Virachey National Park | |
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IUCN category II (national park)
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Veal Thom Grasslands
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Location | Cambodia |
Coordinates | 14°19′33″N 106°59′53″E / 14.32569763°N 106.9981862°ECoordinates: 14°19′33″N 106°59′53″E / 14.32569763°N 106.9981862°E |
Area | 3,325 km2 (1,284 sq mi) |
Established | 1993 |
Website | [1] |
Virachey National Park (Khmer: ឧទ្យានជាតិវីរជ័យ) is a national park in north-eastern Cambodia. Although partly protecting flora and fauna of international conservation priority, the park is under serious threat from illegal logging in the region.
The park is one of only two Cambodian ASEAN Heritage Parks and is one of the top priority areas for conservation in Southeast Asia. The park overlaps Ratanakiri and Stung Treng Provinces in north-eastern Cambodia covering an area of 3,325 km2.
Virachey National Park was created under the Royal Decree Concerning the Creation and Designation of Protected Areas, issued on 1 November 1993, and is under the administration of the Ministry of Environment of Cambodia.
Located in some of the most deep and isolated jungles of Cambodia, Virachey is largely unexplored and holds a large assortment of wildlife, waterfalls and mountains. The park comprises dense semi-evergreen lowlands, montane forests, upland savannah, bamboo thickets and occasional patches of mixed deciduous forest. Most of the area lies above 400 meters up to 1,500 meters.
Baird, Ian G. "Making Spaces: The ethnic Brao people and the international border between Laos and Cambodia" in the journal Geoforum 41 (2010) 271-281
Baird, Ian G. and Philip Drearden "Biodiversity Conservation and Resource Tenure Regimes: A Case Study from Northeast Cambodia" in the journal Environmental Management Vol. 32, No.5, pp. 541–550
Bourdier, Frederic. The Mountain of Precious Stones: Ratanakiri, Cambodia. The Center for Khmer Studies, Phnom Penh, 2006.
Bourdier, Frederic. "Development and Dominion: Indigenous Peoples of Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos." White Lotus Press, Bangkok. 2009.
"Cambodia's Last Frontier Falls" by Stephen Kurczy in the Asia Times Online.