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

GIS-RS GROUP RESEARCH REPORTFOR PERIOD 10/2018 – 9/2021(FINAL REPORT)Ha Noi, 12/2021

CONTENT
1. General information ........................................................................................ 3
1.1. Author(s) of the report .............................................................................. 3
1.2. Group members (leader, key researcher and assistant researcher) ............. 3
2. Research ........................................................................................................ 3
2.1. Abstract .................................................................................................... 3
2.2. Background of the study ........................................................................... 4
2.3. Literature review ...................................................................................... 6
2.3.1. Natural characteristics of study areas.................................................. 6
2.3.2. Socio-economic condition of study areas ......................................... 122.3.3. Landuse............................................................................................ 15
2.4. Group’s purpose and subjects ................................................................. 18
2.5. Materials and methods and time frame ................................................... 19
2.5.1.
Document, materials, data, map and remote sensing images
acquirement ............................................................................................... 19
2.5.2.

Methods used............................................................................. 20
2.5.2.1. Desk study ............................................................................... 20
2.5.2.2. Methods of remote sensing, GIS and cartography .................... 20
2.5.2.3. Benefits transfer method for ecosystem service estimation ....... 23

2.6. Results.................................................................................................... 29
2.6.1. Landuse and landcover change ......................................................... 29
2.6.1.1. Landuse and landcover change in Cham Chu Reserve during 19862017 .............................................................................................................. 29
2.6.1.2. Landuse and landcover change Bac Me Nature Reserve during
1988-2019 ..................................................................................................... 38
2.6.1.3. Landuse and landcover change in Phia Oac – Phia Den National
Park during 1988-2019 .................................................................................. 51
2.6.1.4. Landuse and landcover change in Nam Xuan Lac Reserve during
1988-2019 ..................................................................................................... 64
2.6.2. Assessment of ecosystem services of the study sites ......................... 71
2.6.2.1. Cham Chu Reserve .................................................................. 71
2.6.2.2. Bac Me Nature Reserve ........................................................... 771

2.6.2.2. Phia Oac – Phia Den National Park .......................................... 84
2.6.2.4. Nam Xuan Lac Reserve ........................................................... 94
2.7. Discusssion and recommendation for conservation ................................. 99
2.7.1. Discusssion ...................................................................................... 99
2.7.1.1. Land use and land cover change in study sites during period of1988 – 2019 .................................................................................................. 99
2.7.1.2. Assessment of ecosystem services in study sites during period of
1986/1988 – 2017/2019 .............................................................................. 101
2.7.2. Recommendation for conservation ................................................. 103
2.8. Reference ............................................................................................. 104
3. PUBLICATIONS AND PRODUCTS ......................................................... 106
4. Empowerment of young scientists .............................................................. 106
4.1. Guiding principles for education and training ....................................... 106
4.2. Achievement of each young scientist .................................................... 106
5. Appendix: Photo of main landuse and landcover in the four study sites 107

2

1. GENERAL INFORMATION
1.1. Author(s) of the report1). Dr. Vo Thanh Son
2). Dr. Dao Minh Truong
3). Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Phuong
1.2. Group members (leader, key researcher and assistant researcher)1). Group leader: Dr. Vo Thanh Son – (thanhson.vo@gmail.com);2). Group key researcher: Dr. Dao Minh Truong (mr_truong@hotmail.com)
3) Research assistants:+ Mr. Hoang Tuan Anh, PhD Student (hoangtuananh88@gmail.com);+ Mr. Du Vu Viet Quan, PhD Student (duvuvietquan@hus.edu.vn) and+ Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Phuong, Master’s Student
2. RESEARCH
2.1. Abstract
The GIS and Remote Sensing group has the objective to study land cover/land usechange and ecosystem services for 4 representative sites in the limestone ecosystems in
Mountainous Region of North Vietnam. This report summarizes the research results in
Bac Me Nature Reserve and Phia Oac-Phia Den National Park, while the research
results for Nam Xuan Lac Nature Reserve has been completed after conducting 2nd field
trip in November 2021.
Regarding land use changes, during the period of 1988/1989 – 2007/2009, Bac
Me and Cham Chu Reserves and Phia Oac-Phia Den National Park, face the decline offorest ecosystems (Close forest), while the area of secondary forest (Open forest),
bushes and bare land are increased rapidly, concentrated mainly in the elevation zoneof 200 m - 1000 m, in Yen Thuan and Phu Luu communes (Cham Chu), in Minh Ngoc
and Thuong Tan communes (Bac Me) and in Quang Thanh and Phan Thanh (Phi OacPhia Den NP). However, during last 10 years (2007/2009 – 2017/2019), the forest area
(Close forest) has increased, mainly due to the conversion of secondary forest andbushland, probably due to the natural process of forest vegetation rehabilitation andreforestation. Nam Xuan Lac Reserve witnesses the increase in forest cover during theperiod 1989-1998 and has trend to decrease while open forest and bush increase (19982007) or agricultural land /shifting cultivation land increase (2007-2017). The
rehabilitation of forest cover and land use / land cover change can be explained by3

adoption of the conservation and development policies and increase in local livelihood
development.
Regarding ecosystem services, according to preliminary assessment, the total
value of ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting) ranges
from 173 – 179 millions USD for Cham Chu Reserve, from 90.3 – 93.1 million USD
for Bac Me Reserve, from 126,2 – 129.4 million USD for Phia Oac – Phia Den National
Park, and from 87 – 91 million USD for Nam Xuan Lac Reserve. Thus, the value of
ecosystem services per hectare is ranged from 4,427 - 4,279 USD; 4,282 - 4,416 USD;
6,292 - 6,419 USD; and 2,990 – 3,151 USD, accordingly.
Regarding the publication, the research team has submitted one paper tointernational journal in the SCOPUS system and this paper has been published online.
2.2. Background of the study
The Central Institute for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies (VNU-CRES),
Vietnam National University, Hanoi, is implementing “The NEF Bio-ecological Nature
Conservation Project in Mountainous Region of North Vietnam”, with financial andtechnical support from the Nagao Environment Foundation (Japan). The Institute has
worked closely with scientists from the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources,
Hanoi National University of Education and a number of research institutions. GISRemote Sensing Research Group is one of 10 research groups of the Project. Other
research groups are Mammals, Birds, Amphibian-Reptiles, Fish, Insects, Plants, Soil
Invertebrates, Macro-Invertebrates, Aquatic and Social Group.
The project has been implemented for 3 years (10/2018-9/2021) with the goal “To
contribute to nature conservation and sustainable development policies in themountainous region of Northern Vietnam”.
Project purposes are:a) To deepen scientific knowledge of natural ecosystem, biodiversity in particular, atlimestone zone in the northern part of Vietnam, such as ecological situations(ecosystem, biodiversity, habitat, population density/distribution, etc.) in relation withland-use change, large-scale regional development and other human activities on the
one hand and, on the other hand, with environmental or developmental policies,b) To elucidate the facts and causes of environmental degradation in recent days due
primarily to economic development represented by land use/land cover changes andsearch for practical solution or mitigation, andc) To enhance young scientists’ research capabilities, i.e., research personnel who are
sufficiently skilled and trained to plan, conduct, and publicize research.

