Pu Mat receives ASEAN Heritage Garden title

Pu Mat National Park is a green gem in the vast Nghe An region, its value is further enhanced when it is officially recognized as an ASEAN Heritage Park.

On the afternoon of December 8, in Con Cuong commune, Nghe An province, Pu Mat National Park was honored to receive the title of ASEAN Heritage Park, and at the same time celebrate the 30th anniversary of its establishment.

Director Tran Quang Bao (right) presents the ASEAN Heritage Park title to Pu Mat National Park. Photo: Hoai Thu.

Attending the program were Mr. Tran Quang Bao, Director of the Department of Forestry and Forest Protection; representative of the Department of Heritage; representative of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Bolykhamxay province, Laos; representatives of national parks, heritage gardens, nature reserves in the country; cooperative organizations...

Pu Mat Nature Reserve was officially upgraded to Pu Mat National Park (NP) according to Decision No. 174/2001/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister on November 8, 2001. The Park performs the functions of protecting and developing special-use forests; conserving and promoting biodiversity values, biological genetic resources; conserving nature, cultural, historical and landscape values; scientific research, international cooperation, rescue and development of organisms; education to raise environmental awareness and provide forest environmental services; developing ecotourism.

Pu Mat National Park is a conservation area for many rare wildlife. Photo: Viet Khanh.

Pu Mat National Park is considered one of the special-use forests with high biodiversity in Vietnam. It preserves many rare animals and plants of national and international value. More specifically, some rare species that are at risk of extinction are being preserved and developing stably in the park such as elephants, Truong Son muntjacs, striped rabbits, civets, sun bears, Asian bears, etc.

Over the past 30 years, Pu Mat National Park has identified forest management and protection as a particularly important political task, so it has always devoted all its heart and effort to carry out this noble responsibility. Closely following the direction of the Central Government, the Provincial People's Committee, and the Department of Agriculture and Environment, every year the Board of Directors of Pu Mat National Park proactively develops a professional plan, thereby directing the forest protection force to actively follow the area, regularly patrol and grasp the situation in order to promptly detect violations, thereby having timely handling plans.

Mr. Le Anh Tuan, Director of Pu Mat National Park, affirmed that forest management and protection is a particularly important political task. Photo: Hoai Thu.

Pu Mat is also a pioneer in applying information technology, bringing smart devices to support the forest rangers in performing professional tasks, especially the work of "protecting the forest from the roots".

Protecting forests is an extremely difficult task, with mounting pressure, protecting the “heritage forests” in the sunny and windy Pu Mat region is even more difficult. If it were too difficult to handle alone, based on the reality, Pu Mat National Park has proactively cooperated with many domestic and international organizations and individuals to share the burden, and at the same time serve as a springboard for effective implementation of forest protection activities, animal rescue, scientific research, environmental education and livelihood development for people in the buffer zone...

Pu Mat is a masterpiece in the great mountains of Nghe An. Photo: Viet Khanh.

The park's "main" partners in recent years include Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, the Wildlife Conservation Center in Vietnam, the Fauna and Flora International Organization... Statistics show that from 2017 to now, there have been 64 delegations from 26 countries coming to Pu Mat National Park to cooperate in biodiversity research.

Pu Mat National Park has nearly 70 km of border with the Lao People's Democratic Republic. For the past 15 years, the Park has closely maintained a cooperation agreement on cross-border biodiversity conservation with the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Bolikhamxay province and related parties, thereby rotating conferences to exchange practical experiences to better protect the common forest.

Pu Mat has very high endemic value. Photo: Viet Khanh.

Before being recognized as an ASEAN Heritage Park, Pu Mat National Park has received many noble titles and awards in its 30-year journey of construction and development, typically: 2 Certificates of Merit from the Prime Minister, Emulation Flag from the Government; Second-class Labor Medal awarded by the President in 2023. The Party Committee of the park has achieved the title of "Typical Clean and Strong" for many years, and won the Vietnam Environment Award for the period 2010-2015 and 2021; 8 Certificates of Merit from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment; 28 Certificates of Merit from the People's Committee of Nghe An province

Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/pu-mat-don-nhan-danh-hieu-vuon-di-san-asean-d788347.html