
Covering an area of 41,862ha, Cape Ca Mau National Park is located in Dat Mui commune, Ngoc Hien district, Ca Mau province, nearly 400km away from Ho Chi Minh City.
Cape Ca Mau National Park
is originally covered by natural mangrove forest; however, the vast
majority was destroyed during the Second Indochina War. Most of the aqua
cultural ponds have been abandoned and now support extensive areas of
re-colonizing mangrove forest. There are extensive mudflats which are
also being colonized naturally by mangrove. These areas are continually
growing due to accretion rates along the coastline of up to 50m per year
in places.
Biodiversity values. The Park is a submerged area with a floral complex, mainly including mangrove and Mam
(avicenia, black mangrove) trees. This is an ecological system of
natural salt-marsh forests with high values in terms of bio-diversity,
landscapes, environment, culture and history.
Some small areas of old Rhizophora apiculata mangrove remain at Mui Ca
Mau. This vegetation type probably covered much of the area in the past.
Evidence of over-exploitation is abundant with many old logged bases of
large Rhizophora apiculata trees. There are still some big trees over
10 years old, though the habitat is degraded. There are also extensive
Rhizophora apiculata plantations at the national park; the density of
them varies from one to six trees per square metre. Each year, the
submerged flora on the western beach of the park extends nearly 100m
into the sea, creating an ideal environment for the reproduction and
development of shrimp, fish and mollusk.
The mangroves at Mui Ca Mau perform an important coastal protection function, which was strongly emphasized on coastal protection in the management of the site to date. The national park also has high potential for recreation, ecotourism, conservation education and scientific research. Although present visitor use of the national park is low, visitor numbers are likely to increase in the future

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