Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Bố Trạch and Minh Hóa districts of central Quảng Bình Province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam, about 500 km south of Hanoi. The park borders the Hin Namno Nature Reserve in Khammouane Province, Laos to the west and 42 km east of the South China Sea from its borderline point. Phong Nha–Kẻ Bàng National Park is situated in a limestone zone of 2,000 km2 in Vietnamese territory and borders another limestone zone of 2,000 km2 of Hin Namno in Laotian territory. The core zone of this national park covers 857.54 km2 and a buffer zone of 1,954 km2.
The Laotian rock rat or kha-nyou, sometimes called the "rat-squirrel", is a species of rodent found in the Khammouan region of Laos. The species was first described in a 2005 article by Paulina Jenkins and coauthors, who considered the animal to be so distinct from all living rodents, they placed it in a new family, Laonastidae. It is in the monotypic genus Laonastes.
A National Biodiversity Conservation Area (NBCA) is an environmentally protected area in Laos. There are all together 21 different NBCAs in Laos, protecting 29,775 square kilometers. Another 10 NBCAs have been proposed, many of them being treated by authorities as though they were already officially protected.
Quảng Bình, formerly Tiên Bình under the reign of Lê Trung Hưng of the Lê dynasty, is a province along Vietnam's north-central coast. The province has an area of 8,065.8 square kilometers and population of 857,818 inhabitants The province is bordered by the Laotian Khammouane Province to the west, the North Pacific Ocean to the east, Hà Tĩnh Province to the north and Quảng Trị Province to the south. Historically, this region belonged to Văn Lang and later the kingdom of Champa. Later it was claimed by both the Đại Việt and Champa and officially annexed into Đại Việt by Lý Thường Kiệt, a Lý dynasty general.
Limnonectes gyldenstolpei is a species of frog in the family Dicroglossidae. It is found in northern Thailand, Laos, and southwestern Cambodia.
Rhacophorus exechopygus is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is found in the Central Highlands of Vietnam and in the adjacent Annamite Range in Laos. Its range may extend into northeastern Cambodia where suitable habitat should be present. The specific name exechopygus is derived from the Greek words exechos and pygos (=buttocks), referring to the infra-anal projection characteristic of this frog. Its common names are spinybottom tree frog and Tramlap flying tree frog.
Hydnocarpus annamensis is a tree in the Achariaceae family. It is found in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, southern Yunnan and southern Guangxi in Zhōngguó/China. It is threatened by habitat loss. The plant produces low-quality wood and its fruit are used in traditional medicine.
The Nakai–Nam Theun National Biodiversity Conservation Area (NBCA) in Laos, is one of the last remaining wildernesses in Southeast Asia. Nakai–Nam Theun NBCA covers approximately 3,445 km2 of the Annamite Range and the adjacent Nakai Plateau in Khammouane and Bolikhamxay Provinces. The reserve headquarters is in Nakai, the administrative centre of Nakai District.
Phong Nha Cave is a cave in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Quảng Bình Province, Vietnam. It is 7,729 metres long and contains 14 grottoes, as well as a 13,969 metre underground river. While scientists have surveyed 44.5 kilometres of passages, tourists are only allowed to explore the first 1500 metres.
The limestone leaf warbler is a species of warbler in the family Phylloscopidae. When this species was first seen, beginning in 1994, it was mistaken for the similar sulphur-breasted warbler. It is smaller than the sulphur-breasted warbler, and has more rounded wings. The plumage is almost identical, with comparisons showing only a slightly colder yellow below and a greyer tinge above. Although smaller, the bill is proportionally larger than that of the sulphur-breasted warbler. Accurate measurements are not available; the holotype has a wing length of 5.2 centimetres (2.0 in); the paratype a tail length of 3.7 centimetres (1.5 in) and a bill length of 1.39 centimetres (0.55 in). The species is known to occur in northern Vietnam and Laos, and potentially also occurs in southern China as well. The species name, calciatilis, means "dwelling on limestone", which along with its common name is a reference to its natural habitat, which is broadleaved evergreen and semi-evergreen forest growing around limestone karst mountains. The bare-faced bulbul, described in 2009, was found in the karst of the same region.
The Phou Hin Poun National Biodiversity Conservation Area, formerly known as the Khammouane Limestone National Biodiversity Conservation Area, is one of 21 National Biodiversity Conservation Areas of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Located in a limestone tower karst region of the Annamite Range in Khammouane Province, it is home to a number of rare or newly discovered species. National Biodiversity Conservation Areas are not protected by the government of Laos in any meaningful way; the budget for each is about $500. The human population of the NBCA is 29,603.
The Annamit myotis is a species of mouse-eared bat in the family Vespertilionidae, described in 2001, and indigenous to the Minh Hóa Districton the northern coast of Vietnam. Following its description, investigators succeeded in locating M. annamiticus only in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, and the data regarding the distribution, population, and range of the species is otherwise inadequate to determine its conservation requirements. However it is protected by Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park.
Houaphanh Province is a province in eastern Laos. Its capital is Xam Neua.
Khammouane Province (Khammouan) is a province in the center of Laos. Its capital lies at Thakhek.
Many areas of Vietnam are under protection. While the national reserves cover small areas of scientific significance with restricted access, the national parks also cover wetlands of Ramsar designated areas and BirdLife International inscribed bird areas. The largest of the national parks initially covered were the Cúc Phương National Park, the Cát Tiên National Park, and the Côn Đảo National Park which to start with were forest areas cum reserves or prohibited areas. The objective for creating national parks was to allow access to the reserved areas as a part of ecotourism and cultural needs with full attention to the basic approach of conservation of natural environmental resources.
Protected areas in Laos include:
The shield-nosed leaf-nosed bat or shield-nosed roundleaf bat is a bat from Laos and Vietnam.
The Samar Island Natural Park, in Samar, is the largest contiguous tract of old-growth forest in the Philippines. It is the country's largest terrestrial protected area, with an area of 333,300 hectares. The buffer is spread north to south over the island's three provinces and totals 458,700 hectares, about a third of the entire island of Samar.
The Northern Annamites rain forests ecoregion covers the rugged and relatively unexplored northern Annamite Mountains of central Laos and Vietnam. There are high numbers of endemic plant species, and the relative remoteness and isolation of the area supports many rare and endangered animals. Rainfall is somewhat less than the lowland rainforest of the lower elevations in Vietnam, and the temperatures slightly cooler due to the higher altitude.
