Lo Go Xa Mat National Park

In the northwest corner of Tây Ninh, right beside the border between Vietnam and Cambodia, lies a forest of more than 29,000 hectares that many people have never heard of. This is Lò Gò Xa Mát National Park. What makes it special is not a tall mountain or a cave, but where it sits.

The park was founded on July 12, 2002, by a decision of the Prime Minister. Before that it was a nature reserve. In 2019 it was recognized as an ASEAN Heritage Park, a regional title awarded by the member countries of ASEAN. In 2020 the park took in the Chàng Riệc Cultural and Historical Forest. After that merger, the area it manages rose to nearly 30,000 hectares.

Its ecological distinction is that it lies in between. It is not a high mountain forest like those of the Central Highlands. It is not a mangrove forest or a river plain either. It is a land that joins three great ecosystems: the southern Central Highlands, the Southeast region, and the Mekong Delta. Within one park, a visitor can see hill forest of the Dầu family, seasonally flooded grassland on the flat ground, ponds, and streams running toward the border.

The park's management board reports 934 plant species and 580 animal species. Among them are 42 species of mammals and 203 of birds. Reptiles number 59 species, amphibians 25 and fish 88.

The bird life of the park is recognized as an important bird area of Vietnam. Its birds include the Giang sen and the Già đẫy nhỏ. They also include the Cò nhạn. The Gà lôi lông tía and the Gà tiền mặt đỏ are listed too.

For anyone who loves watching birds, this is a remarkable place in the south. Which species appear depends on the season and the weather. Still, beside a pond at first light, the sound of wings is an experience in itself.

Two old trees in the park were recognized as Vietnam Heritage Trees in 2016. One is a Dầu con rái, 269 years old and 42 meters tall, with a trunk 2.2 meters in diameter. The other is a Vên vên, 215 years old and 44 meters tall, with a trunk 2 meters in diameter. The Dầu tree has stood here through war, through the clearing of the land, and through every change this region has known.

At the Tà Nốt grassland, a fire watchtower 33 meters high rises from the middle of the open grass. It is not a sightseeing tower. It is a real tool for preventing forest fires. The dry season in the forests of the Southeast is the dangerous season. When the water goes down, the seasonally flooded grassland becomes vegetation that catches fire easily. From the top of the tower, forest rangers watch the whole area.

The Vàm Cỏ Đông River runs along the western edge of the park, past the Lò Gò landing and the area of the border marker. The river is also a natural boundary between two countries, and a waterway for many aquatic species in the park.

Another layer of the story cannot be left out, and that is history. Under the park's official mission, its management board is responsible for preserving and restoring the national-level historic sites inside it. They include the base of the Provisional Revolutionary Government and the Central Office for South Vietnam. They also include the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the security committee of the Central Office. During the war, this forest was a place of shelter, transport and fighting. It has the age of its trees, and it also has the age of its history.

Among the canopies of old trees, with birdsong carrying from a faraway pond, it is easy to see why people call this a forest that has kept its soul.