Cat Ba National Park

In 1986, most Vietnamese were still struggling through the hard years after the war. That was the year the Council of Ministers signed an important decision. Decision number 79, dated March 31, created Cát Bà National Park.

Vietnam had decided that the forest and the sea on this limestone island needed protecting before it was too late.

Nearly 40 years later, the decision has proved to be the right one.

The park covers more than 17,000 hectares. More than 10,000 of them are forest and mountain, and more than 6,400 are sea. It is the core of a UNESCO biosphere reserve, recognized in 2004. A biosphere reserve is a UNESCO-recognized area where nature is protected and the people living there keep working the land. The park is also part of the World Natural Heritage site "Ha Long Bay and the Cát Bà Archipelago," listed in 2023.

Three layers set this place apart.

The first layer is tropical rainforest on limestone mountains, about 150 square kilometers of it. Vietnam's state portal for nature conservation counts it among the largest tropical rainforests on a limestone island in Southeast Asia. Forest on limestone has a character of its own. Trees grip deep into the cracks in the rock, the roots of old giants bend and loop like a net, and the canopy is so thick that the forest stays cool at midday, even under a hot sun. The park has 1,595 recorded species of plants.

The second layer is the sea. The park's waters hold an ancient coral reef of about 1,500 hectares, the largest coral reef in the Gulf of Tonkin. The park's recorded animals total 1,927 species. In the water there are many species of coral, colorful reef fish, and a seagrass ecosystem.

The third layer is the caves of the limestone. There are dozens of caves, large and small, and each one is rock shaped over millions of years. Trung Trang Cave, near the park gate, has a trail about 300 meters long. Quân Y Cave has a special story. During the Vietnam War, it served as a field hospital, with an operating room and a recovery room set inside the rock itself. The park is one of the few national parks in Vietnam that still keep relics of the war in the forest.

And then there is the Cát Bà langur.

In the early 2000s, only 50 to 60 of them were left. The species stood at the edge of extinction. International scientists and the park's management board launched a program of conservation, education for local communities, patrols against hunting, and protection of the langur's habitat. Then came 20 years of patience. Today there are about 92 langurs. That is 92 animals, every one of them here on this archipelago, and not one anywhere else in the world.

The park has four trekking routes, and each opens onto a different scene.

The shortest and most popular starts at the Trung Trang gate and climbs Ngự Lâm Peak, where a lookout tower gives a view over the forest and the sea. The walk takes about three to five hours.

The middle route goes on from Trung Trang to Ao Ếch, a small swampy lake in the forest among the limestone mountains. Many frogs and other amphibians typical of this forest live there.

The longest route for a single day crosses the forest from the Trung Trang gate, past the swamp lake, to the village of Việt Hải. It covers about 8 to 10 kilometers of forest and takes four to six hours. From Việt Hải, a boat carries walkers back to Cát Bà town across Lan Hạ Bay. The 30 to 60 minutes on the water pass between pillars of limestone, a memorable end to a day of trekking.

The fourth route is the deepest. It climbs Cao Vọng Peak, 322 meters high, the tallest peak of all Cát Bà and the Ha Long Bay area.

Four decades on, the decision shows in every root gripping the limestone and every ridge of coral beneath the water.