The NEF Bio-ecological Nature Conservation Project inMountainous Region of North Vietnam

POLICY BRIEF 1
Bio-ecological Nature Conservation in Mountainous
Region of North Vietnam: From Policy to Practice(Case study of Cham Chu Reserve)

Vo Thanh Son, Le Thi Van Hue, Hoang Van Thang

Central Institute for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies,
Vietnam National University (VNU-CRES)

Ha Noi, 3 / 2022

Executive Summary
The limestone ecosystem in the Northern mountainous region of Vietnam has
great conservation value, but due to the lack of research in a synchronous manner,conservation and sustainable development policies have not really brought practicaleffects.
Therefore, an interdisciplinary research project with 10 groups including
mammals, birds, amphibians/reptiles, fish, insects, plants, soil invertebrate,
macroinvertebrate, GIS/Remote sensing and social group has been conducted in 4
protected areas, representing the study area. This report focuses on the results ofresearch in Cham Chu Reserve, Tuyen Quang province.
Main research results show that 802 animal species, 1089 species of vascularplants are identified in the reserve, among which there are 56 species in the VietnamRed Book and 72 species on the IUCN Red List; Forest cover is declined from 60.4 %in 1986 to 57.4 % in 2007, i.e. for about 3.0 % during 1986-1998 and then increased to63.8%, i.e. increased for 6.4 % during 1998-2017 and value of ecosystem services isdecreased from 179.05 million USD in 1986 to 173.05 million USD in 2017; Theincome of local people in Nam Luong village of Phu Luu commune in Cham Chu
Reserve for the Tay minority ethnic group is rather high (2,700,000
VND/month/person).
From this result, policy recommendations include: 1). Conduct research on theimpact of pollution on biodiversity; 2). Study diversity, distribution and human impacton species; 3). Promote a community-based approach to biodiversity conservation; 4).
Promote cooperation between scientists and policy makers; 5). Carry out capacity
building for management staff of protected areas.
Challenges in the conservation of limestone karst ecosystems in the North of Vietnam
The limestone karst ecosystem in the Mountainous Region of North Vietnam ingeneral and in Cham Chu Reserve in particular plays an important role in biodiversity
conservation. The population of animal species, especially rare and threatened species
is small, so they are almost not found even in forests and in surrounding areas. Forest
vegetation cover has increased in the past 10 years thanks to the efforts of local
authorities and people in reforestation and reduced impact of human production
activities on the forest.
Conservation and development policies although have been certain positive
impacts but they have not yet made a breakthrough in biodiversity conservation, forest
protection and local livelihood development. Furthermore, the lack of systematicstudies on the area's karst ecosystems, species biodiversity and threats to biodiversity

2may limit the application of conservation and development policies and develop ineffective manner.
Therefore, this report is an attempt to synthesize the results obtained within theframework of the research project to suggest policy recommendations for the study area.
Policy for biodiversity conservation and forest development
National policies, including Law on Biodiversity (2008), Strategy for Biodiversity
Conservation (2013), Master Biodiversity Planning (2014), Strategy for Managementof Special-use Forests and Protected Areas (2014) and other reforestation policies havecreated an important legal framework for the provinces of the Northern Vietnam,
including Tuyen Quang province. Most of these policies issued in the last 10-15 years
can explain the achievements in biodiversity conservation and forest development in
the locality.
On the basis of the national legal framework, Tuyen Quang province hasdeveloped a system of conservation policies, the most important of which are the Tuyen
Quang’ provincial Biodiversity Conservation Planning (2013) with the completion ofexisting protected areas and proposing new ones and Forest protection and development
planning in Tuyen Quang province in the period of 2011-2020, supplementing theplanning up to 2025 (2016) in order to conserve forest ecosystems associated with local
socio-economic development. In particular, the conservation and sustainable
development planning of Cham Chu Reserve, Tuyen Quang province (2014) has laid
the basis for conservation work in association with local socio-economic towards
sustainability. Furthermore, provincial reforestation programs have been integrated
with local development policies.
The research realized by NEF Project "Bio-ecological Nature Conservation in
Mountainous Region of North Vietnam" in the Cham Chu Reserve has identified 802
animal species, of which 7.2 % mammals, 14.8 % birds, 4.9 % amphibians, 2.7 %reptiles, 7.7 % fish, 33.9 % insects, 21.9 % soil invertebrate and 6.7 %macroinvertebrate. If only accounting for mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, 238
species are identified (in 2019), compared with 91 species previously investigated (in2009).
1089 species of vascular plants have been identified compared to 906 species
listed in the Conservation and Sustainable Development Planning of Cham Chu Reserve(2009). In particular, among them, there are 48.57 % of species used as medicine,
17.07 % of species used for construction and household appliances, 15.05 % of species
used as ornamental plants, 13.50 % of species used as eatable vegetables, 4.68% of thespecies used as animal food, for fodder, 3.40% of species used as biological active, and2.02 % of species used as fiber.
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The total number of plant and animal species identified in the Vietnam Red Bookis 56 species, of which plants account for 89.3 % and amphibians and reptiles for10.7 %; and on the IUCN Red List there are 72 species, of which mammals account for16.7 %, birds for 1.4 %, amphibians and reptiles for 52.8 %, fish for 6.9 % and plants
accounted for 72.2 %.
Forest cover, especially evergreen broadleaved tropical forest (close forest) has
declined from 60.4 % in 1986 to 57.4 % in 2007, i.e. for 3.0 % in this period, thenincreased to 63.8 % in 2017, thanks to the efforts of local authorities and people inreforestation program and forest protection. The decrease in forest area often occurs at
the edge of the reserve, mainly in the altitude belt of 200-1000 m high, where people
carry out agricultural and forestry activities. Moreover, the tree species typical forlimestone karst ecosystems are usually concentrated in the altitude belt from 300-900m.
The main causes of biodiversity degradation and loss in Northeastern Region canbe grouped into the following: i). Landuse and landcover change; ii). Forest fires; iii).
Illegal poaching and hunting; iv). Illegal wood logging and nontimber forest productharvesting; v). Pollution from agricultural production, mining, industrial activities andresidential wastes; vi). Other causes.
Policies for livelihood development policy and sustainable development
National policies, including Vietnam's Strategic Orientation for SustainableDevelopment (Agenda 21) (2004), Sustainable Development Strategy 2011-2020(2012), Strategy Socio-economic development 2011-2020, Green Growth Strategy(2021), Forestry Strategy (2021), Tourism Development Strategy (2011), Sustainable
Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy (2022) and National Action Plan toImplement Agenda 2030 with 17 Goals SDG Sustainable Development (2017) has
created an important legal framework for the provinces of the Northern MountainousRegion, including Bac Kan province. Most of the policies issued in the last 10 to 15
years can explain the achievements in poverty alleviation and significant improvement
in living standards of local people in the northern mountainous region, especiallyminority ethnics.
On the basis of the national legal framework, Tuyen Quang province hasdeveloped a policy system for socio-economic development towards sustainability, themost important of which is Tuyen Quang’s Provincial Action Plan to Implement 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development (2017) with 17 SDG and 115 targets and Masterplanning for socio-economic development of Tuyen Quang province to 2020, vision to2025 (2011, 2015). Several provincial policies localizing national sustainable
development are programs on poverty alleviation policy (135, 30A) to support4

