Tam Dao National Park ( vi, Vườn quốc gia Tam Đảo) is a protected area zone in northern

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 ...

. It was established in 1996,''Vietnam: A Natural History''
Eleanor Jane Sterling, Martha Maud Hurley, Le Duc Minh, Minh Duc Le, Joyce Powzyk, 2006, p.208, succeeding from the Conservation Forest Tam Dao which was formed in 1977. The park is about 85 km northwest of

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

. Its exact location is at 21°21’ to 21°42’ North latitude, 105°23’ to 105°44’ East longitude. It spans a large area along the Tam Đảo range and administratively belongs to 6 districts and 1 city: Lập Thạch, Tam Dương,

Bình Xuyên Binh Xuyen Force ( vi, Bộ đội Bình Xuyên, ), often linked to its infamous leader, General Lê Văn Viễn (a.k.a. "Bảy Viễn"), was an independent military force within the Vietnamese National Army whose leaders once had lived outside t ...

and the city of

Vĩnh Yên Vĩnh Yên () is the city capital of Vĩnh Phúc Province, in the Red River Delta region of northern Vietnam. The population is 76,650 people, the area is 50.87 km². This city hosted 2012 Asian Men's Cup Volleyball Championship. Climate ...

of Vĩnh Phúc Province;

Sơn Dương ''Toxicodendron succedaneum'', the wax tree, Japanese Hazenoki tree (Sumac or wax tree), sơn in Vietnam or charão in Portuguese, is a flowering plant species in the genus ''Toxicodendron'' found in Asia, although it has been planted elsewhere, ...

of Tuyên Quang Province; Đại Từ and Phổ Yên of

Thái Nguyên Province Cài () is a Chinese-language surname that derives from the name of the ancient Cai state. In 2019 it was the 38th most common surname in China, but the 9th most common in Taiwan (as of 2018), where it is usually romanized as "Tsai" (based on ...

Natural condition

Tam Dao National Park is based in the Tam Đảo range, which is one of the terminal spurs of a larger mountainous area in the

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

region of Vietnam. It runs 80 km from north west to south east, and has more than 20 peaks with altitudes of over 1000m. The highest summit is Tam Đảo North with an altitude of 1592 m. Three other peaks in the area include Thien Thi at 1375 m, Thach Ban at 1388 m and Phu Nghia at 1300 m. Sharp peaks with sloping sides and numerous, deep partitions are characteristic of the topology. At an elevation of 930 metres, Tam Đảo town was established by French colonists in 1907 as a tranquil hill resort in northern Vietnam. Several villas designed for the French still remain. It is now an enclave administratively belonging to Vinh Yen city. The boundary of the national park is located at an altitude of 100 m around the Tam Đảo range. There is a larger buffer zone (which has area of approximately 535 km²) which surrounds the national park which has an altitude below 100 m. Seventy per cent of the area of the park is covered by natural and artificial forest. The natural forest is about 220 km² and the human altered forest is about 30 km². Due to the tall mountainous range that splits the area into two parts, the national park's climatic condition is divided into two areas with different rainfalls. This difference and some other factors such as the effect of human activity divide the park into some smaller climatic zones which increase the bio-diversity in the park.

Flora

According to research, Tam Dao park has eight kinds of forest types distributed in different topographic and climatic areas : *The tropical moist evergreen forest covers most of Tam Đảo Range below the altitude of 800 m. Some rare and precious species include '' Shorea chinensis'', ''

Michelia ''Michelia'' is a historical genus of flowering plants belonging to the family (Magnoliaceae). The genus included about 50 species of evergreen trees and shrubs, native to tropical and subtropical south and southeast Asia (Indomalaya), including s ...

'', ''

Cinnamomum ''Cinnamomum'' is a genus of evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The species of ''Cinnamomum'' have aromatic oils in their leaves and bark. The genus contains approximately 250 species, distributed in t ...

'' sp. and '' Pavieasia anamensis''. *The subtropical moist evergreen low mountain forest covers the areas over 800 m and includes the species of the families:

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016 ). They are dicotyledons, and occur ma ...

