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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.
In
2007 a reptile survey was conducted in Cat Ba National Park by Dr. Thomas
Ziegler, from Cologne Zoo and Nguyen Quang Truong, from the Institute of
Ecology and Biological Resources, in cooperation with the Cat Ba Langur
Conservation Project. It led to the discovery of the Cat Ba Tiger Gecko
(Goniurosaurus catbaensis), endemic to Cat Ba Island, adding to the
list of endemic and rare species and once more emphasizing the need for nature
conservation on the island.
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Strangler fig tree
Near-shore fishing - Cat Ba Island
Entrance to Cat Ba National Park
Pit Viper
(Photo Courtesy of Phan Duy
Thuc) |
