A corner of U Minh Thuong National Park in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang. (Photo: VNA) Kien Giang (VNA) – Tourists have started flockingagain to U Minh Thuong National Park, the southern province of Kien Giang, aftermonths of closure to prevent the COVID-19 spread and wildfire.
Thanks to the park’s untouched nature and healthy fresh air,it has been welcoming an increasing number of visitors, said Tran Van Thang,Deputy Director of U Minh Thuong National Park. But the national park had to close last May due to COVID-19 restrictions, he said, adding that it hadalso been placed into two-month routine closure as part of the efforts toprevent forest fire during the dry season.
In 2021, the park welcomed over 26,000 visitors, equivalentto just 38 percent of the yearly plan. It was allowed to reopen on January 20,2022 and since then the destination has served more than 11,000 visitors, Thangnoted.
Many took sightseeing tours around the park to enjoy theunique wetland ecosystem while others came here for fishing. Nguyen Van Dong, avisitor from the neighbouring province of Ca Mau, and his friends usuallycome here at around 4 in the morning so they can have plenty of time to traveldeep inside the park to go fishing.
U Minh Thuong National Park boasts unique and rare features that are hard to be found anywhere else in the country and the world. (Photo: thiennhien.net) Thang said the national park has been acceleratinginfrastructure development and creating new tourism products to attract moretravellers. It has also been strengthening protection of natural landscapes andwaste treatment in the park, he added.
Located about 65km to the southwest of Rach Gia city, U MinhThuong National Park, one of the two most important peatland areas in Vietnam,boasts unique and rare features that are hard to be found anywhere else in thecountry and the world.
Founded in 2002, the park is surrounded by a 60km-long embankmentsystem and covers some 21,100 ha of land in U Minh Thuong district, includingabout 8,000 ha of the core zone and 13,000 ha of the buffer zone.
U Minh Thuong National Park is at the core of the KienGiang Biosphere Reserve, the fifth in Vietnam earning UNESCO’s recognition.Among the forest ecosystems on acid sulfate soil in the Mekong Delta, only thispark owns characteristics of a purely primeval forest.
A survey in 1995 showed that U Minh Thuong boasts 8,053ha ofprimeval forest, about 3,000ha of which dates back some 6,000 years ago.
The cajuput forest ecosystem on peatland here holds specialimportance as it nurtures hundreds of species of wild animals, including birds, mammals,reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and many aquatic species.
Thirty-two mammal species have been found in this park,including 10 species listed in Vietnam’s Red Data Book and the InternationalUnion for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List like hairy-nosed otter,fishing cat, Asian palm civet, Finlayson's squirrel and Sunda pangolin.
It also provides habitat for 188 bird species, includingeight threatened globally such as spot-billed pelican, greater adjutant,black-headed Ibis, sociable weaver, grey-headed fish eagle and black eagle; 54reptile and amphibian species, including eight in Vietnam’s Red Data Book likereticulated python, banded krait and king cobra; along with 34 fish species./.
Thanks to the park’s untouched nature and healthy fresh air,it has been welcoming an increasing number of visitors, said Tran Van Thang,Deputy Director of U Minh Thuong National Park. But the national park had to close last May due to COVID-19 restrictions, he said, adding that it hadalso been placed into two-month routine closure as part of the efforts toprevent forest fire during the dry season.
In 2021, the park welcomed over 26,000 visitors, equivalentto just 38 percent of the yearly plan. It was allowed to reopen on January 20,2022 and since then the destination has served more than 11,000 visitors, Thangnoted.
Many took sightseeing tours around the park to enjoy theunique wetland ecosystem while others came here for fishing. Nguyen Van Dong, avisitor from the neighbouring province of Ca Mau, and his friends usuallycome here at around 4 in the morning so they can have plenty of time to traveldeep inside the park to go fishing.
U Minh Thuong National Park boasts unique and rare features that are hard to be found anywhere else in the country and the world. (Photo: thiennhien.net) Located about 65km to the southwest of Rach Gia city, U MinhThuong National Park, one of the two most important peatland areas in Vietnam,boasts unique and rare features that are hard to be found anywhere else in thecountry and the world.
Founded in 2002, the park is surrounded by a 60km-long embankmentsystem and covers some 21,100 ha of land in U Minh Thuong district, includingabout 8,000 ha of the core zone and 13,000 ha of the buffer zone.
U Minh Thuong National Park is at the core of the KienGiang Biosphere Reserve, the fifth in Vietnam earning UNESCO’s recognition.Among the forest ecosystems on acid sulfate soil in the Mekong Delta, only thispark owns characteristics of a purely primeval forest.
A survey in 1995 showed that U Minh Thuong boasts 8,053ha ofprimeval forest, about 3,000ha of which dates back some 6,000 years ago.
The cajuput forest ecosystem on peatland here holds specialimportance as it nurtures hundreds of species of wild animals, including birds, mammals,reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and many aquatic species.
Thirty-two mammal species have been found in this park,including 10 species listed in Vietnam’s Red Data Book and the InternationalUnion for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List like hairy-nosed otter,fishing cat, Asian palm civet, Finlayson's squirrel and Sunda pangolin.
It also provides habitat for 188 bird species, includingeight threatened globally such as spot-billed pelican, greater adjutant,black-headed Ibis, sociable weaver, grey-headed fish eagle and black eagle; 54reptile and amphibian species, including eight in Vietnam’s Red Data Book likereticulated python, banded krait and king cobra; along with 34 fish species./.
VNA
