Cuc Phuong National Park (or Cuc Phuong forest) is a nature reserve, a special-use forest located on the boundary of three regions of the Northwest, the Red River Delta and the North Central Coast of three provinces: Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa. This national park has a diverse flora and fauna system featuring tropical rainforests. Many highly endangered plant and animal species have been discovered and preserved here. This is also the first national park in Vietnam.
Cuc Phuong National Park is an archaeological site. The prehistoric relics dating back about 12,000 years have been discovered such as graves, stone axes, stone arrows, shellfish knives, grinding tools ... in some caves here demonstrate who lived in the area from 7,000 to 12,000 years ago. In 1960, Cuc Phuong was recognized as a forest reserve and was established under Decision 72 / TTg of July 7, 1962 with an area of 20,000 ha marking the birth of Vietnam's first protected area. Decision No. 18 / QD-LN of January 8, 1966 relocating Cuc Phuong SFE to Cuc Phuong National Park. Decision No. 333 / QD-LN of May 23, 1966 defining the functions and responsibilities of the Forest Management Board. On August 9, 1986, Cuc Phuong was listed in the list of special-use forests under Decision No. 194 / CT of the Vietnamese Government with the management classification of 25,000 ha National Park. The economic-technical justification of the national park was approved on May 9, 1988 under Decision No. 139 / CT. In particular, the boundary of the park was redefined with a total area of 22,200 ha, including 11,350 ha in the border of Ninh Binh province, 5,850 ha in the border of Thanh Hoa province and 5,000 ha in the boundary of Hoa Binh province. Forest coordinates: From 20 ° 14 'to 20 ° 24' north latitude, 105 ° 29 'to 105 ° 44' east longitude.