4

The North-Eastern part of Vietnam consists of many limestone ecosystems with highbiodiversity richness. Thousands of vascular plants, animals have been found anddescribed since French time. Nevertheless, there is very little systematically survey has
been carried out since.
Four representative areas for mountainous region of Northern Vietnam have been
selected, including: 1) Cham Chu Reserve of Tuyen Quang province; 2) Bac MeReserve of Ha Giang province; 3) Phia Oac-Phia Den National Park of Cao Bangprovince and; 4) Nam Xuan Lac Reserve of Bac Kan province.

Figure 1. Location of study sites in Mountainous Region of North Vietnam
After conducting preliminary field research in April 2018, the project has selected 4
protected areas in 4 representative provinces in the northern mountainous region for the
study, namely Cham Chu (Tuyen Quang), Bac Me (Ha Giang), Phia Oac - Phia Den (CaoBang) and Nam Xuan Lac (Bac Kan). These protected areas are all characterized by highpotential for biodiversity but they have not been comprehensive studied.
Some key information about the study sites is shown in Table 1 below.

5

Table 1. Basic information of the study areas
Characteristic

Cham Chu

Bac MePhia Oac-Phia
Den

Nam Xuan Lac

Geographicalcoordinates

22o04' - 22o21'
North latitude;
104o53' - 105o14'
East longitude

22034'00 22055'00" North
latitude;105000'00 105030'12" East
longitude22031'44" 22039'41" North
latitude; 105049'53 105056'24" East
longitude

22017’12’’ 22019’45’’ North
latitude;105028’31’’ 105033’20’’ East
longitude

Elevation

From 30 m to1587 mFrom 66 m to1463 mFrom 163 m to 1935m

From 46 m to1346 mLac Nong,
Minh Ngoc,
Thuong Tan(Bac Me
district) (HaGiang province)(3 communes)

Thanh Cong,
Quang Thanh,Phan Thanh,
Hung Dao, Tinh
Tuc (Nguyen
Binh district)(Cao Bangprovince) (5communes/towns)

Ban Thi, Dong
Lac, Xuan Lac(ChoDon
district)(Bac
Kan province)(3 communes)

Administrative Yen Thuan, Phu
units/Luu (Ham Yen
communes
district), Ha
Lang, Trung
Ha, Hoa Phu(Chiem Hoa
district) (Tuyen
Quangprovince) (5communes)

2.3. Literature review
2.3.1. Natural characteristics of study areas(1) Characteristics of limestone mountain ecosystems
Limestone mountain ecosystems play a very important role in biodiversity
conservation and socio-economic development. According to the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development (2006), Vietnam's limestone mountain ecosystem
has an area of 1,152,200 ha, of which the forest cover area reaches 396,200 ha, in 24
provinces and cities but mainly concentrated in the provinces of Northern mountainous
region such as Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Son La, Hoa Binh, Tuyen Quang, Ha Giang, Cao
Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong and some provinces in North
Central of Vietnam.
(2). Landscape6

The Northeast region consists of hills and mountains on the left bank of the Red
River with common topographical features of low hills below 1,000m and arc-shaped
mountain ranges in the northeast such as those of Song Gam, Ngan Son and Dong Trieu,
clustering towards the Tam Dao mountain range to form the slopes of the mountains.
The study sites are mainly located in the areas between two arc-shaped mountain rangesof the Song Gam and Ngan Son, in the Northeast region (See Figure 2).

Figure 2. Topographic map of the studies areas.
The average elevation of the study sites ranges from 200 to 1000 m, of which the highest
point is Phia Oac mountain (Phia Oac peak) with an altitude of 1935 m, highest point m
in Cham Chu is 1.587 (Cham Chu peak), highest point in Bac Me is 1463 m and thehighest point in Nam Xuan Lac is 1346 m.
(3). Climate
Located in both a temperate and a tropical zone, Vietnam's climate is characterized
by strong monsoon influences but has a considerable amount of sun, a high rate ofrainfall, and high humidity. In the north, the climate is monsoon-influenced humid
subtropical climate (Koppen: Cwa) with four distinct seasons (spring, summer, autumn,
and winter).
The Northeast region includes the northern and northeastern provinces such as
Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Hoa Binh, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Phu Tho, Cao Bang, Lang Son,
Bac Kan, Thai Nguyen, and Quang Ninh. The climate in this region is strongly
influenced by the northeast monsoon. Winters are cold, cloudy (little sunshine) that ischaracterized by drizzle. The cold comes earlier than other provinces. Summers are hot
and rainy that coincide with the rainy season. However, unlike the northwest, dry
conditions are rare due to a low frequency of westerly winds. The rainy season usually7

lasts from May–September although its duration can vary from 4 to 10 months. In the
Hoang Lien Son mountains, winters are cold where snowfall and hoarfrost canoccasionally occur. These mountains have the highest rainfall in the country. Mean
annual temperatures are around 23 °C in which the coldest month has a mean
temperature of 16 °C and the hottest month has a mean temperature of 28 °C. Averageannual rainfall is approximately 1,800 mm
Table 2. Climate characteristics according to meteorological stations in the study areaand study sites (According to Nguyen Quang Truong, 2021 and statistics)
Name

Elevation(m a.s.l.)

Ha GiangNguyen Binh
Cao Bang
Trung Khanh
Cho RaNgan Son
Dinh Hoa
Lang Son
Cham
Chu
Reserve (Tuyen
Quang)

118
208
258
520
210
566
220
258

Temperature (oC)AnnualRange
averagemonthly
average
22.7
15.4–27.8
20.3
12.3–26.1
21.6
14.0–27.3
19.9
11.7–26.0
22.0
14.1–27.5
20.1
12.3–25.7
22.6
15.3–28.1
21.2
13.3–27.0
24.5
16.8-29.7

Rainfall (mm)AnnualRange
averagemonthly
average
2430.1
31.5–515.6
1763.034.7–312.1
1442.7
16.1–267.1
1646.4
31.6–301.5
1343.518.2–249.4
1593.1
24.8–314.8
1666.914.8–315.1
1391.923.0–255.0
1789.7
15.6-308.5

Averageannualhumidity
(%)
84
82
81
81
83
81
83
82
81

(4) Hydrology
The monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate regime with sloping andheavily cut terrain has created a fairly dense hydrological system, with the main river
basin system in the study area being the Gam River - Lo River belonging to Red River
System. In the study sites, only small rivers and streams flow through, except Bac Me
NR with a part of Na Hang hydropower reservoir (Tuyen Quang).
(5) Soils
The soil of limestone mountains with heavy mechanical composition is tropical
red soil, mainly ferarit soils formed on rock of limestone (low belt, below 700 m above
sea level) or limestone - dolomite (altitudes over 700 m). In the steep and eroding places,
the soil cover is alternated by red soil and black soil on limestone mountains (rendzinasoil) (MARD, 2006).

