Creating Protected Areas for Resource Conservation (PARC) in Vietnam using a landscape ecology approach

SELECTED PROJECT ACTIVITIES/RESULTS

General

• Operational plans were prepared for Ba Be and Na Hang as a basis for protected areas management.
• A monitoring program was institutionalized and training was provided for park personnel and local leaders in techniques of integrating conservation and development.
• A financing study was completed for biodiversity conservation and community development.
• A conservation education element has been incorporated into schools' curriculum in Ba Be, Na Hang, and Yok Don.
• Improved farming systems have been field tested and implemented for Ba Be and Na Hang with good results. A basis for the reduction of agricultural encroachment pressures into protected areas has been established.
• Micro-credit facilities have been provided for communities in the Ba Be--Na Hang buffer zones.
• Demarcations made for Na Hang Nature reserves and Yok Don National Park.

Conservation Management

• The Ba Be/Na Hang Conservation Complex includes the forests in and around these two protected areas - almost the final refuge of the Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey. Without coordinated management of the entire forest complex this species will almost certainly become extinct. PARC has therefore worked with local stakeholders to agree on a conservation strategy for the area.
  
  Yok Don National Park protects a seasonal habitat that is important for large mammals and birds. Therefore, conservation of suitable habitats outside the park borders is essential to ensure the continuity of migratory pathways. PARC has identified priority habitat areas in the wet and dry seasons and management needs for long-term conservation. Based on this information, a multiple-use conservation strategy has been produced that includes proscribed management of the wider landscape.
• PARC has promoted conservation management of particular protected area resources by direct stakeholders. For example, the Ba Be Lake Management Co-operative has been established to help reverse prior over-exploitation of lake resources and dynamite fishing.
• PARC has drawn up detailed site plans for day-to-day conservation management activities. In Ba Be National Park, site plans were produced for caves that have important bat roosts, both to protect the bats and the sensitive limestone features of the caves. In Yok Don National Park, waterholes are key ecological units of the landscape, providing seasonal water supplies for many animal species. The project mapped the most significant waterholes, and combined this information with other conservation data to identify biodiversity hotspots to target conservation activities in the park.
• PARC assessed biodiversity values within and beyond protected area boundaries and developed maps showing biodiversity hotspots. This allowed the project to target resources for highest return to biodiversity conservation and formed an important input to the planning processes.
• A new Species and Habitat Conservation Area has been established. Others are in the planning stage.
• More than 150 protected area staff have been trained in biodiversity conservation and monitoring. Training and field assessment has reinforced rangers' understanding of the objectives of their work at PARC protected areas and improved their practical skills.
• A survey and review of sustainable mechanisms for financing protected areas has been conducted.
• A hunting gun exchange programme in Ba Be and Na Hang Districts resulted in more than one thousand guns turned in.
• Investments have been made in basic protected area infrastructure such as new guard posts, monitoring stations and information centres.
• A database application has been developed for conservation management. It includes a conservation management database which collates data from ranger patrols, supports analysis of patrol effectiveness, serves as a basis for biodiversity monitoring, and highlights threats to biodiversity
• Community groups have been established to conserve specific landscape units.

Resource Use Planning and Forestry

• The project has used a Participatory Resource Use Planning (PRUP) approach which integrates local resource use needs with long-term land use planning. This approach, conducted at the village level, helps balance conservation and development priorities in participation with local community stakeholders, government agencies and protected area administrations. PRUP was initially piloted at the Ba Be and Na Hang sites and then improved and implemented at the Yok Don site, and now covers more than 20 communes.
• During the project, PRUP evolved into a methodology for local communities and protected area authorities to resolve boundary disputes and to monitor and regulate natural resource use. PRUP was used as a conflict resolution measure to resolve boundary demarcation in Na Hang Nature Reserve in a participatory manner.
• Maps and documents have been produced identifying administrative, strict protection, rehabilitation and other prescribed protected area zones. An analysis has been made of resource users in and around protected areas.
• Opportunities and constraints for biodiversity conservation and resource use at each project site have been quantified in data sets and information derived from statistics, maps, reports and interviews.
• An assessment of past and present trends related to biodiversity conservation and resource use has been made in each target community.
• Consensus has been reached among stakeholders about conservation and development priorities within the target landscape.
• A programme has been drawn up of village development activities, with financial frames, that can be carried out by different agencies and groups.