Fagaceae The Fagaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with about 927 species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species occur as evergre ...

Theaceae Theaceae (), the tea family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plants comprising shrubs and trees, including the economically important tea plant, and the ornamental camellias. It can be described as having from seven to 40 genus, genera ...

Magnoliaceae The Magnoliaceae () are a flowering plant family, the magnolia family, in the order Magnoliales. It consists of two genera: ''Magnolia'' and ''Liriodendron'' (tulip trees). Unlike most angiosperms, whose flower parts are in whorls (rings), the ...

, and

Hamamelidaceae Hamamelidaceae, commonly referred to as the witch-hazel family, is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales. The clade consists of shrubs and small trees positioned within the woody clade of the core Saxifragales. An earlier system ...

. In places with altitudes of over 1000 m there are some species of

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

such as ''Dacrycarpus imbrricatus'', ''Fokieria hodginsii'', ''Podocarpus neriifolicy'', and ''

Nageia fleuryi ''Nageia fleuryi'' is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is a tree up to tall, with pyramidal crown, - ] found in Cambodia, China (Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan provinces), Laos, Taiwan, and Vietnam Vietnam or Vie ...

''. Below the canopy there are species of the families

Rubiaceae The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules ...

(coffee family),

Myrsinaceae Myrsinoideae is a subfamily of the family Primulaceae in the order Ericales. It was formerly recognized as the family Myrsinaceae, or the myrsine family, consisting of 35 genera and about 1000 species. It is widespread in temperate to tropical ...

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, e ...

. *The high mountain short forest is a dwarf variety of two aforementioned forest types including species of these families:

Ericaceae The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...

Illiciaceae Illiciaceae A.C.Sm. was a family of flowering plants recognized in a number of systems of plant taxonomy. The Illiciaceae is not recognized as a distinct family by the APG III system of plant taxonomy, the most well accepted system in use today. ...

, and

Aceraceae Aceraceae were recognized as a family of flowering plants also called the maple family. They contain two to four genera, depending upon the circumscription, of some 120 species of trees and shrubs. A common characteristic is that the leaves are ...

. *The bamboo forest only covers 8.84 km² and sparsely appears at altitudes of 500 m to 800 m. *The restored forest was created after the establishment the national park. Before that, this area was exploited to harvest wood by forest management and was cultivated by farmers. Now this area has been replanted with species such as ''

Symplocos ''Symplocos'' is a genus of flowering plants in the order Ericales. It contains about 300 species distributed in Asia and the Americas. Many species grow in humid tropical regions. This is sometimes considered to be the only genus in family Sympl ...

'', ''

Litsea cubeba ''Litsea cubeba'', the aromatic litsea or may chang, is an evergreen tree or shrub 5–12 meters high in the family Lauraceae. It is native to Southern Chinese region including Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Taiwan and Fujian, and Southeast Asian co ...

'', and a species of ''

Xylopia ''Xylopia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Annonaceae. They are mostly trees and some shrubs. There are about 160 species distributed in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.Moreira, I. C., Lago, J. H. G., Young, M. C. M., & Roque, N. F. ...

''. *The plantation forest was established in the French colonial period with ''

Pinus massoniana ''Pinus massoniana'' (English: Masson's pine, Chinese red pine, horsetail pine; Chinese: 馬尾松) is a species of pine, native to Taiwan, a wide area of central and southern China, and northern Vietnam. Description It is an evergreen tree ...

'' (Horsetail Pine). *The bush appears in some dry and sun exposed areas including ''

Aporosa ''Aporosa'' is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the family Phyllanthaceae, first described as a genus in 1825. It is native to China, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Papuasia, and Queensland. These plants are mostly dioecious t ...

dioica'', ''

Bridelia ''Bridelia'' is a plant genus of the family Phyllanthaceae first described as a genus in 1806.Helicteres ''Helicteres'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae. Its range is from tropical and sub-tropical Asia through to northern Australia, and also Mexico through to the northern half of South America. Species Plants of the World ...