8

Table 3. Characteristics of soil types in the study area
Cham Chu

Bac MePhia Oac-Phia
Den

Nam Xuan
Lac+ Red and yellow feralit
soil on medium and highmountains (700-1700m)+Yellow feralit soil on
low mountains (300700m)+ Limestone valley soil
+Soil on basin andvalleys+ Group of light yellow humus
soils on sandstone (>900m)+Red-brown soil group on
limestone+ Group of red and yellow soilon clay and metamorphic rocks+ Group of pale yellow soil onsandstone+ Alluvial soil group mainly
distributed along the Gam river+Red-brown feralit soil
on limestone mountains(700-1700m)+Feralite soil is lightyellow in the highmountains+Red yellow soil in low
mountain+Soil on basin andvalleys

+Soil
on
basin
and
valleys+Red-brownsoil group on
limestone

Sources: DARD Tuyen Quang, 2014; DARD Ha Giang, 2016; DARD Cao Bang, 2017;.
UBND Bac Kan, 2013.
(6) Flora
In terms of species composition, the flora of the limestone mountains is a mixtureof many flora, but the main characteristic is the native flora of North Vietnam - South
China, and is also influenced by many different types of flora in the region. Vegetation
on limestone mountains of Vietnam is distributed discontinuously, concentrated in thebelt 300 – 1200 m above sea level (MARD, 2006).
The flora of the limestone mountains is a mixture of many vegetation streams, but
the main characteristic is the indigenous flora of North Vietnam - South China, and at
the same time, it is also influenced by other vegetation streams. Vegetation on limestone
mountains of Vietnam is distributed discontinuously, concentrated in the belt 300 –1200 m above sea level (MARD, 2006). In general, the limestone forest ecosystem
structure includes: (i) Evergreen humid tropical monsoon rainforest; (ii) Evergreen
humid subtropical monsoon rainforest; (iii) Subtropical monsoon semi-deciduous
rainforest; (iv) Evergreen humid tropical shrubland; (v) Evergreen humid subtropical
shrubland.
Among the limestone ecosystems, there are many rare and endemic plant species
that are being assessed at the conservation levels CR (critically endangered), EN(endangered) and VU (Vulnerable), especially especially gymnosperms and orchids.
The valuable species, both economically and for conservation, can be mentioned, suchas Nghien (Excentrodendron tonkinense) and Trai (Garcinia fagraeoides), Kim Giao
(Podocarpus fleuryi) and Ngoc Am (Cupressus torulosus, C. funebris), Po mu (Fokienia
hodginsii), Thong Pa co (Pinus kwangtungensis), Bach vang (Cupressus vietnamensis),Tue (Cycas spp.), Lan hai (Paphiopedilum spp.), Binh voi (Stephania spp.)…
(7). Fauna
9Due to the diversity and special topography, the fauna on limestone mountains
also has many unique characteristics. As for the fauna, due to the difficult and complex
terrain, the fauna also has its own characteristics, especially the species capable ofmoving independent of the ground such as primates, squirrels, birds, bats, etc. ... andspecies whose life depends heavily on caves and crevices created on limestone such as
bats, snakes, swallows,...
According MARD (2006), the richest biodiversity is bats of the order Chiropterawith about 50 species living in large caves; The order Primates has 16 species andsubspecies, including endemic species on limestone mountains such as: Douc langur(Trachypethucus trancoisii delacouri), langur (Trachypithecus trancoisii phicephalus),snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus avunculus), gibbon (Hylobates concolor); Theorder Carnivora has 8 species such as sun bears, civets and wildcats; The order Eventoed clogs (Artiodactyla) have 5 species such as musk deer, gills, chamois, wild boar
and salamander; The most diverse order of bird is the Passeriformes and endangered
species such as white pheasant (Lophura nycthemera), wild boar owl (Phodilus badius),
magpie (Pica pica), white-tailed blue-tailed chicken (Lophura hatinhensis); There are
17 species of amphibians and reptiles, of which the king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah)
is endemic and has high economic value, and the yellow-fronted box turtle(Cistoclemmys galbinifrons), and the golden mountain turtle (Indotestudo elongata) are
species of endangered species. In the endangered status, all 17 species are rare species
listed in the Red Book and CITES; The four major insect orders are the order
Lepidoptera, the order Coleoptera, the order Orthoptera and the order Diptera, in which
the indicator species belong to the subfamily of Ladybugs (Cassidinae), Family leaf
beetles (Chrysomelidae - Coleoptera) and mantises (Mantis religiosa).
The flora and founa in the study sites is shown in the Table 4.
Table 4. Summary of flora and founa in the study site

Flora

Cham Chu

Bac MePhia Oac-Phia
Den

Nam Xuan Lac

906 species belonging
to 425 genera, 136
families, 5 phyla(2009)

625
speciesbelonging to 388
genera,141
families, 5 phyla(2015)

1287
speciesbelonging to 786
genera, 163 families,
6 phyla (2013 and
2016)

653
speciesbelonging to 440
genera,142
families, 4 phyla

Endangered +VN Red Book +VN Red Book + VN Red Book
Endanger +58
ed plant species belonging to 2007: 36 species 2007: 88 species 2007: 50 species
EN=33; (Animals 15; Birds
55 genera, 36 families (EN=12; VU=24); (CR=4;
species+VN Red Book 2007: +IUCN 2015: 23 VU=48; LC=3);
43 species, 40 genera, species(EN=2; +IUCN 2015: 23
VU=3;
LR=3; species(EN=2;
30 families
LC=14; NT=1);

10

9+; Reptiles 4+)+IUCN 2015: 9
species (Reptiles
2+)

+IUCN 2009: 23
species belonging to
25
genera,16
families;+ND32/CP/2006: 16
species belonging to
15 genera, 15 families+
Decree32/CP/2006: 22
species(IA=5;
IIA=17)

VU=3;
LR=3; +ND32/CP:
LC=14; NT=1);
species+Decree
32/CP/2006:
23
species(IA=11;
IIA=12)

54

Fauna

91
species,
45 194 species, 64 496 species, 95 88 species, 39families, 15 orders
families, 23 orders families, 27 orders families (2016)(2016)

Mammal33 species belonging 44
species 108
species 29
species
to 15 families, 5 belonging to 18 belonging to 27 belonging to 12
ordersfamilies, 7 orders
families, 8 orders
families, 4 orders

Bird

47 species belonging 104
species 302
species 47
species
to 19 families, 8 belonging to 29 belonging to 51 belonging to 21
ordersfamilies, 12 orders families, 15 orders
families, 9 orders

Reptile11 species belonging 22
species 52 species belonging 12
species
to 11 families, 2 belonging to 9 to 10 families, 2 belonging to 6
ordersfamilies, 2 orders
ordersfamilies

Amphibi
an

-

Fish

-

24
species 34 species belonging
belonging to 8 to 7 families, 2 orders
families, 2 orders-

