Northern Indochina subtropical moist forests


The Northern Indochina subtropical moist forests are a subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of northern Indochina, covering portions of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and China's Yunnan Province.

Setting

The Northern Indochina subtropical forests occupy the highlands of northern Indochina, extending from northeastern Vietnam, where they cover the upper portion of the Red River watershed and the northern Annamite Range, across northern Laos, northernmost Thailand, and southeastern Yunnan to Shan State in eastern Myanmar. The ecoregion includes Fan Si Pan, Vietnam's highest mountain.
The Northern Indochina subtropical forests are a transition between the tropical forests of Indochina and the subtropical and temperate forests of China and the Tibetan Plateau.

Fauna

The ecoregion is home to over 183 species of mammals, and 707 species of birds.
Several mammals are endemic to the ecoregion – the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey, northern white-cheeked gibbon, Owston's palm civet, Roosevelt's muntjac, and the Chaotung vole. Fea's muntjac, Anderson's squirrel, and red-throated squirrel are near-endemic species, native to the ecoregion and one or more adjacent ecoregions.

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment estimated that 30,724 km², or 7%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Another 34% of ecoregion's area is forested but outside of protected areas. A 1997 assessment found a total of 15,948 km² protected in 19 protected areas.