'', and ''

Phyllanthus emblica ''Phyllanthus emblica'', also known as emblic, emblic myrobalan, myrobalan, Indian gooseberry, Malacca tree, or amla, from the Sanskrit आमलकी (āmalakī), is a deciduous tree of the family Phyllanthaceae. Its native range is tropical a ...

''. *The grassland appears in areas of exploited forest, and includes ''

Saccharum spontaneum ''Saccharum spontaneum'' (wild sugarcane, Kans grass) is a grass native to the Indian Subcontinent. It is a perennial grass, growing up to three meters in height, with spreading rhizomatous roots. In the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands, a l ...

'', ''

Thysanolaena ''Thysanolaena'' is a genus of plants in the grass family, the only genus in the tribe Thysanolaeneae. Its only recognized species is ''Thysanolaena latifolia'' (formerly ''Thysanolaena maxima''), native to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China (Gu ...

maxima'', ''

Chromolaena odorata ''Chromolaena odorata'' is a tropical and subtropical species of flowering shrub in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the Americas, from Florida and Texas in the United States south through Mexico and the Caribbean to South America. It ...

'' (over 2 m) ''

Imperata cylindrica ''Imperata cylindrica'' (commonly known as cogongrass or kunai grass ) is a species of Perennial plant, perennial rhizomatous grass native to tropical and subtropical Asia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Australia, Africa, and southern Europe. It has al ...

'', ''

Paspalum ''Paspalum'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. The group is widespread across much of Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. Commonly known as paspalum, bahiagrasses, crowngrasses or dallis grasses, many of the species are tall pere ...

scrobiculatum'', and ''

Setaria viridis ''Setaria viridis'' is a species of grass known by many common names, including green foxtail, green bristlegrass, and wild foxtail millet. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of ''Setaria italica''. It is native to Eurasia, but it is known o ...

'' (under 2 m) . Out of over 2000 plant species, 904 species are considered useful to humans. They have been classified into eight groups: There are 42 species endemic to Tam Dao National Park and also 64 other species considered rare including ''Dendrobium daoensis'', ''Camellia longicaudata'', ''Camellia petelotii'', ''Asarum petelotii'', ''Mosla tamdaoensis'', and ''Paris delavayi''.

Fauna

The national park has diverse animal species, with 840 species in total (listed below).:tchdkh.org
- not in English, accessed 30 July 2008 Eleven of these species are endemic to Tam Dao National Park including the snake species ''Amphiesma angeli'' and '' Boiga multitempolaris'', the amphibian ''Paramesotriton deloustali'' and eight species of insects; 22 species are endemic to North Vietnam including nine bird species, four reptiles, three amphibians and six species of insect; six are endemic to Vietnam (five bird species and one species of amphibian). Guide books report that some of this bio-diversity can be seen in the restaurants which have been known to serve endangered species. Vietnam
Nick Ray, Wendy Yanagihara,

Tourism

There are two sites for tourists in the park. The first is Tam Đảo town which was established in 1907. Tam Đảo is nestled in a valley covering only 3 km². There now remain a stone church, some villas and palaces built by French colonists. It has Thac Bac (The Silver Fall), Rung Rinh peak and Tam Đảo 2, a remnant of another resort built many years ago. The second tourist location is Tay Thien site. It includes Tay Thien Quoc Mau Temple (literally The "Temple of West Heaven National Mother") and many pagodas. Along with Thien Vien Truc Lam (literally: "Dhyana Palace in Bamboo Forest") in

Da Lat Da Lat (also written as Dalat, vi, Đà Lạt; ), is the capital of Lâm Đồng Province and the largest city of the Central Highlands region in Vietnam. The city is located above sea level on the Langbian Plateau. Da Lat is one of the mos ...

and

Yen Tu The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

, Thien Vien Truc Lam Tay Thien is a center of Vietnamese Buddhism.

Climate

References

Vietnam National Parks & Reserves
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tam Dao National Park National parks of Vietnam Geography of Vĩnh Phúc province Geography of Thái Nguyên province Geography of Tuyên Quang province Tourist attractions in Vĩnh Phúc province Tourist attractions in Thái Nguyên province Tourist attractions in Tuyên Quang province Protected areas established in 1996