Green Ba Mun Island - Quang Ninh Electronic Newspaper

The blue sea, green forest with wild, beautiful landscape and high biodiversity values make anyone who has the opportunity to set foot on Ba Mun, the largest island in the Bai Tu Long National Park - ASEAN Heritage Park, have an unforgettable impression.

The peaceful green space of Bai Tu Long Bay seen from Ba Mun Island.

Ba Mun Island is located about 15km from Ao Tien tourist port. With an area of over 2,100ha, Ba Mun (also known as Cao Lo Island) belongs to the mountainous island system of Bai Tu Long National Park, with a length as the crow flies of nearly 18.5km, the narrowest point is about 500m.

Looking at the map of Bai Tu Long Bay, Ba Mun Island and Quan Lan Island stretch out like a giant natural wall protecting the island sea and mainland of Van Don from the waves of the East Sea. If you have the opportunity to come to the island and see the whole view, you will see this very clearly when witnessing two different scenes: The East side of the island is also the outside facing the Gulf of Tonkin, with big waves, white foam, and water spray tens of meters high, while the West side of the island is the inside facing the mainland, the scene is very peaceful, the water surface is calm, the side of the boat only has small waves.

According to scientists, thanks to the island terrain, the humidity of the ocean has created favorable conditions for the growth of all species, the sea currents bring many new species, so on Ba Mun Island there are many species of plants and insects competing to grow and develop all year round. From there, it enriches the link in the food chain for animals, birds, large and small, creating an extremely rich flora and fauna of the forest on Ba Mun Island.

The trail through the shady forest on Ba Mun Island.

According to statistics, the flora list of Bai Tu Long National Park so far is 780 species of vascular plants, most of which are species distributed in Ba Mun. Currently, Ba Mun Island is still the forest with the highest density of animals in the Northeast region of Vietnam.

Many species of animals and plants listed in the Vietnam Red Book have been recorded to appear on Ba Mun Island. Regarding plants, there are: Black fat bud, Codonopsis pilosula, Lonicera japonica, Eucommia ulmoides, Ba khia, Sao hai nam, Sao mat quy, Cat sam, Re huong, La khoi, Sen mat, Sam cau, Ba Mun pouch sedge. Regarding animals, there are species such as: Long-tailed monkey, Red-faced monkey, Common otter, Binturong, Clouded cat, Deer, Golden pangolin, Chinese white stork, Gecko, Python, Striped snake, Snake, Cobra, Three-striped box turtle.

Walking on the long, endless trails on Ba Mun Island, you will feel more clearly the diversity and beauty of the natural landscape here. In the middle of the blazing summer sun, but with the dense green forest surrounding and shading above, even walking in the middle of the trail is still cool and pleasant. It is rare that we come across an open space where the sunlight can shine directly on the ground. The large trees, the babbling streams along the road, the chirping of birds or the dense bamboo forests along the path can overwhelm you with the wildness of nature.

Bamboo forests are dense along the forest path on Ba Mun Island.

Although it is the largest natural wildlife reserve in the Northeast, the animals are harder to see because they mostly hear human footsteps and leave from afar. Through conversations with the forest rangers here, they said that when they patrol the forest, they can still see some small animals such as squirrels, snakes or wild boars foraging...

They also shared with us the image of a very large adult deer swimming in the sea while trying to leave for a neighboring island, which they had filmed. That is why Ba Mun is also called “animal island” by the locals because of its high density of ungulates. The area in front of Ba Mun Ranger Station is also one of the areas where dolphins often appear to forage or avoid big waves, during storms and winds...

Along with diverse ecosystems, rich flora and fauna, beautiful landscapes, fresh air, clear blue beaches with unique rocky reefs of Ba Mun Island is a great potential for developing ecotourism in Bai Tu Long Bay in particular, Van Don and Quang Ninh in general.

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