Ba Be National Park (BBNP) is named after the Ba Be Lake, Viet Nam’s largest and highest natural freshwater lake, about 150 meters above sea level. It is sometimes referred to as the “Ha Long Bay of the Mountains” and covers an area of 10,048 hectares in the Bac Kan Province. The park has three lakes, namely Pe Leng, Pe Lu, and Pe Lam, which is why it is named “Ba Be,” meaning ‘Three Lakes’ or ‘Slam Pe’ in the local Tay language. However, the park faces several threats, including traditional agriculture, exploitation of wildlife and forest products, over or destructive fishing, small-scale logging or fuelwood, pollution, boundary conflicts and land claims, and management unit capacity.