Endange +VN Red Book 2007:
31 species (Mammal
redanimals 20; Bird 3; Reptile 8);+VN Red Book
2007: 22 species(Mammal15;+IUCN 2015: 18 Birds 1; Reptiles 5;
species (Mammal 18; Amphibian 1);+IUCN 2015: 18
Bird 1; Reptile 4);
species (Mammal
10;
Bird
0;
Reptiles4;
Amphibian
4);+ND32/CP:
22
species (Mammal
15; Bird 2; Reptile
5);

-

-

-

+VN Red Book
2007: 51 (Mammal
30; Bird 6; Reptile
12; Amphibian 3)+ND32/CP:41
species (Mammal 22;
Bird 9; Reptile 10);+VN Red Book
2007:
23
(Mammal 12; Bird
6; Reptile 5)+ND32/CP:
21
species (Mammal
13, Bird 3, Reptile
5);+IUCN: 21 species(Mammal 13; Bird
5; Reptile 3);

Note:+ IUCN: EX: Extinct; EW: Extinct in the wild; CR: Critically endangered; EN:
Endangered; VU: Vulnerable; LR: Lower risk; DD: Thiếu dữ liệu (Data dificient); NE:
Not evaluated.
+ Vietnam Red Book + NĐ/32-CP: CR (Critically endangered); EN (Endangered); VU(Vulnerable); LC.
Sources: DARD Tuyen Quang, 2014; DARD Ha Giang, 2016; DARD Cao Bang, 2017;.
UBND Bac Kan, 2013.

11

The main characteristics of species diversity for Cham Chu NR, Bac Me NR, Phia OacPhia Den NP and Nam Xuan Lac NR are presented as follows:1). Flora: In terms of species, Phia Oac-Phia Den NP has the largest number of species(1287 species belonging to 786 genera, 163 families, 6 phylums), equal to 140% of thosein Cham Chu NR (906 species belonging to 425 genera, 136 families, 5 phylums) andabout 545% of those in Bac Me NR (91 species, 45 families, 15 orders) and nearly 564%
of those in Nam Xuan Lac NR (906 species belonging to 425 genera, 136 families, 5phyla). PO-PD has up to 6 phyla, including gymnosperm (alpine regions), compared with
5 phyla (Cham Chu, Bac Me) and 4 phyla (Nam Xuan Lac). Regarding the number ofendangered species: Phia Oac-Phia Den NP has the largest number of species (90 species)
significantly larger than Cham Chu (58 species), Nam Xuan Lac (50 species) and Bac Me(36 species).
2). Fauna: Regarding the number of species, Phia Oac-Phia Den NP has the largest
number of species (496 species, 95 families, 27 orders), equal to 256% of those in Bac
Me NR (194 species, 64 families, 23 orders), and 545% of those in Cham Chu NR (91species, 45 families, 15 orders) and nearly 564% of those in Nam Xuan Lac NR (88species, 39 families). Regarding the number of endangered species, according to theVietnam Red Book, Phia Oac-Phia Den NP has the largest number of species (51 species)
significantly larger than Cham Chu NR (31 species), Nam Xuan Lac NR (23 species) andBac Me NR (22 species).
2.3.2. Socio-economic condition of study areas(1). Protected areas system in Vietnam
According to the Vietnam Environment Administration (MONRE, 2020), the system ofprotected areas in Vietnam can be divided into three groups: (i) The system of specialuse forests (according to the 2017 Forestry Law); (ii) System of Nature Reserves(according to the BD Law); (iii) The system of marine Nature Reserve (according to the
Law on Fisheries 2017 and the Law on Biodiversity 2008); (iv) Wetland Nature Reserve
system according to Decree No. 66/2019/ND-CP (July 29, 2019) and the Law on
Biodiversity.
According to the national master plan on special-use forests to 2020, with a vision to2030 (Prime Minister/Thu tuong, 2014), the special-use forest system covers
2,462,592.33 hectares out of a total of 14.6 million hectares of forested land, with 176
special-use forests, including 34 national parks, 133 nature reserves (nature preserves,species and habitat conservation areas and landscape protection areas) and 9 scientificresearch and experimental forests (See Table 6). Vietnam's special-use forest system is
distributed over all local ecological zones and the study sites (Cham Chu, Bac Me, Phia
Oac-Phia Den and Nam Xuan Lac) are part of this Special-use Forest system.
12

Table 5. The special-use forest system divided by type in Vietnam
No

RegionNational
park(number)

NatureReserve(number)

Research
Forest Sites(number)

Total

12

1

13

1

North West

2

North East

7

40

3

50

3

Red River Delta

4

9

2

15

4

Central North

5

22

1

28

5

Central Coasts

6

Tay Nguyen

6

9

1

16

7

South East

6

9

1

16

8

Mekong Delta

6

13

Total

34

133

18

19

6
9

176

Source: Thủ tướng (Prime Minister), 2014.
The development history of protected areas in the study sites is presented in Table 6. The
process of establishing a protected area usually includes the following steps; i). The
project proposal for developing a protected area, including the biodiversity value; ii).
Adjustment of protected areas/special-use forests in the planning of 3 types of forests(special-use forests, protection forests and production forests); iii). Planning andsustainable development of the protected areas, including consolidating the entire
management apparatus. In fact, since 2012, the organization and management board are
been improved, so the works of forest protection and biodiversity conservation are
implemented.
Table 6. Development history of protected areas for study sites

Decision on
establishmentof protected
areas

Cham Chu

Bac MePhia Oac-Phia
Den

Nam Xuan Lac+2001: Project proposal
to develop Cham Chu
special-use
forest(1536/QD-UBND)+ 2008: Establishment ofForest Ranger District for
Cham Chu Special-use(408/QD-UBND)+2012: Adjusting forest
protection
anddevelopment planning,+1994:
Establishment
of Bac Me
Nature Reserve
by Ha Giang
province(648/QD)+2013:
Adjusting theplanning for 3
types of forests,+2013:
Establishment of
PO-PD NR by
Cao
Bang
province (10,261ha) (1502/QD)+2015: Adjusting
the planning of 3
types of forests,
includingNR+2004:
Project
proposal to develop
Nam Xuan Lac NR(342/QD-UB)+2007:
Establishment ofManagement
Board of Nam
Xuan Lac NR (core1,788 ha, buffer13

including Cham Chu including NR (10,593
special-use
forest (area: 9,016.3 (415/QD)(1770/QD)hain
3communes)(1981/2013)

Conservation
Planning andsustainable
development+2014:
Reportfor
Planning for conservation
andsustainable
development of Cham
Chu NR until 2020
(734/QD-UBND) (total
15,262.3 ha (Ham Yen
district: 6,168.4 ha,
Chiem Hoa district:
9,093.9 ha).

