Nui Chua National Park
Encyclopedia
Nui Chua National Park (Vietnamese language
: Vườn quốc gia Núi Chúa ) is a national park
in the province of Ninh Thuận Province
, on the border with Khanh Hoa Province
, Nam Trung Bo
, Vietnam
..
The National Park was established according to Decision number 134/QĐ-TTg dated 9 July 2003 signed by the Prime Minister of Vietnam
. This decision turned Nui Chua Nature Reserve into Nui Chua National Park.
Núi Chúa National Parkis situated on a wide, mountainous promontory, which projects into the South China Sea
between Cam Ranh and Phan Rang bays. Elevations range from sea level to 1,039 m at the summit of Nui Chua peak.
Nui Chua National Park is bounded to the south and east by the South China Sea, to the west by Highway No.1 and to the north by the boundary with neighbouring Khanh Hoa Province. The total area of the Park is 24,353 ha, comprising:
• Strict forest protection area of 16,087 ha
• Forest rehabilitation area of 8, 261 ha
• Administration and services area of 5 ha
• Buffer zone of 11,200 ha.
Nui Chua National Park also abuts a protected marine area of 7,352 ha.
The northern end is the southern part of Cam Ranh Bay
administratively belongs tho Cam Lập Commune, Cam Ranh
town, Khánh Hòa Province
, the east and the south is South China Sea
in the communes of Vĩnh Hải and Nhơn Hải of the district of Ninh Hải
. The west is limited by the National Road 1A.
Ninh Thuan Province is the driest and hottest province in Vietnam, and the area receives the lowest rainfall in south-central Vietnam with an average of 650 mm per year. The dry season extends for eight months from November or December to July or August.
Nui Chua National Park is located in the south-eastern part of the Great Annamites Ecoregion, one of the four Global Ecoregions identified by the World Wildlife Fund in the southern region of Vietnam. It is made up of the terrestrial ecoregions of Southern Vietnam Lowland Dry Forests and Southern Annamite Montane Rain Forests. There are few, if any, opportunities to expand the areas of the three Special Use Forests in this dry coastal forest ecoregion, so strict protection of the existing resources is imperative. The semi-arid coastal areas of southern Vietnam are the most arid in Vietnam, so the vegetation also has high value as a source of germ plasm for restoring other areas that become drier or are affected by sea level rises due to climate change.
The original vegetation was a mixture of evergreen forest, semi-evergreen forest and deciduous forest. However, most of the forest was destroyed at the beginning of the 1990s as a result of over-exploitation. Currently the only relatively undisturbed primary forest remaining is lower montane evergreen forest, distributed in the north of the Park at elevations above 800 metres. At lower elevations there are extensive areas of degraded and secondary forest. The southern parts of the Park, at elevations between 150 and 800 metres, support scrub dominated by thorny trees. This habitat type is only found at sites with hot and dry climates and is under-represented within Vietnam’s protected areas network.
72 mammal species and 181 bird species have been recorded in Nui Chua National Park. The Park also supports a number of mammal and bird species of global conservation concern, including the Black-shanked Douc Pygathrix nigripes, Pygmy Loris Nycticebus pygmaeus, Asian Black Bear Ursus thibetanus, Sun Bear (U. malayanus), Large-antlered Muntjac Muntiacus vuquangensis and Siamese Fireback Lophura diardi. It is reported to have the highest known population of Black-shanked Douc in Vietnam.
In the park, there are 12 species of bats, including Cynopterus brachyotis listed in the IUCN Red List of Vietnam. Other bats are: Cynopterus sphinx, Megaerops niphanae, Rousettus leschenaulti
, Hipposideros armiger, Hipposideros larvatus, Hipposideros bicolor, Rhinolophus affinis, Rhinolophus pearsoni, Rhinolophus pusillus, Rhinolophus sp., Murina cyclotis.
As well as being important for the conservation of terrestrial biodiversity, the National Park is important for marine biodiversity. It has 11 species of turtles, both terrestrial and marine – the highest for a Special Use Forest in Vietnam. Also, several of the beaches within the Park constitute the last remaining nesting sites in mainland Vietnam for small numbers of endangered Green Turtles and other marine turtles on the IUCN Red List. The fringing coral reefs are also particularly rich with 307 species recorded, and are generally in good to excellent condition. The most recent surveys by WWF identified 46 species with new distribution records for Vietnam, and a distinctly different coral community structure to other reefs in Vietnam.
About 30,000 people live inside the boundaries of Nui Chua National Park, and a further 25,000 live in the buffer zone. The majority of these people belong to the Kinh, Cham and Raglay ethnic minority groups. The Raglay people make up 21% of the community and Cham people another 3%. The socioeconomic level of many of these people is quite low, especially the inhabitants of the National Park, who experience an average of six months of food shortages per year. These communities are heavily dependent on forest resources, which are being depleted, and work is underway to secure sustainable alternative livelihoods for these communities.
