At the eighth ASEAN Heritage Parks Conference held in Ha Long, organized by the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Bach Ma National Park was honored with the prestigious ASEAN Heritage Park designation.
Located about 40 kilometers south of Hue, the park lies along the majestic Truong Son Range. Its silhouette resembles a white horse stretching toward the vast sea, an image that inspired its name.
According to Dr. Nguyen Vu Linh, Director of Bach Ma National Park, the ASEAN Heritage Parks initiative was established in 2003 following a declaration by ASEAN environment ministers. Its goal is to comprehensively conserve ecosystems that are unique, significant and representative of the region.
The network aims to raise awareness, foster regional pride and promote cooperation among ASEAN member states in preserving shared natural heritage. It also plays a crucial role in protecting genetic resources, ensuring sustainable ecosystem use, safeguarding areas of cultural and educational value, and enhancing public awareness of biodiversity conservation.
Being recognized as an ASEAN Heritage Park is a strong motivation for further improving governance standards and strengthening sustainable biodiversity conservation. Moving forward, Bach Ma National Park will focus on developing ecotourism linked with conservation, contributing to environmental sustainability and improving livelihoods for local communities, Dr. Nguyen Vu Linh added.
As early as 1925, during the French colonial period, the area was earmarked for a 50,000-hectare national park to conserve the rare Edwards’s pheasant. In 1932, French engineer M. Girard went on to develop it into a scenic hill resort.
On July 15, 1991, the Government officially approved the establishment of Bach Ma National Park with a total area of 22,031 hectares. Over time, the park expanded its boundaries to better conserve biodiversity and provide habitats for rare species such as tigers, leopards, douc langurs, large-antlered muntjacs, Truong Son muntjacs and the elusive saola.
By 2008, the Prime Minister had issued a decision to adjust and expand Bach Ma National Park to 37,487 hectares, placing it under the management of the former Vietnam Administration of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment). Under the national tourism master plan, Bach Ma National Park is also designated as one of six key tourist destinations in the North Central region.
At present, the park’s total natural area stands at 37,423.10 hectares, a reduction of 63.90 hectares owing to land clearance for the Ho Chi Minh Highway project (La Son – Tuy Loan section). The affected area lies mainly along the former Route 14B corridor from wartime, connecting the area of Nam Dong to Hoa Lien in Da Nang City.