Forestry

• PARC has supported the implementation of forest management activities to promote conservation through local participatory approaches. These activities supported the improved management of 3,200 ha of protected area forests in Yok Don.
• In Ba Be, forest stewardship programmes helped create consensus for conservation and development among local communities at the national park. At Na Hang agroforestry models helped protect hillside forests and restore forest cover.
• Agreements have been reached for joint resource management with local villages in Ba Be National Park and multiple-use zones designated at Yok Don.
• More than 25 Village Forestry Clubs have been set up to promote farmer-owned forestry practices and aforestation in Ba Be and Na Hang. The clubs have provided a forum for exchange and discussion on common social forestry issues such as the protection of watersheds, erosion prevention, habitat conservation and creation of future income sources.
• Models have been developed to promote aforestation of slopes and occupied shrub land within Na Hang Nature Reserve.
• Forest stewardship systems have reduced conflict between local communities and protected areas in disputed locations of Ba Be National Park.
• Boundaries and land-use has been defined for current, newly-established and proposed protected areas.

Community Development

• Village Development Plans based on current and predicted needs have been used to reduce unsustainable use of natural resources by exploring appropriate alternatives. This approach has integrated conservation and development objectives.
• Throughout the project sites agricultural productivity has increased in target communes, with numerous replications of successful crop trials. Direct involvement of the District Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development has been secured to help ensure the long-term sustainability of activities.
• In 34 target villages, local farmers have been trained to provide technical assistance to their communities, working alongside para-veterinarians. The farmers were selected for training on the basis of their practical experience and proven ability and remain as permanent village-level partners for the District Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development.
• Alternative energy sources have been promoted. Since firewood needs in Ba Be and Na Hang are mainly met from local forests PARC provided technical and financial support in constructing over 1,400 fuel-efficient stoves, and 34 domestic biogas plants to reduce fuelwood use. Estimated household fuelwood savings from the improved stoves is about 30%. Savings from biogas plants comes close to 50%.
• The successful introduction of new farming techniques at Ba Be and Na Hang has resulted in: higher y ields of staple crops such as rice, maize, and soybean through intensification techniques; the introduction of winter crops such as potato, tomato and sweet potato which have added a second and sometimes a third annual crop; and the introduction of cash crops such as taro, potato, and Shan tea. There has been a reduction of livestock mortality by about 70% since the introduction of village para-veterinarians.
• At Yok Don the bamboo shoot cultivation model developed by PARC has been replicated by local farmers; soya, maize and green bean productivity has increased by introducing intercropping; livestock breeding programmes have been developed and all cattle have been vaccinated against foot and mouth disease.
• Village Assistance Funds and Agricultural Seed Banks have been organized to support agriculture intensification and help replicate community development activities. Tailored forestry, fishery and agriculture-based income generation models linked to conservation efforts have been designed, and off-farm alternative incomes have been promoted by providing training for women's weaving groups.

Conservation awareness and ecotourism

• PARC has worked with local teachers to design an environment curriculum for schoolchildren. Students in 38 schools of 14 communes now receive regular lessons about their local environments and protected areas.
• Village meeting programmes have been organised for local adult residents. Protected area staff and local Youth Unions have helped conservation information reach inaccessible areas and communicated information about successful project activities to farmers not directly involved in the programme. In the private sector a dam construction company and several mining companies have educated their workers about forest law and environmental issues.
• PARC has supported the tourism sections of Ba Be and Yok Don National Parks in developing low-impact tourism infrastructure by preparing visitor materials and building tourism staff capacity, including interpretation services. At Ba Be, PARC helped establish a local Boatmen's Association to encourage the self-organisation of local residents who provide boat tours for tourists.

Partners etc

UNDP/TRAC); Forest Protection Department (FPD) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; UNOPS; IUCN; and Scott Wilson Asia - Pacific.

Dedicated project website: http://www.undp.org.vn/projects/parc/index.htm (Also see http://www.undp.org.vn/undp/prog/profile/eng/env/vie95g31.htm)

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