+2016: Reporton conservationand sustainable
development
planning of Bac
Menaturalreserveuntil2020ha) 7,508
ha)(342/QD-UB)+2007: Adjusting
the planning of 3
types of forests in
Bac Kan province,
including the NR(757/2007/QDUBND)+2017: Report onthedetailed
planningoftransforming POPD natural reserve
into PO-PD NP (5communes/towns)

2012: Report on
Conservation andSustainable
Development
Planning of Nam
Xuan Lac NR for
the period 20132020

In terms of functional zoning, these study sites have a small area, from more than 8,000
hectares (Bac Me), to more than 10,000 hectares (Phia Oac - Phia Den), up to more than
15,000 hectares (Cham Chu) and the largest is more than 18,000 ha (Nam Xuan Lac) andthey are divided into functional zones such as Strictly Protected, Ecological Restoration
and Administrative-service Areas (See Table 7). However, this boundary is often not
clearly defined in the field, so people have easy access to them that make the management
and protection of forests in the protected areas difficult.
Table 7. Some main characteristics of protected areas in the study sites
Features

Cham
Chu(TuyenQuang)
Chu
Officialname Chamofand year of Reserve
Speciesandestablishment
Habitat
Conservation(2001/2014)
Area (ha)15,590.9(strictly
protected/Ecolo (10,757.6/3,86
2.2/642.5)
gical
Restoration/Ad
ministration)

Bac MeGiang)(Ha Phia Oac-Phia
Den
(Cao
Bang)
Bac Me Nature Phia Oac-Phia
Reserve,
Den
National(1994/2016)
Park(1994/2018)

8,791.80

14

Nam Xuan Lac(Bac Kan)

10.593,4

Nam Xuan Lac
ReserveofSpeciesandHabitat
Conservation(2003/2018)
18,504(4.035,5/6.417,
1/140,9)(2.547,04/1.586,12/9,04

Yen
Thuan,
Phu Luu (HamYen district),Ha
Lang,
Trung Ha, Hoa
Phu(Chiem
Hoa district) (5communes)
15.913 (year
Population
2014)(people)Main
ethnic Tay (60%),
Dao (22%),
group
Kinh (12%)
Khác (6%)(year 2014)
Administrative
unit(commune/distri
ct)

Lac Nong, Minh
Ngoc, Thuong
Tan (Bac Me
district)(3
communes)

9.198
(year
2014)
Tay
(42%),
H’mông (41%),Dao(10%),
Kinh(3%),
others(1%)(year 2014)

Thanh
Cong,
Quang Thanh,
PhanThanh,
Hung Dao, Tinh
Tuc
(NguyenBinh district) (5communes/tow
n)
8.289
(year
2016)
Dao (47,2%),
Nung (20,3%),Kinh (17,8%),
Tay(13,8%),
H’mong (0,9%)

Ban Thi, Dong
Lac, Xuan Lac(ChoDon
district)(3
communes)

7.608 (11/2012)
Dao, H’mong,Tay, Nung, Hoa(90%),
Kinh(10%)(11/2012)

Sources: DARD Tuyen Quang, 2014; DARD Ha Giang, 2016; DARD Cao Bang, 2017;.
UBND Bac Kan, 2013.
In terms of administrative management, these protected areas are usually located in theadministrative areas of 3 communes (Bac Me, Nam Xuan Lac) or 5 communes/towns(Cham Chu, Phia Oac - Phia Den). The local authority directly managing these Nature
Reserves and National Park is the People's Committees of communes and towns in thesites, in which the Commune People's Committee is the lowest administrative unit inVietnam (there are 4 levels, including national and provincial, district and commune).
The villages are considered as extention of the commune and the village heads are
responsible for administrative works to support the inhabitants of the villages.
In terms of population, in principle there are no people living in the protected areas, butpeople only live in residential areas of the communes outside the protected areas
boundary. Population and population density are quite low because most protected areas
are located in mountainous and remote areas. The main ethnic groups in these communes
are ethnic people, which are mainly Tay, Mong, Dao and some other ethnic minorities.
2.3.3. Landuse
The current land use status for the study sites is presented in Table 8. Most of the protectedareas are covered by forests, respectively 97.0%, 75.6%, 83.9% and 77.4% in Cham Chu
Reserve, Bac Me Reserve, Phia Oac-Phia Den National Park and Nam Xuan Lac Reserve.
Of these sites, the largest areas of forest on limestone mountains is in Nam Xuan Lac NR(7,219 ha), in Cham Chu NR (2,145.9 ha) and Bac Me NR (1,014.45 ha).

15

Table 8. Landuse in the study sites
Land use/Forest types

Cham Chu

I. Forested land
1. Natural forest in terrestrial
mountains
Mixed wood forest + bamboo
Rich forest
Medium forest
Poor forest
Rehabilitated forest
2. Forest on limestone
Rich forest on limestone
Medium forest on limestone
Poor forest on limestone
Rehabilitated forest on limestone

15,119.7
12,923.8

3. Forested plantation
Young plantation
II. No-forest land
1.No-forest land in terr. mountains
Bareland with bushes (Ia, Ib)
Bareland with wood regrowth (Ic)
2. No-forest land on limestone
Bareland with bushes (Ia, Ib)
Bareland with wood regrowth (Ic)
III. Other land

49.9
49.9
143.1
90.1
90.1

Other land
Agriculture
Total

Bac Me6,649.81
4,620.30
12.89

2,145.9

53.0
53.0
328.7
92.9
235.8
15,590.9

812.942,543.00
1,251.47
2,014.45
62.11
825.191,127.15
15.06
15.06
1,771.91
1,661.78
702.51
959.27110.1325.67
84.46
370.087.11
362.97
8,791.80

Phia Oac-Phia
Den8883.97841.7

Nam Xuan Lac

1791.31280.0331.24439.2
278.1

764.1
764.1
1678.6
1,678.6
1085.7592.9

30.9

10593.4

14,316
6,389
1,761
600
96
3,932
7,219
1,864
264
4,903
188
708
708
2,552
916
756
60
60
1,636
367
1,269
18,504

Sources: DARD Tuyen Quang, 2014; DARD Ha Giang, 2016; DARD Cao Bang, 2017;.
UBND Bac Kan, 2013.

