Where is Dong Van karst plateau geopark? Dong Van karst plateau geopark is about 300 km from Hanoi, a mountainous province located in the far north of Vietnam.
Covering the entirety of the four mountainous districts of Ha Giang Province, including: Quan Ba, Yen Minh, Meo Vac and Dong Van, the karst plateau geopark is the first geological park of Viet Nam recognized as a member of the Global Geo-parks Network by GGN.
Located on an altitude of 1,000m-1,600m, the 2,350km – Dong Van Karst Plateau is one of Viet Nam’s special limestone areas, housing prominent imprints that depict the development of the earth’s crust. Up to 80% of the karst formations of Dong Van Plateau are limestone formed by environment conditions and different development stages of nature.
A survey conducted by scientists from the Viet Nam Institute of Geosciences and Natural Resources revealed the finding of 13 fossil – geological formations in Dong Van, including Chang Pung, Lutxia, Sika, Lang Xang, Si Phai, Toc Tat, Lung Nam, Bac Son, Dong Dang, Song Hien, Hong Ngai, Mia Le and Lan Pang. Of which, Chang Pung is the oldest one with date of 545 millions years. In addition, 19 paleontology groups were also discovered in Dong Van, including Brachiopoda (Tay cuon), Trilobita (Bo ba thuy), Gastropoda (Chan bung), Foraminifera (Trung lo), Cephalopoda (Chan dau), Crinoidea (Hue bien), Tentaculies (Vo non), Conodonta (Rang non), Tabulata (San ho vach day), Tetracoralla (San ho bon tia), Stromatoporoidea (Lo tang), Spirulina (Tao), Bryozoans (Dong vat dang reu), Hydrilla verticillata (Thuc vat thuy sinh), Sclerotesta (Vo cung), Polybranchiaspis liaojiaoshanensis (Ca co), Pelecypoda (Chan riu), Ancient Crustacean (Giap xac co) and Chitinozoa. The paleontology groups have helped scientists draw a complete picture of development history in terms of geology of Dong Van Karst Plateau in particular and northeast Viet Nam and south China in general.
Thanks to weather changes and Dong Van’s geo-diversity, the karst evolution has created “rock gardens” and “rock forests” of diverse forms in the area, such as Khau Vai rock garden (Meo Vac) where you can contemplate the peaks of rocks in the shape of different kinds of flowers, Lung Pu rock garden (Meo Vac) with animal-shaped rocks such as tiger and dragon, Van Chai rock garden (Dong Van) with round flagstones arranged like thousands of black sea lions leaning one another getting some rest on the beach. However, found commonly here are ranges of mountains running one after another to form pyramids heading up to skies. A system of caves and grottos found in the Dong Van Plateau provides a proof of the evolution of karst with Rong Cave in Sang Tung (Dong Van), Kho My Cave in Tung Vai (Quan Ba), En Grotto in Van Chai (Dong Van)…
The scientists have evaluated Dong Van Plateau as having a unique and diverse mountainous geo-ecosystem. Primitive forests here have been rather undamaged, habiting many rare floral species, including Burretiodendron hsienmu (Nghien), Taxus Wallichiana Zucc (Thong do), Amentotaxus hatuyenensis (De tung soc nau), Cephalotaxus hainanensis (Dinh tung), Podocarpus pilgeri Foxw (Thong tre la ngan), Cupressus funebris (Hoang dan ru).., especially over 40 species of orchids. Dong Van Plateau also has a rich diversity of habitat for fauna as scientists have spotted over 50 species of wild animals, birds and reptiles in the site such as Capri conrnis sumatresis (Son duong), Rhinopithecus avunculus (Vooc mui hech), Sus cristatus (Lon rung), Garrulax canorus (Hoa mi)…
