Bach Ma: Beauty in Biodiversity

Bach Ma: Beauty in Biodiversity

Bach Ma National Park is located at the end of the North Truong Son Mountain Range. With its mountains, valleys, streams, lakes, lagoons and river systems stretching from the Eastern Sea to the Vietnam-Laos border, Bach Ma is a natural forest that is a sight to behold.

 

Bach Ma's highest mountain peak is 1,450 meters but there are other more mountains that are more than 1,000 meters. Mountain Nom is 1,259 meters while Truoi is 1,154 meters high. The water systems are complex yet breathtaking sights as well.

 

Bach Ma National Park is also home to both endangered and new species, a large collection of biodiversity all in all. Some species rare to North and South Vietnam are nurtured in the park, including thirty which are listed in Vietnam's Red Book: Fokienia hodginsii; Adenia banaensis; Aquilaria banaensae; Erythrophloeum forddi; Sipterocarpus hassetli; and Dipterocarpus sp. New species such as Elaeocarpus bachmaensis and Cissus bachmaensis are carefully preserved at the park.

 

Bach Ma is also home to 83 large mammal species from 23 families and nine orders. 68 of these are included in Vietnam's Red Book,, some of which are: Sao La; Vu Quang muntjac; Truong Son Muntjac; and the White-Cheeked Gibbon. Birds, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, fish, butterflies, and termites also reside at the park. There is such a wide variety of mammals living in the park that data on the small ones for example are still in the process of completion.

 

The bat species at Bach Ma National Park in particular has an especially diverse composition in comparison to the other reserves in the country. Eight species are listed in Vietnam's Red Book 2000, while five apear in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals 2000. The Long Sella Horseshoe Bat in particular has only about five populations, with only about 50-520 bats per population. The Thais Evening Bat is among the captured ones, recorded only twice in Vietnam, a truly rare find. The Old World Fruit Bat Family of the Megachiroptera Sub-Order can also be found at the park. Compared to the other national parks or nature reserves in the country, the Bach Ma Fruit Bat has the most variety of species composition.

 

Bach Ma is an exceptional holiday resort because of its natural beauty and cool climate ranging from 18-32 degree Celsius in the summer. It also has the highest rainfall in the country measuring almost eight meters every year. It's interesting to note that as early as the 1930s, Bach Ma was utilized by the French as a resort which included 139 villas, a swimming pool, tennis court, a market post office, and a road system connecting the mountain range to National Highway No. 1. Bach Ma has maintained that high standard quality even to this day, that is why it is now among Central Vietnam's most popular and important eco-tourism destinations.