Nakai-Nam Theun National Park
Nakai-Nam Theun National Park in Nakai District, Khammouane Province, Laos, is one of the last remaining wildernesses in Southeast Asia. Nakai-Nam Theun covers approximately 4,270 km2 of the Annamite Range and the adjacent Nakai Plateau in Khammouane and Bolikhamsai Provinces. It was designated a national park on 15 February 2019 by Prime Ministerial Decree No. 36, 15 February 2019. It is managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. It is adjacent to the Vu Quang National Park of Vietnam.
The terrain of the park is rugged, and the crest of the Annamite Range runs along the eastern edge of the park on the border with Vietnam. Phou Laoko is the highest peak in the park.
Rivers
From north to south, riversheds in the park consist the following rivers:- Nam Kata
- Nam Xot
- Nam Mon
- Nam Theun
- Nam Noy
- Nam Pheo
- Nam One
Flora
A series of surveys conducted since 1994 by the co-operative programme of the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Lao Department of Forestry, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature have revealed that the area has a high biodiversity value. Semi-evergreen forest, deciduous dipterocarp forest and stands of pine are all found on the Nakai Plateau and in the Annamite foothills. Dry evergreen forest predominates on the slopes of the Annamites below 1800 meters elevation, with patches of Fokienia hodginsii forest, a commercially valuable cypress-like conifer, from 1,400 to 1,700 meters elevation. Wet evergreen upper montane fagaceous forests occur above 1,800 meters elevation, and include species of oak, Castanopsis, and Lithocarpus. Above c. 2,000 m the fagaceous forest gives way to more stunted, rhododendron-dominated ericaceous cloud forest.Species of plants listed as threatened by IUCN include conifer Cephalotaxus mannii. The only known population of Vietnamese White Pine in Laos is in Nakai-Nam Theun.
Fauna
Mammals
Species of mammals, some discovered relatively recently, include the following:- Saola
- Giant muntjac
- Roosevelt's muntjac
- Truong Son muntjac
- Indo-chinese warty pig
- Heude's pig
- Annamite striped rabbit
- Javan rhinoceros
- Indochinese tiger
- Asian elephant
Birds
More than 400 bird species have been identified in Nakai-Nam Theun and the adjacent northern extension. This is by far the highest avian species richness of any site yet surveyed in Laos and is the highest recorded in a single protected area in Southeast Asia.The park is home to Indochina's largest population of rufous-necked hornbill. Birds present in the park's upper montane forests include the threatened beautiful nuthatch, along with species characteristic of the wet evergreen rain forests on the eastern slope of the Annamites, like the Vietnamese crested argus and short-tailed scimitar babbler.