especially difficult districts and communes, policy of payment for forest environmental
services and New rural program.
For Cham Chu Reserve, the total value of ecosystem services (provisioning,regulating, cultural and supporting) for its communes is estimated to decline from
179.05 million USD in 1986 to 173.05 million USD in 2017, respectively 4,427 USD/haand 4,279 USD /ha.
Thanks to synchronous policies and efforts of local authorities, themultidimensional poverty rate of the Northern mountainous region has decreased from
23.0% in 2016 to 16.4% in 2019, meanwhile the poverty rate in Tuyen Quang province
is 40.0 % in 2010. In fact, this poverty rate is rather high, in comparison with othereconomic regions in Vietnam.
According to a case study in Nam Luong village, Phu Luu commune in Cham Chu
Reserve for the Thay minority ethnic group, the average total income of a household isabout 161 million VND/year (about 13.4 million VND/month/household or 2.700.000
VND/month/person). Because there is a stable source of income from agricultural
production, namely the orange and lemon production, people rarely go to the reserve toexploit forest products. In fact, only 15 % of households in this village are insufficientin food for a month and more.
Conservation and sustainable development planning for Cham Chu Reserve(2014) was developed with the objective to promote the conservation of forest
ecosystems and wildlife species, associated with forestry development and ecotourism,
thereby improving people's livelihoods and reducing pressure on forests. However,since then, tourism activities have not been implemented, and people have not received
any income from these activities.
The conservation and development policies implemented in protected areas areoften applied in a unified approach to localities across the country. Therefore, socioeconomic characteristics, poverty rates, ethnic minorities and gender issues have notbeen properly considered, leading to low implementation efficiency, and unsatisfactory
expected outcomes. Studies have also pointed out that challenges for the conservationof karst forest ecosystems and their species diversity are deforestation, unsustainable
exploitation and use, land use change, and hunting, grazing, mining, environmental
pollution and invasion of invasive alien species, especially for aquatic ecosystems. Thus,in order to achieve conservation and development purposes at the same time, multiple
synchronous solutions need to be implemented.

5Policy Recommendations(1). To develop and carry out research programs on environmental/ pollution
impact on biodiversity/ species in order to develop appropriate policies for species andhabitat conservation and management;(2). As many species are under declining and less understood of their status, it istherefore essential to conduct an in-depth study to better understand diversity,distribution, and anthropogenic threats to the taxa using robust scientific methods tobetter protect the species from further decline;(3). To apply a community-based conservation approach in the study area,involving local villagers into various forest protection and biodiversity conservation
activities; increase the livelihood of local residents through various income-raising
approaches to mitigate their dependence on forest products and lands;(4). To enhance collaboration between provincial/district authorities and theirenforcement forces (forest rangers) for regular information exchange, sharing
experience on forest management and collaborative actions on combating transborderillegal logging and harvesting non-timber forest products;(5). To carry out capacity building for staffs of protected areas in term of scientificknowledge, technical skills and research equipment for conservation and development
works.

Box: Brief information about the project; Implementing agency; Research methodology
This study was carried out within the framework of the project " Bio-ecological Nature
Conservation in Mountainous Region of North Vietnam", funded by the Nagao NaturalEnvironment Fund and coordinated by the Central Institute for Natural Resources andEnvironmental Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Biodiversity survey methods
on Mammals, Birds, Amphibians/Reptiles, Fish, Land fauna, Aquatic fauna and Plants werecarried out seasonally (2 field studies each site) during the period of 2018 -2019; Remotesensing method and GIS method using remote sensing images for the period 1988-2019 toassess land use changes and combine with value transfer method to estimate the value ofecosystem services; Social survey method (Semi-structured interview/7 people, Groupdiscussion/2 groups of 14 people, Farm household survey/51 households) was carried out in
Nam Luong village of Phu Luong commune in Cham Chu Reserve in the period 2018-2019
to assess the poverty situation and the dependence of livelihood and income on forest
resources of local communities.

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