Nam Ha

Nam Ha National Protected Area was established in 1993 in Luang Namtha province, at the northern tip of Laos, next to the borders with China and Myanmar, and protects some 2,224 km². It is an ASEAN Heritage Park.

The terrain is mountainous and covered in montane evergreen and semi-evergreen forest, crossed by the Nam Ha River and its tributaries. Its wildlife includes white-cheeked gibbon, clouded leopard, sun bear and a rich forest birdlife, although hunting has greatly reduced the populations of large mammals.

Its international significance comes from another quarter. In the late 1990s the Nam Ha Ecotourism Project was launched here, with support from UNESCO and from New Zealand development aid, based on multi-day treks guided by villagers, with accommodation in their homes and a share of the income agreed with the communities. The model, applied in a territory inhabited by Akha, Khmu, Hmong and Lanten minorities, became one of the world's reference cases of community ecotourism and received international recognition, although its continuity and its real impact have been the subject of differing evaluations.