04-21-2010, 09:03 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 110
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Bach Ma National Park
According to Vietnamese tradition, the Bach Ma ridge got its name ("white horse") from the white cloud which continually caps its peak. The area first attracted the attention of conservationists in 1925 when a plan to create a national park protecting the Edward's pheasant was submitted to the French colonial authorities.
On 29 July 1932, the summit plateau was selected by the French chief engineer Girard to become a hill station for the colonial administration of Hue. In the following years, a village including 139 villas and hotels was created, which soon became known as the Dalat of Central Vietnam. For accommodating holiday makers and to avoid commuting on the steep, 19 km long road to the next major town, there were even a post office, a market, and a hospital. After the French left Vietnam in 1954, the hill resort was soon forgotten and the remains of some of these buildings are now being smothered by the returning jungle.
The South Vietnamese government designated the Bach Ma - Hai Van National Park in 1962 but the conservation initiatives did not last very long. The Vietnam War saw heavy fighting in the park as the summit was used as an advanced helicopter base by the US Military. The American troops took advantage of the view from Bach Ma summit across the coastline and attempted to control the area between Hue and Da Nang. Evidence of this period remains in the form of unexploded ordinance and some hills still have not fully recovered from the spraying of defoliants.
After the reunification in 1976, several projects intended to develop fruit tree and vegetable plantations in the mountains but due to the harsh weather conditions these attempts failed consecutively. Eventually, Bach Ma summit and a surrounding area of 22,031 ha were given the protected status it deserves when Bach Ma National Park was created in 1991.
On 2nd Jan. 2008 the park has been extended up to 37,487 ha; bordering to Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue Province.
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