|
|
|
Cat
Ba Island |
|
The
Spectacular Home of the Cat Ba Langur |
Cat Ba Island is situated in Ha Long Bay, 50 km to the east of
Hai Phong City, in Northern Vietnam. It is the largest of 366
islands in the Cat Ba Archipelago, and has a surface area of
about 140 square km. The Cat Ba Archipelago shares the
distinctive rugged appearance and scenic beauty of the Ha Long
Bay Area that was declared a UNESCO World Natural Heritage
Site, in 1994. The area is one of the best examples in the
world of a Karst landscape invaded by the sea. Some 1500-2000
large and small islands and cliffs rise steeply from the
shallow marine waters. Many of these islands reach towering
heights of 50 to 100m with sheer vertical cliffs on all sides.
Spectacular rock relief and bizarre rock formations provide
evidence of a long history of erosion and landscape evolution
through the sculpturing power of water. The greatest part of
the islands’ mountain range like most of the smaller offshore
islands of the Archipelago, are covered by tropical moist
limestone forest. Cat Ba Island also has coral terraces, sandy
beaches, freshwater wetland areas, tidal flats, mangrove
forests and willow swamp. Spectacular scenery and a high
diversity of landscapes make Cat Ba a special place and it has
become a main destination for national and international
tourists.
The People
Cat Ba Island is currently
inhabited by about 13500 people, living in 6 communes,
of which Cat Ba Town is the largest. Archaeological remains
suggest that people have inhabited the Cat Ba area for at
least 6000 years. Local livelihoods in the villages are built
on subsistence agriculture and fishing. Comparatively new
sources of employment and income at the local level are shrimp
and fish-farming, and tourism.
The National Park
and Biodiversity Conservation
Cat Ba National Park was established in 1986. After a
re-arrangement of the park boundaries in 2006, the park now
comprises of 109 square km of land area and an additional 52
square km of inshore waters and mangrove covered tidal zones.
Cat Ba National Park was Vietnam’s first national park to
include both terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
Cat Ba Island, its national park and the surrounding area are
nationally and internationally recognized for their importance
to biodiversity conservation, exemplified through the
recognition of the Cat Ba Archipelago as a UNESCO Man and
Biosphere Reserve, in 2004.This is not only because the area
has a high number of different ecosystem and habitat types,
but also because it possesses a great variety of plant and
animal species, many of which, like the Cat Ba langur, are now
rare and endangered.
About 1400 vascular plants, including 23 Endangered and
Critically Endangered species (Red Data Book of Vietnam; IUCN
Red List) have so far been recorded. Large and partly
endangered
mammals include the Cat Ba langur, the Southern Serow (Naemorhaedus
sumatraensis), Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta),
Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), black
giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor), and civet cats
(Viverricula indica, Paradoxurus
hermaphroditus). The cave, land
snail and butterfly fauna is rich including the most northerly
cave-adapted crab species, plus four species of true cave
snails. The region is considered a hotspot for land snail
diversity and might also be conserving a considerable number
of bat species including rare ones.
|
Strangler fig tree
Near-shore fishing - Cat Ba Island
Entrance to Cat Ba National Park
Photo: Phan Duy Thuc
Pit Viper
|
