Kon Ka Kinh National Park

Kon Ka Kinh National Park (Vietnamese: Vườn quốc gia Kon Ka Kinh) is a national park of Vietnam, established by the decision (167/2002/QĐ-TTg) on November 25, 2002 of the then Prime Minister, Phan Văn Khải.

Kon Ka Kinh National Park is a priority zone for the protection of biodiversity in Vietnam and the ASEAN. It is also a biological tourist site.

Besides the biological diversity of the flora and fauna here, Kon Ka Kinh plays an important role in the protection of the upstream of the Ba River and the Dak Pne River, which supply water for tens of square kilometres of crops areas of Gia Lai Province and Kon Tum Province. To the west of this national park is the Yaly Hydroelectricity Plant.

General information

Kon Ka Kinh National Park is located on the Kon Tum Plateau, in the areas of districts Mang Yang, K'Bang, and Đắk Đoa of Gia Lai Province. The center of the park is situated in the Commune of Ayun, Mang Yang District, northeast of Gia Lai Province, 50 km northeast of Pleiku, on an area of 417.8 km² with the geological coordinates: N14°09′ to 14°30′ and E108°16′ to 108°28′. To the north of the park is the Commune of Đắk Roong of K'Bang District; to the south of the park are the Commune Hà Ra and part of Commune of A Yun and Commune Đắk Yă of Mang Yang District; to the east lie the communes of Đắk Roong, Kon Pne, Kroong, and Lơ Ku of K'Bang District; and to the west lies commune Hà Đông of Đắk Đoa District.

Kon Ka Kinh was listed as a special forestin 1986 by the Decision 194/CT dated August 9, 1986 of the Chairman of the Council of the Ministers of Vietnam, with an area of 280 km², with the purpose of preserving subtropical forest in the high mountains with species of gymnosperm. In 1999, the Forest Investigation and Planning Institute of Vietnam (FIPI), in conjunction with BirdLife International, created the Kon Ka Kinh Bird Sanctuary Project, which then was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Gia Lai People's Committee in the same year with an area of 417.8 km². Kon Ka Kinh National Park was one of four national parks in Vietnam, together with three other national parks in Vietnam: Ba Bể, Chư Mom Ray and Hoàng Liên), also one of 27 national parks in ASEAN was listed on ASEAN Heritage Park.

Topography

The altitude of this park varies from 570 m (in valley of Ba River to 1,748 m (Kon Ka Kinh peak). Streams from the eastern part of the park are a water source for the Ba River, a twisted river running north–south until it meets the confluence A Yun River and then changes its direction to northwest–southeast before emptying into the South China Sea in Tuy Hòa city; while to the west of the river lie distributaries of the Mekong river. Owing to the sloping topography, rivers in this park are short, run fast, and create many waterfalls.

Kon Ka Kinh National Park contains 33,565 ha of natural forest, accounting for 80% of the total national park area. It is home to a variety of montane habitat types. There are about 20 square kilometres of broad leaf and needle leaf trees, primarily Pomu (Fokienia hodginsii).

External links

• Ka Kinh
• Kon Ka Kinh in the report of birdlifeindochina.org
• Kon Ka Kinh in the official website of Gia Lai Government Website