Forest clearance for agriculture is a particular problem – there are over 600 ha of wet rice land, over 2,500 ha of shifting cultivation
and over 750 ha of industrial cropland inside the National Park boundary. Agricultural products such as rice, banana, cashew nuts, papaya, jackfruit and pineapple can secure the livelihood of the Raglay for a maximum of four months. For the remaining months of the year they are dependent on illegally harvested forest products collected from more than 100 plant species. Traded forest products are estimated to contribute 56% to their annual income per head. Common products are timber, charcoal, fuelwood and non-timber forest products (NTFPs).
Another problem is the harsh climate, which makes the forest highly susceptible to fire, as well as climate change and associated erratic weather events. There has been also been increased competition for water that has its source within the Park’s watershed. Water scarcity is arising out of climate change with more frequent and intense droughts being recorded in the last five years. Recent studies by Oxfam Great Britain and Kyoto University have highlighted that climate change is already having a profound impact on the intensity of droughts making local livelihoods even more marginal. As the droughts become more frequent and intense, there has been greater reliance and pressure on certain resources from within the Park, particularly wood for charcoal production, as other forms of livelihoods reliant on good water sources become less viable.
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
: Vườn quốc gia Núi Chúa ) is a national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
in the province of Ninh Thuận Province
Ninh Thuan Province
Ninh Thuận is a province in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam .-History:The Cham principality of Panduranga had its center in Ninh Thuan Province, but also included much of what is now Binh Thuan Province. Panduranga became the political centre of Champa after the fall of Vijaya in 1471...
, on the border with Khanh Hoa Province
Khanh Hoa Province
Khánh Hòa is a province of Vietnam, located in the South Central Coast. It has a population of 1,066,300 and spans an area of 5,197 km². Its capital is Nha Trang...
, Nam Trung Bo
Nam Trung Bo
Nam Trung Bộ is one of the regions of Vietnam. It consists of the independent municipality of Đà Nẵng and seven other provinces. The two southern provinces Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận are sometimes seen as part of the Southeast region.The region has traditionally been one of the main gateways to...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
..
The National Park was established according to Decision number 134/QĐ-TTg dated 9 July 2003 signed by the Prime Minister of Vietnam
Prime Minister of Vietnam
-Office:The Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is the head of the executive branch of the Vietnamese government. The Prime Minister presides over the Vietnamese cabinet, and is responsible for appointing and supervising ministers...
. This decision turned Nui Chua Nature Reserve into Nui Chua National Park.
Núi Chúa National Parkis situated on a wide, mountainous promontory, which projects into the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
between Cam Ranh and Phan Rang bays. Elevations range from sea level to 1,039 m at the summit of Nui Chua peak.
Nui Chua National Park is bounded to the south and east by the South China Sea, to the west by Highway No.1 and to the north by the boundary with neighbouring Khanh Hoa Province. The total area of the Park is 24,353 ha, comprising:
• Strict forest protection area of 16,087 ha
• Forest rehabilitation area of 8, 261 ha
• Administration and services area of 5 ha
• Buffer zone of 11,200 ha.
Nui Chua National Park also abuts a protected marine area of 7,352 ha.
The northern end is the southern part of Cam Ranh Bay
Cam Ranh Bay
Cam Ranh Bay is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in the province of Khánh Hòa. It is located at an inlet of the South China Sea situated on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kilometers / 180 miles northeast of Hồ Chí Minh City / Saigon.Cam Ranh is...
administratively belongs tho Cam Lập Commune, Cam Ranh
Cam Ranh
Cam Ranh is a city in southern Khanh Hoa province, in the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is the second-largest city in the province, after Nha Trang. It is located on Cam Ranh Bay. As of 2009 the city had a population of 125.311. and covers an area of 316 km².Cam Ranh becomes the second...
town, Khánh Hòa Province
Khanh Hoa Province
Khánh Hòa is a province of Vietnam, located in the South Central Coast. It has a population of 1,066,300 and spans an area of 5,197 km². Its capital is Nha Trang...
, the east and the south is South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
in the communes of Vĩnh Hải and Nhơn Hải of the district of Ninh Hải
Ninh Hai
Ninh Hai is a district of Ninh Thuan Province in the South Centra Coast region of Vietnam.-Geography:It is located along the coast of north-eastern Ninh Thuan, not far from Cam Ranh in Khanh Hoa Province...
. The west is limited by the National Road 1A.
Ninh Thuan Province is the driest and hottest province in Vietnam, and the area receives the lowest rainfall in south-central Vietnam with an average of 650 mm per year. The dry season extends for eight months from November or December to July or August.