Table 9. National conservation and development policies
Main policy
1.Sustainable
development

Law

Strategy

Planning Law Agenda 21 (2004);(2018)
Sustainabale
development strategy
for 2011-2020 (2011);
Social-Economic
Development Stratgy

16

Planning

Plan/Action plan
Implementation plan forthe 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development(17 SDG) (2017)for 2011-2020; Green
Growth Stratgy (2013)

2.Biodiversity Biodiversity
conservation Law (2008)

3.Forest
protection
andutilization

Biodiversity Strategy

National
Biodiversity
Planning (2013)

Forestry Law Strategy
for(2018)
developmentof
National Parks (2006)

Reforestation
Program(327/661, 5 million ha offorest)Decree for payment offorestenvironmental
services (NĐ 99)

Table 10. Conservation and development policies for the study sites
Main policies

Cham Chu(Tuyen Quang)

Bac Me (HaGiang)

Phia Oac-Phia
Den (CaoBang)

1.Sustainable
development

Action plan for
implementation of
National action
plan forimplementation of
the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable
Development(2017)

Action plan for
implementationof National
action plan for
implementationof the 2030
Agenda for
Sustainable
Development(2017)

Action plan of
Cao Bang
Provincial
People'sCommittee to
implement the2030 Agenda
for Sustainable
Development(2018)

2.Biodiversity
conservation

Biodiversity
conservation
planning ofTuyen Quang
province in the
period of 20132020 andorientation to2030 (2013)

Biodiversity
conservation
planning of Ha
Giang province
to 2020,
orientation to2030 (2015)

Biodiversity
conservation
planning in Cao
Bang province
to 2020,
orientation to2030 (2014)17

Nam Xuan Lac (Bac
Kan)

Biodiversity conservation
planning of Bac Kan
province to 2020,
orientation to 2030 (2017)

Adjustment of the
3.Forest
protection and planning forforest protection
utilizationand development
in Tuyen Quang
province for theperiod 20112020,
supplementing theplanning up to2025 (2016)

Planning forconservationand sustainable
development ofspecial-use
forests in Ha
Giang province
until 2020(2016)

Forestprotection anddevelopment
planning in Cao
Bang province
in the period of2013 -2020(2015)-Forest protection anddevelopment planning in
Bac Kan province for theperiod 2009-2015,
orientation to 2020 (2009)

Planning forconservation andsustainable
development ofCham Chu habitatand species
conservation
reserve (2014)

Planning forconservationand sustainable
development ofspecial-use
forests,
including Bac
Me Nature
Reserve (2016)

Decision toestablish Phia
Oac-Phia Den
National Park,
Nguyen Binh
district, Cao
Bang province(2018)-Planning for conservationand sustainable
development of Nam Xuan
Lac Species and Habitat
Conservation Reserve, Bac
Kan province in the periodof 2013 - 2020 (2018).

4. Policy fornature reserveand nationalpark-Plan to implement the 3year program ofsustainable forestry
development in Bac Kan
province (2018-2020)(2018)-Decision on establishmentof Nam Xuan Lac Species
and Habitat Conservation
Reserve (324/QD-UBND,
March 17, 2004)

2.4. Group’s purpose and subjects- To provide and manage baseline spatial database for all other research groups withpurpose to integrate their results;- To study land cover/land use change and its causes derived from socio-economic
development in the northern mountain region of Vietnam;- To develop the maps of ecosystem services to support policies for biodiversity
conservation and sustainable development in the region;- To technically support biological groups for managing their spatial data for species
distribution maps upon their requirements and needs.

18

2.5. Materials and methods and time frame
2.5.1. Document, materials, data, map and remote sensing images acquirement(1) Document and secondary data collection
Documents and data needed to be collected related to the study sites include: 1).
Local (provincial, district) policies and legal documents on socio-economic
development, land use, biodiversity conservation/forest protection, payment for forest
environmental services; 2). Scientific reports related to local socio-economic
development (province, district, commune), land use, biodiversity conservation/forest
protection, payment for forest environmental services; 3). Documents relating to, socioeconomic planning, conservation, use and exploitation of natural resources related tothe study area; 4). Statistical data on socio-economic situation, forest protection,afforestation and forest exploitation, payment for forest environmental services related
to the study area.
(2) Collection and acquirement of digital maps for study sites
Digital maps relevant to the study site are collected and purchased, including: 1).
Land use maps/forest status maps of the 4 provinces (Tuyen Quang, Ha Giang, Cao
Bang, Bac Kan) corresponding to the NRs/National Parks in the study area; Land use
maps, forest maps of study areas, especially digital maps of the forest database ofVietnam managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (e.g. Sector
Data System forestry at http://maps.vnforest.gov.vn/vn); 2). Planning and conservation
maps for the NRs/National Parks in the study area; 3). Other relevant background maps
(administration, topography, climate, soil, hydrology ...).
This information supports satellite image mapping and analysis of landuse andchanges for the study site.
(3) Collection and acquirement of remote sensing images
Data sources for land cover-land use mapping in this research are US Landsat
images taken over the area of the 4 sites. These images are free and downloaded fromthe United States Geological Survey (USGS) website: https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov. A
series of 24 Landsat scenes since 1980s was downloaded for quality evaluations. For
each research site, a set of 4 Landsat scenes (Table 11) at 10 years interval was finalized
for land cover-land use interpretation and analysis. These images have least effects ofatmospheric conditions (haze, cloud cover) to ensure quality, and have similar
times/seasons of acquisition for compatible identification of land cover – land use types.

19

Table 11. Basic information of Landsat images obtained for the research
Year

Satellite

Scene/ Image ID

Spatialresolution

No. ofbands

Cham Chu and Nam Xuan Lac Reserve
1986

Landsat 5

LT05_L1TP_127045_19860701_20170221_01_T1.tar(for Cham Chu Reserve)

30m

7

1989

Landsat 5

LT05_L1TP_127045_19891130_20170201_01_T1.tar(for Nam Xuan Lac Reserve)

30m

7

1998

Landsat 5

LT05_L1TP_127045_19981107_20161220_01_T1.tar

30m

7

2007

Landsat 5

LT05_L1TP_127045_20070524_20161115_01_T1.tar

30m

7

2017

Landsat 8

LC08_L1TP_127045_20170604_20170615_01_T1.tar

30m

7Bac Me Nature Reserve and Phia Oac-Phia Den National Park
1988

Landsat 5

LT05_L1TP_127044_19881111_20170221_01_T1

30m

7

1998

Landsat 5

LT05_L1TP_127044_19981022_20161222_01_T1

30m

7

2009

Landsat 5

LT05_L1TP_127044_20091105_20161018_01_T1

30m

7

2019

Landsat 8

LC08_L1TP_127044_20190930_20191018_01_T1

30m

7(Sources: https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov )These Landsat scenes have been subsetted for the area of study sites.
2.5.2. Methods used
2.5.2.1. Desk study
To facilitate the study on land use/land cover change and ecosystem services, all
documents and data collected are classified and used according to the content,
timeline and type as follows: 1). Policy system on biodiversity/forest resource
conservation, environmental protection, socio-economic development and response to
climate change; 2). Reports on ecosystems and biodiversity at local protected areas;
3). The documents directly related to study sites.
2.5.2.2. Methods of remote sensing, GIS and cartography
Remote sensing method is used to acquire the remote sensing imagery, interprete
and analyse and develop map of land use change. Specifically, this method will apply

