Lampi Island Marine National Park – The Green Treasure in Andaman Sea

14 Jun 2019 by Admin

Lampi Island Marine National Park, comprised of a group of islands in the southern part of the Mergui Archipelago, is a green treasure in Andaman Sea. Let's find out this stunning island with our Luxury Myanmar River Cruises.

Little known by tourists coming to Myanmar, Lampi Island Marine National Park, which is comprised of a group of islands in the southern part of the Mergui Archipelago, is a green treasure in Andaman Sea. The name of this National Park is taken after the name of the biggest island in the group, Lampi Island, which has an area of over 200 square kilometers and the average altitude of 300 meters. Lampi Island Marine National Park is an important reserve of Myanmar in particular and Southeast Asia Region in general.

Lampi Marine National Park
The Map of Lampi Island Marine National Park

Lampi Island Marine National Park is very rich in biodiversity thank to the wide range of environments that it offers, including tropical forest, swamp, fresh-water stream, bay, etc. The park is home to more than 100 species of plants and animals both terrestrial and marine, among which there are many rare and endangered species.

The Forest

Lampi Island soaks up the majority of Lampi Island Marine National Park’s area. This island is roofed by tropical lowland forest wet evergreen forest with large trees of up to 26 meters high forming green walls behind silvery sandy beaches. The park possesses verdant vegetation characterized by a huge variety of plants with small populations of such rare species as Hopea, Vatica, Dipterocarpus and Shorea.

Lampi Marine National Park 2
A Flourishing Mangrove Forest

Mangrove forests flourishing along rivers and freshwater sources have superb conservation status which offers an extremely high ecological value. Lampi Island Marine National Park has 63 mangrove species in total, belonging to 31 different families, which provide ideal habitats for many species of fish, crustacean, and mollusk. Besides, there are also beach and dune forests which develop along narrow strips of sand along the coast.

Marine Habitats

The Mergui Archipelago is in abundance of coral reefs, seagrass and seaweed meadows. These are crucial habitats for mollusks, fish, crustaceans, stars, and urchins. The importance of these species is assessed in term of not only ecology but also economy as they are vital food resources for the life of the locals and for export.

Lampi Marine National Park 3
The Coral Reefs Provide Ideal Habitats for Many Marine Creatures

The seagrass beds encircling the Lampi Island serve as an important food source for endangered species such as dugong and green sea turtle, as well as several kinds of seabird. In addition, the island also has two major rivers flowing all year round and many seasonal brooks, which provide critical water sources for the life in Lampi Marine National Park.

» Read more: Diving in Mergui Archipelago

Fauna

The biodiversity of fauna in Lampi Island Marine National Park is exceptionally rich. There are 228 bird species, in which 19 species, including the Wallace hawk eagle and plain-pouched hornbill, are endangered according to the Red List of Threatened Species published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The number of amphibians and reptile species are 10 and 19 respectively.

Olive ridley sea turtle, green sea turtle, and loggerhead sea turtle are the only three species of sea turtle that can be found in the park. For mammals, there are 19 species in total, seven of which, including dugong and pangolin, are listed as threatened species in the Red List of IUCN.

Lampi Island Marine National Park
Lampi Island Marine National Park is Home to Many Mammals

Lampi Island Marine National Park 1
Amphibians

Lampi Island Marine National Park 2
Reptiles

Lampi Island Marine National Park 3
and Birds like Plain - pouch Hornbill

Lampi Island Marine National Park 4
and Asian Fairy Bluebird

Lampi Island Marine National Park was declared as an ASEAN Heritage Park in 2003 thank to its importance in biodiversity. In a comprehensive survey of Lampi Island Marine National Park, conducted by the nature conservation society Oikos, the ecology of the park with detailed lists of wildlife and descriptions of endangered animals are presented. This survey is the most precious document available on the ecology of Mergui Archipelago.

The Local Villages

There are five settlements with approximately 3.000 people in the marine national park: Makyone Galet, Sitta Galet, Kho Phawt, War Kyun and Nyaung Wee. All settlements are provided with food, water and energy sources from this nation park. Besides, Several hundreds of Moken sea gypsies live in the protected area.

Lampi island
A fishing village on Lampi island

The main village in the island is Makyone Galet which is located on Bo Cho Island where is the bustling fishing village situated on a stunning bay overlooking the southern tip of Lampi Island. There are also many teashops, restaurants and a pagoda giving wonderful views of the village in Makyone Galet. Beaches are surrounded by stilt houses which are inhabited by the Moken.

If you want to visit this marine national park, the most convenient way would be taking a Myanmar Yacht Charter which drops by the Mergui Archipelago on its sailing itinerary.

Facebook Twitter

Our Partners