Thanh Phu Nature Reserve

Alternative site name(s)
None
Province(s)
Ben Tre
Area
4,510 ha
Coordinates
9o48' – 9o59'N, 106o34' – 106o41'E
Distance(s)
From Ho Chi Minh City
Eco-tours
Not available

Topography and hydrology

Thanh Phu Nature Reserve comprises the section of the Mekong Delta coastal zone between the Co Chien and Ham Luong estuaries (two of the mouths of the Mekong River). As is the case with other sites on the eastern coastline of the Mekong Delta, Thanh Phu Nature Reserve is strongly affected by erosion as well as accretion. The coastal landscape at Thanh Phu is made up of the following elements: sandy belts, tidal mudflats, saline tidal swamps and toxic acid-sulphate swamps.

Biodiversity values

The coastal mangroves at Thanh Phu are dominated by Rhizophora apiculata, Avicennia marina, A. officinalis, Excoecaria agalloccha and Sonneratia spp. The most extensive mangrove type is Rhizophora apiculata mangrove. These mangroves are an important habitat for a number of aquatic organisms, including some with high economic value.

The intertidal mudflats are an important habitat for shorebirds. However, all the shorebird species occurring at Thanh Phu Nature Reserve are common coastal migrants, such as Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola, Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia and Sanderling Calidris alba.

Other documented values

Thanh Phu Nature Reserve is situated between two major estuaries, which are important breeding sites for many economically valuable aquatic species, such as tiger prawns Penaeus spp., various fish species from the Notopteridae, Toxotidae, Nandidae and Anguilidae families, and numerous species of squid including Logilo formosana, Seproteuris lessoniana and Sepria tigris. The estuaries also support a variety of other invertebrates, including crabs, clams and mussels.

During the Second Indochina War, Thanh Phu was a military base of the Vietnam National Liberation Front. In particular, the coastal site was used as a wharf, to which supplies and weapons for the Ben Tre Battlefield and Military Region Number 8 were shipped from North Vietnam. For this reason, Thanh Phu was decreed as a place of historical importance.