20

for Cham Chu, Bac Me, Nam Xuan Lac Nature Reserves and Phia Oct- Phia Den
National Park.
For each study site, 4 times of remote sensing image were selected, namely yearsof 1986, 1998, 2007 and 2017 for Cham Chu and Nam Xuan Lac Nature Reserves,and years of 1988, 1998, 2009 and 2019 for Bac Me Nature Reserve and Phia OacPhia Den with a time interval of about 10 years to be able to assess land use changes
for 30 years.
GIS and cartography methods are also used to present the resulted map.
Land cover mapping for Cham Chu, Bac Me, Nam Xuan Lac Reserves and Phia
Phia Oac-Phia Den national park from remote sensing images
The methodology that was used to create the baseline land-cover map of thereserve is divided into two parts, a methodology for carrying out the ground surveys
and a methodology for classifying the satellite imagery into the land-cover classes.
a) Ground survey data collection
Two field surveys were carried out in each study site by a team of scientists
consisting of GIS specialists, and geographers. During the field surveys, a Garmin
GPS receiver was used to record coordinates of survey points and tracks. These points
and tracks were imported to ArcView GIS software for the purpose of mapping visitedareas.
At each survey point picture(s) of the survey location was taken, and vegetationin the area was identified. The aim of the ground surveys was to collect land cover
data over the area. This data was used to classify the satellite imagery into thedifferent land-cover classes and also to verify the accuracy of the land-cover maps
produced.
b) Remote sensing land cover map development
In order to develop a land cover map of the area from the satellite image and theground survey data, a number of steps were followed. The steps are briefly described
below:-The ground survey data was organized into a database with the following
fields: the point identification, the location of the GPS point (in easting andnorthing) and distanced point(s) (calculated from distant from GPS location
and bearing to the North), a description of the land-cover in the immediate
vicinity of the point and the distanced point(s), a picture of the point anddistanced point(s).

-A base map of the area was collected and transformed to UTM Zone 48,
WGS84 datum.

-

The satellite images were rectified to the base map, so that the ground survey
data can be located on the images.

-

Examples of each land-cover class were identified on the image and "training
21

sets" for the computer to use in classifying the image were created.
-

A supervised classification of the satellite images was done. This divided thearea on the satellite image into the land-cover categories decided upon during
the field survey.

-

An accuracy assessment of the classified satellite image was done.

-

Land-cover maps for the area were created.

-

A statistical analysis of the land cover for the area was completed. This
analysis acts as a baseline for any future monitoring of land-cover change
within the area.
c) Remote sensing imagery classification

The classification of land-cover in the study area is based both on the structuralappearance of the vegetation and on ecological processes. The classification isdependent on the experience of the researchers and on technical limitations, such as thesatellite image resolution. 1 These two variables ultimately define the detail of theclassification.
During fieldwork, it was recognized that the land-cover could be divided sixclasses. These classes are (1) Close forest; (2) Open forest; (3) Bush mixed with small
woody tree and grass; (4) Open bare land; (5) Irrigated rice paddy; and (6) Water. A
short description of each of these classes follows:
Class 1: Close forest: this is both primary forest (such as tropical humid evergreen
forest and subtropical humid subtropical evergreen forest on terrestrial land andlimestone), which is only found within the reserve, and secondary, or disturbed forest
which has human impacts (swiddening and/or selected logging) long time ago. In mostplaces where this type of forest exists it has multi-stories woody trees, large canopy andcover most of ground surface.
Class 2: Open forest: this is regenerated forest as results of human exploitation of
evergreen broad-leaved forest. This type of forest has only one story and is dominatedby medium woody tree mixed with bushes and low coverage. It can be found in former
upland areas or clear-cut areas after 7-10 years, and in low hills closed to residential
area in the form of well-developed plantation.
Class 3: Bush mixed with small woody tree, vines and grass. This land-cover typecan be found everywhere in the buffer zone of the reserve. This is resulted from thecontinuous impact of humans on primary forest or regenerated forest.
Class 4: Open bare land. This type of land cover associates with human agroforestry activities. As a result it has no vegetation coverage. This land-cover type can1

As an example, because the final land-cover map will be derived from satellite imagery with a resolution of 30
meters on the ground, there are limitations regarding how detailed the final land-cover map can be, and only
land-cover patches of greater than 60 x 60 meters will be reliably classified.

22

be found in areas where are newly harvested agriculture field, and forest/plantation
has been clear cut or burned down.
The other land-cover classes are class 5 (paddy - irrigated rice paddy) and class 6(water – lakes, large streams and rivers).

Figure 3. GPS points and tracks collected during the field research for study sites(Cham Chu Reserve, Bac Me Reserve, Phia Oac-Phia Den National Park and Nam
Xuan Lac Reserve)
2.5.2.3. Benefits transfer method for ecosystem service estimation
The general methodology to estimate ecosystem services (provisioning,
regulating, supporting and cultural) is to combine methods of remote sensing, GIS andvalue transfer method and descriptive statistical methods, used for research sites.
One of the methods of evaluating ecosystem services, which are applied to theassessment of an overall ecosystem service, in the context of limited data andresources, is the value transfer method or benefits transfer method 2. Benefits transfer
method (BT) is short-cut method for generating economic value estimates for2

See http://www.aboutvalues.net/method_database/23

ecosystem services based on the use of appropriately adjusted primary valuation
estimates from other studies.
This method can be applied to estimate all the ecosystem services, but the use ofthis method depends on the location of the study site and the objective of theevaluation. The strength of this approach is generally lower cost with quantitative
studies that collect primary data, which are conducted relatively quickly and can beused as a pre-evaluation technique before carrying out larger studies. The limitation ofthis method is that it depends much on the results of available studies, which aresuitable or similar to your study site, as with the nature reserve or national park.
The linkage between ecosystem services being (provisioning, regulating,supporting and cultural) and human well-being are presented in Figure 4 below.

Figure 4. The linkage between Ecosystem Service and Human Well-being (MA, 2005)

The method of value transfer (Rudolf de Groot et al., 2012, Table 1, page 55) is used to
calculate the Indexes of ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, cultural andsupporting) for different types of land use (Close Forest, Open Forest, Bush,
Agricultural land/Paddy, Fresh water) for study sites (Cham Chu NR, Bac Me NR, Phia
Oac-Phia Den NP and Nam Xuan Lac NR). Some indexes/functions not defined by deGroot et al., (2012) were added from the methodology developed by Costanza et al.,24(1997: Table 2, p 256) for Function for Pollination (regulating ecosystem service) forthe land use type is Agricultural land/Paddy. The index/function of the ecosystemservice provided by the agricultural land/Paddy land use type is estimated from thestatistics of production value (VND converted to USD) per 1 hectare of arable land.
Table 12 presents monetary values for provisioning ecosystem service per land use type
(Close forest, Open forest, Bushes/Grassland, Bushes/Grassland, Bareland,
Agricultural land / Paddy, Fresh water) derived from analysis of remote sensing image
for study sites.
Table 12. Summary of monetary values for provisioning ecosystem service (inUSD/ha/year) by land use type for study sites
No
1

2

3

4

Provisioning Ecosystem services bylanduse type
Close forest, including+ Food+ Water+ Raw materials+ Genetic resources+ Medicinal resources
Open forest, including+ Food+ Water+ Raw materials+ Genetic resources+ Medicinal resources
Bushes/Grassland, including+ Food+ Water+ Raw materials
BarelandValue(USD/ha/year)
1828
200
27
84
13
1504
1828
200
27
84
13
1504
1305
1192
60
53
0

