Pu Hoat

Pu Hoat is a nature reserve in Que Phong district, Nghe An Province, along the Vietnam-Laos border. The highest peak, Pu Hoat, rises to 2,452 m^[1]. Recent reports give the reserve about 85,000 hectares; its 1997 investment plan proposed 67,934 hectares^[1].

Survey records include the Assam macaque and gaur. Elephants and tigers lived in the area until the mid-1980s but are now extinct there^[1]. 142 bird species were recorded^[1].

Natural forest covered 56,232 hectares, 83% of the proposed area. Mid-elevation forest includes the conifers Cunninghamia konishii, Fokienia hodginsii and Calocedrus macrolepis^[1].

The terrain is rugged high mountain ranges with steep-sided valleys. Most of the area lies at 800 to 1,400 m^[1].

Nghe An's uplands have a hot, wet summer and a cooler winter. The tall peaks have colder cloud forest.

Que Phong district is home to Thai, Thanh, Muong, H'Mong and Kho Mu communities, who rely on paddy rice and shifting cultivation^[1].

Pu Hoat was proposed as a nature reserve through the Que Phong district committee, with an investment plan of 67,934 hectares drawn up in 1997^[1]. It is now managed by the Pu Hoat Nature Reserve management board across nine buffer-zone communes.

The main natural feature is Pu Hoat peak and its forests of conifers and rhododendron dwarf forest on the high ridges^[1].

The nearest town is Que Phong, about 15 km away, in the north-west of Nghe An near the Laos border.

Forest loss from shifting cultivation and hunting are the main threats. The forests protect water sources for the Ca and Chu river basins^[1].