is one of four extant recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant and native to mainland Asia. Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List as the wild po ...

. A "substantial" population of 455 critically endangered northern white-cheeked crested gibbons (''Nomascus leucogenys'') have been recently found living in the Pù Mát National Park in Nghệ An Province, northern Vietnam, near the border with Laos.

Conservation International Conservation International (CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia. CI's work focuses on science, policy and partnership with businesses, governments and communities. The organ ...

report they are living at high altitudes, and far from human settlements. This population, representing two thirds of the total known in Vietnam are, apparently, the "only confirmed viable population" of this variety in the world."Community of rare gibbons found in Vietnam." AFP. July 17th 2011
/ref>

Footnotes

References

Vietnam National Parks & Reserves
National parks of Vietnam Geography of Nghệ An province Protected areas established in 2001 Tourist attractions in Nghệ An province {{NgheAn-geo-stub