Kon Ka Kinh National Park

A forest in the north of Gia Lai climbs to a peak of 1,748 meters. People often call it the roof of Gia Lai. Its real name is Kon Ka Kinh National Park.

Kon Ka Kinh National Park was founded in 2002. It was upgraded from an earlier nature reserve of the same name. Just one year later, in 2003, the environment ministers of ASEAN recognized it as an ASEAN Heritage Park. This is a regional conservation title from ASEAN, not a UNESCO World Heritage listing. Still, the ASEAN title is enough to show that Southeast Asia counts Kon Ka Kinh among the forests most worth protecting.

The reasons begin with what lives here.

The park holds 1,022 species of higher plants and 351 species of animals. Birdsong alone comes from 160 species, alongside 51 species of reptiles and 209 of butterflies. Many of these species are rare, such as the grey-shanked douc langur and the yellow-cheeked gibbon. The Trường Sơn muntjac and the giant muntjac live here too.

One species deserves special mention: the Kon Ka Kinh laughingthrush. This precious bird is the symbol of the park. Scientists discovered it on Kon Ka Kinh mountain itself in 1999. It was an entirely new species. In the 30 years before that, only two other new bird species had been found in all of mainland Southeast Asia. That was not 300 years ago, or a thousand. It was less than 30 years ago, very close to our own time. It is a reminder that nature still keeps many secrets, and that protecting the forest is how those secrets survive.

Beyond its wildlife, Kon Ka Kinh does practical work for the environment. The park lies in the mountains of northern Gia Lai. It holds the headwaters of many streams. They supply water for farming and for daily life to many communities in Gia Lai and the areas around it. The western part of the park lies in the catchment of the Yaly hydropower project. The streams on the eastern side flow into the Ba River. So the forest here is not only a home for animals. It also holds water and steadies the flow of rivers for a whole wide region.

In 2021, UNESCO recognized the Kon Hà Nừng Biosphere Reserve, and Kon Ka Kinh is an important part of it. This biosphere reserve ties the care of the forest to the livelihoods of the communities who live there. It works through payments for forest environmental services and through sustainable ecotourism.

For visitors, the park offers several trails of different difficulty. The shortest leads through the botanical garden to the Wildlife Rescue, Conservation and Development Center. It is a chance to see the forest, to hear about conservation, and to understand why a national park also needs a team that rescues wild animals.

Those who want to go farther can choose the Đá Trắng Peak trail, which takes two days and one night. Or they can take the trail to Waterfall 95 and Kon Ka Kinh Peak, which takes four days and three nights. The climb to the summit begins on foot from the village of Đăk Hro. The village lies in Đắk Rong commune. Before the walk even starts, there is a drive of more than 130 kilometers from the park's head office. This is no ordinary stroll.

At the rescue center, visitors can watch some animals living in semi-wild conditions, such as sika deer, porcupines and wild boar. The rare ones are another matter. Visitors should not expect to see the douc langurs, the gibbons or the Kon Ka Kinh laughingthrush in the wild. They live deep in the forest. That is good news, because it means the forest is still quiet enough to keep them.

Waterfall 95 is said to be the largest and most beautiful waterfall in the park. Its water drops over a cliff more than 45 meters high. The trail to it runs about 15.3 kilometers from ranger station number two. This is a walk for people who want to know the forests and mountains of the Central Highlands in depth.

The forest of Kon Ka Kinh was here long before anyone spoke of national parks. Old trees stand draped in moss, and streams run down from the headwaters of the Ba River. Among them, it is easy to see why headwater forests are so precious. The forest is not loud, and it does not dazzle like the sea or the city. There is only forest, mist, and the feeling that nature here is still far greater than we are.