700 freshwater species of fish and 2000 species of marine fish, 889 species of birds and 310 species of land mollusks.

Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Bố Trạch and Minh Hóa districts of central Quảng Bình Province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam, about 500 km south of Hanoi. The park borders the Hin Namno Nature Reserve in Khammouane Province, Laos to the west and 42 km east of the South China Sea from its borderline point. Phong Nha–Kẻ Bàng National Park is situated in a limestone zone of 2,000 km2 in Vietnamese territory and borders another limestone zone of 2,000 km2 of Hin Namno in Laotian territory. The core zone of this national park covers 857.54 km2 and a buffer zone of 1,954 km2.

The park was created to protect one of the world's two largest karst regions with 300 caves and grottoes and also protects the ecosystem of limestoneforest of the Annamite Range region in North Central Coast of Vietnam.

Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng is noted for its cave and grotto systems as it is composed of 300 caves and grottos. A 2009 survey brought the total discovered length of the cave system to about 126 km, with many areas still not well explored. The Sơn Đoòng Cave, which was discovered in the 2009 survey by British and Vietnamese explorers, is considered the largest cave in the world. Even before this discovery, Phong Nha held several world cave records, including the longest river as well as the largest combined caverns and passageways.

The park derives its name from Phong Nha Cave, containing many fascinating rock formations, and Kẻ Bàng forest. The plateau on which the park is situated is probably one of the finest and most distinctive examples of a complex karst landform in Southeast Asia.[6] This national park was listed in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites in 2003 for its geological values as defined in its criteria viii.[6] In April 2009, the world's largest cave, was re-discovered by a team of British cave explorers of the British Caving Association led by a local farmer named Ho Khanh.

The park derives its name from Phong Nha Cave, containing many fascinating rock formations, and Kẻ Bàng forest. The plateau on which the park is situated is probably one of the finest and most distinctive examples of a complex karst landform in Southeast Asia.[6] This national park was listed in UNESCO's World Heritage Sites in 2003 for its geological values as defined in its criteria viii.[6] In April 2009, the world's largest cave, was re-discovered by a team of British cave explorers of the British Caving Association led by a local farmer named Ho Khanh.

Flora

he park is part of the Annamites eco-region. By far the largest vegetation type is tropical dense moist evergreen forest on limestone under 800 m above sea level. 96.2% of this national park is covered with forest, 92.2% of which is intact primary forest. 74.7% (1104.76 km2) of the park is covered with evergreen tropical wet forest on limestone rocks at the elevation of under 800 m; 8.5% (126 km2) is evergreen tropical wet forest on limestone rocks at an elevation higher than 800 m; 8.3% (122.2 km2) evergreen tropical wet forest on soil mounts at the elevation of under 800 m; evergreen tropical wet forest on limestone rocks at the elevation of under 800 m; 0.7% (10.7 km2) evergreen tropical wet forest on limestone rocks at the elevation of above 800; 1.1% impacted evergreen tropical wet forest on limestone rocks; 2.8% (42.12 km2) impacted evergreen tropical wet forest on soil mounts; 1.3% (1,925) grass, bush on limestone rocks; 2% (29.5 km2) grass, bush on soil mounts; permanent wetland forest: 1.8 km2; rattan and bamboo forest: 1.5 km2; and agricultural plants: 5.21 km2 or 0.3%. According to the results of initial surveys, the primary tropical forest in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng consists of 140 families, 427 genera, and 751 species of vascular plants, of which 36 species are endangered and listed in the Vietnam's Red Data Book.

Fauna

The forest is also home to 98 families, 256 genera and 381 species of vertebrates. Sixty-six (66) animal species are listed in the Vietnam's Red Data Book and 23 other species in the World Red Book of Endangered Species. In 2005, a new species of gecko(Lygosoma boehmeiwas) was discovered here by a group of Vietnamese biologists together with biologists working for the park, Cologne Zoo in Germany and the Saint Petersburg Wild Zoology Institute in Russia. The gaur and one species of eel have been discovered in this park. Ten new species never seen before in Vietnam were discovered by scientists in this national park.

The park is home to significant populations of primates in Vietnam, with ten species and sub-species. These include the globally vulnerable pig-tailed macaque, Assam macaque, stump-tailed macaque and white-cheeked crested gibbon (Nomascus leucogenysand Nomascus leucogenys siki). The park is probably home to the largest population of François' langur in Vietnam, including two different forms of the species. The area is highly significant for its population of Hatinh langur and black langur. It is undoubtedly the largest population of these species in the world, and probably the only population represented in a protected area. Other endangered large mammals include the mainland serow (Capricornis sumatraensis), giant muntjac (Megamuntiacus vuquangensis) and possibly the saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis). The Asian black bear (Selenarctos thibetanus) and sun bear(Helarctos malayanus) are confirmed. Other smaller mammals include Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) and the recently discovered striped hare, called locally "tho van" (Nesolagus timminsii). Ten bat species listed in the IUCN List of Threatened Species have been recorded in this park.

Of the 59 recorded reptile and amphibian species, 18 are listed in Vietnam's Red Data Book and 6 are listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. Further research has increased the species numbers markedly, and the number of recorded amphibian species is now 50 and that of reptile species 101. The 72 fish species include 4 species endemic to the area, including Danio quangbinhensis. The park is home to over 200 bird species, inclusive of several rare birds such as: chestnut-necklaced partridge, red-collared woodpecker, brown hornbill, sooty babbler and short-tailed scimitar babbler. There is good evidence for the Vietnamese pheasant (Lophura hatinhensis) and imperial pheasant (Lophura imperialis) species at Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng area. An initiative survey conducted by Russian and Vietnamese scientists from Vietnam-Russia Tropical Centre (funded by WWF) recorded 259 butterfly species of 11 families. Almost all major butterfly taxa in Vietnam can be found in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng park.