Phrumsengla National Park, National park in central Bhutan.
Phrumsengla National Park is a large protected area in central Bhutan spanning four districts with elevations ranging from 700 to 4,400 meters (2,297 to 14,435 feet). The terrain varies from dense forests in lower regions to alpine meadows and ridges at higher altitudes.
Phrumsengla was gazetted as Thrumshingla National Park in 1998, part of a network of protected areas Bhutan declared in the 1990s. It was later renamed Phrumsengla, the Dzongkha form of the name. The park lies across four districts, mainly Mongar, and is bisected by the Lateral Road over the Thrumshing La pass. Its soils are too fragile for logging, so the land is left to nature.
About 11,000 people live inside the park's boundaries, spread across four districts and mostly in Mongar. The Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation describes this as the kingdom's closest success at a harmonious balance between people and nature. The park also forms part of a biological corridor that sustains Bhutan's tiger population.
The Lateral Road crosses through the park and includes Bhutan's highest driveable mountain pass, making access straightforward. Visitors should prepare for changing weather conditions, especially at higher elevations, and bring sturdy footwear.
Phrumsengla forms part of a biological corridor that keeps Bhutan's tiger population connected. The park records 622 plant species from 140 families, 21 of them endemic to Bhutan, and 341 bird species. Its soils are so fragile that logging is excluded, and about 11,000 people live inside the park area.
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