Biodiversity Values
Nui Chua National Park is a very special and unique area and is one of the priority areas for nature conservation in Vietnam. It is one of the few remaining sites in Southeast Asia where the coastal and marine habitats are still in relatively good condition, and it protects an impressive and largely intact biodiversity. It contains unique semi-arid vegetation and sea turtle nesting beaches, and is located on a promontory bordering a marine park with coral reefs.Nui Chua National Park is located in the south-eastern part of the Great Annamites Ecoregion, one of the four Global Ecoregions identified by the World Wildlife Fund in the southern region of Vietnam. It is made up of the terrestrial ecoregions of Southern Vietnam Lowland Dry Forests and Southern Annamite Montane Rain Forests. There are few, if any, opportunities to expand the areas of the three Special Use Forests in this dry coastal forest ecoregion, so strict protection of the existing resources is imperative. The semi-arid coastal areas of southern Vietnam are the most arid in Vietnam, so the vegetation also has high value as a source of germ plasm for restoring other areas that become drier or are affected by sea level rises due to climate change.
The original vegetation was a mixture of evergreen forest, semi-evergreen forest and deciduous forest. However, most of the forest was destroyed at the beginning of the 1990s as a result of over-exploitation. Currently the only relatively undisturbed primary forest remaining is lower montane evergreen forest, distributed in the north of the Park at elevations above 800 metres. At lower elevations there are extensive areas of degraded and secondary forest. The southern parts of the Park, at elevations between 150 and 800 metres, support scrub dominated by thorny trees. This habitat type is only found at sites with hot and dry climates and is under-represented within Vietnam’s protected areas network.
72 mammal species and 181 bird species have been recorded in Nui Chua National Park. The Park also supports a number of mammal and bird species of global conservation concern, including the Black-shanked Douc Pygathrix nigripes, Pygmy Loris Nycticebus pygmaeus, Asian Black Bear Ursus thibetanus, Sun Bear (U. malayanus), Large-antlered Muntjac Muntiacus vuquangensis and Siamese Fireback Lophura diardi. It is reported to have the highest known population of Black-shanked Douc in Vietnam.
In the park, there are 12 species of bats, including Cynopterus brachyotis listed in the IUCN Red List of Vietnam. Other bats are: Cynopterus sphinx, Megaerops niphanae, Rousettus leschenaulti
Rousettus leschenaulti
Leschenault's Rousette is a species of fruit bat found in South and Southeast Asia.-Distribution:The distribution range includes Pakistan, India, Nepal, Assam, Myanmar, Indochina, and Java ....
, Hipposideros armiger, Hipposideros larvatus, Hipposideros bicolor, Rhinolophus affinis, Rhinolophus pearsoni, Rhinolophus pusillus, Rhinolophus sp., Murina cyclotis.
As well as being important for the conservation of terrestrial biodiversity, the National Park is important for marine biodiversity. It has 11 species of turtles, both terrestrial and marine – the highest for a Special Use Forest in Vietnam. Also, several of the beaches within the Park constitute the last remaining nesting sites in mainland Vietnam for small numbers of endangered Green Turtles and other marine turtles on the IUCN Red List. The fringing coral reefs are also particularly rich with 307 species recorded, and are generally in good to excellent condition. The most recent surveys by WWF identified 46 species with new distribution records for Vietnam, and a distinctly different coral community structure to other reefs in Vietnam.
Conservation Issues
Nui Chua National Park is now an “island” of natural forest surrounded by agricultural land to the north and west, and sea to the south and east. The main threats to biodiversity conservation are subsistence hunting and forest produce harvesting and agricultural encroachment into forest area, as well as historic land clearing.About 30,000 people live inside the boundaries of Nui Chua National Park, and a further 25,000 live in the buffer zone. The majority of these people belong to the Kinh, Cham and Raglay ethnic minority groups. The Raglay people make up 21% of the community and Cham people another 3%. The socioeconomic level of many of these people is quite low, especially the inhabitants of the National Park, who experience an average of six months of food shortages per year. These communities are heavily dependent on forest resources, which are being depleted, and work is underway to secure sustainable alternative livelihoods for these communities.
Forest clearance for agriculture is a particular problem – there are over 600 ha of wet rice land, over 2,500 ha of shifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned. This system often involves clearing of a piece of land followed by several years of wood harvesting or farming, until the soil loses fertility...
and over 750 ha of industrial cropland inside the National Park boundary. Agricultural products such as rice, banana, cashew nuts, papaya, jackfruit and pineapple can secure the livelihood of the Raglay for a maximum of four months. For the remaining months of the year they are dependent on illegally harvested forest products collected from more than 100 plant species. Traded forest products are estimated to contribute 56% to their annual income per head. Common products are timber, charcoal, fuelwood and non-timber forest products (NTFPs).
Another problem is the harsh climate, which makes the forest highly susceptible to fire, as well as climate change and associated erratic weather events. There has been also been increased competition for water that has its source within the Park’s watershed. Water scarcity is arising out of climate change with more frequent and intense droughts being recorded in the last five years. Recent studies by Oxfam Great Britain and Kyoto University have highlighted that climate change is already having a profound impact on the intensity of droughts making local livelihoods even more marginal. As the droughts become more frequent and intense, there has been greater reliance and pressure on certain resources from within the Park, particularly wood for charcoal production, as other forms of livelihoods reliant on good water sources become less viable.