5a
3290*
Agricultural land/Paddy (Cham Chu
NR)

5b1340.8**Agricultural land/Paddy (Bac Me NR)

5cAgricultural land/Paddy (Phia Oac-Phia
Den NP)

25

270***

SourceRudolf de Groot et al.,2012: Table 1, p 55

Rudolf de Groot et al.,2012: Table 1, p 55

Rudolf de Groot et al.,2012: Table 1, p 55

Estimated for Cham Chu
Reserve from Statistical
yearbooks of Ham Yen
and Chiem Hoa districtsin 2017 (Tuyen Quang
province)
Estimated for Bac MeReserve from Statistical
yearbooks of Bac Me
distric(Ha
Giang
province)
Estimated for PO-PD
nationalpark
fromStatistical yearbooks of
Cao Bang province)

5dAgricultural land/Paddy (Nam Xuan
Lac)

6

Fresh water (River, lake), including+ Food+ Water

Estimated for Bac MeReserve from Statistical
2333,2
yearbooks of Cho Don
district for 2017) (53.5
million VND/ha huyện
ChợĐồn)(1USD=22930VNĐ)(2333.2USD)
Rudolf de Groot et al.,1914
106 2012: Table 1, p 55
1808

* Values of cropland per hectare per year for 2017 are mean values for Ham Yen andChiem Hoa districts.
Table 13 presents monetary values for regulating ecosystem service per land use type
(Close forest, Open forest, Bushes/Grassland, Bushes/Grassland, Bareland,
agricultural land / Paddy, Fresh water) derived from analysis of remote sensing image
for study sites.
Table 13. Summary of monetary values for regulating ecosystem service (inUSD/ha/year) by land use type for study sites
Regulating Ecosystem services by
Value (USD/ha/year)
SourceNo123

landuse type
Close forest, including(i) Air quality regulation(ii) Climate regulation(iii) Disturbance moderation(iv) Regulation of water flow(v) Waste treatment(vi) Erosion prevention(vii) Nutrient cycling(viii) Pollination(ix) Biological control
Open forest, including(i) Air quality regulation(ii) Climate regulation(iii) Disturbance moderation(iv) Regulation of water flow(v) Waste treatment(vi) Erosion prevention(vii) Nutrient cycling(viii) Pollination*(ix) Biological control
Bushes/Grassland, including(ii) Climate regulation(v) Waste treatment(vi) Erosion prevention(viii) Pollination*

2529

2529

184

26

Rudolf de Groot et
12 al., 2012: Table 1, p
2044 55
66
342
6
15
3
30
11
Rudolf de Groot et
12 al., 2012: Table 1, p
2044 55;
66
342
6
15
3
30
11
Rudolf de Groot et
40 al., 2012: Table 1, p
75 55; Costanza et al.,
44 1997: Table 2, p
25 256,

4
5
6

NA

BarelandCostanza et al.,25 1997: Table 2, p
256,
Rudolf de Groot et
187 al., 2012: Table 1, p
55

25

Agricultural land/Paddy, including(viii) Pollination*Fresh water (River, lake), including(iv) Regulation of water flow

187

*Source: Costanza et al., 1997: Table 2, p 256,
Table 14 presents monetary values for supporting ecosystem service per land use type
(Close forest, Open forest, Bushes/Grassland, Bushes/Grassland, Bareland,
agricultural land / Paddy, Fresh water) derived from analysis of remote sensing image
for study sites.
Table 14. Summary of monetary values for supporting ecosystem service (inUSD/ha/year) by land use type for study sites
N
Supporting Ecosystem services byolanduse type
1 Close forest, including+ Nursery service+ Genetic diversity
2 Close forest, including+ Nursery service+ Genetic diversity
3 Bushes/Grassland, including+ Nursery service+ Genetic diversity
4
Bareland5
6

Value (USD/ha/year)
39

39

1214

SourceRudolf de Groot et al.,
16 2012: Table 1, p 55
23
Rudolf de Groot et al.,
16 2012: Table 1, p 55;
23
Rudolf de Groot et al.,
- 2012: Table 1, p 55;
1214

NA
NA

Agricultural land/Paddy
Fresh water (River, lake)NA

Costanza et al., 1997:
Table 2, p 256,
Rudolf de Groot et al.,2012: Table 1, p 55

*Source: Costanza et al., 1997: Table 2, p 256,
Table 15 presents monetary values for cultural ecosystem service per land use type
(Close forest, Open forest, Bushes/Grassland, Bushes/Grassland, Bareland,
agricultural land / Paddy, Fresh water) derived from analysis of remote sensing image
for study sites.
Table 15. Summary of monetary values for cultural ecosystem service (inUSD/ha/year) by land use type for study sites
No
1

Cultural Ecosystem services by landuse
type
Close forest, including
Recreation

27

Value
Source(USD/ha/year)
Rudolf de Groot et al.,
867
867 2012: Table 1, p 55

2
3
4
5
6

Open forest, including
Recreation
Bushes/Grassland, including
Recreation

867
26

Rudolf de Groot et al.,867 2012: Table 1, p 55;
Rudolf de Groot et al.,
26 2012: Table 1, p 55;

NA

BarelandNA

Agricultural land/Paddy, including
Recreation
Fresh water (River, lake), including
Recreation

2166

Rudolf de Groot et al.,2166 2012: Table 1, p 55

*Source: Costanza et al., 1997: Table 2, p 256,
Thus, the monetary values for the entire ecosystem services (provisioning
regulating, cultural, supporting) by land use types for the study sites are presented in
the tables 16, 17, 18 and 19.
Table 16. Summary of monetary values for entire ecosystem services (in USD/ha/year)
by land use type for Cham Chu Reserve

1

Entire ecosystemservices by landuse
type
Close forest

2

Open forest

1,828

2,529

39

867

3

Bushes/Grassland

1,305

184

1,214

26

5,263
5,263
2,729

3,290

25

-

-

3,315

-

-

-

-

-

1,914

187

-

2,166

4,267

No

5

Agriculturalland/Paddy
Bareland6

Fresh water/River

4

Value (USD/ha/year)
Provisioning Regulating Suppoting Cultural
1,828
2,529
39
867

Total

Table 17. Summary of monetary values for entire ecosystem services (in USD/ha/year)
by land use type for Bac Me Nature Reserve
Entire ecosystemNo
services by landuse
type
1 Close forest
2 Open forest
3

Bushes/Grassland

5

Agriculturalland/Paddy
Bareland6

Fresh water/River

4

Value (USD/ha/year)
Provisioning Regulating Suppoting Cultural
1,828

2,529

39

867

1,828

2,529

39

867

1,305

184

1,214

26

1,340.8

25

-

1,914

-

-

28

187

Total

5,263
5,263
2,729

- 1,365.8
2,166

4,267

Table 18. Summary of monetary values for entire ecosystem services (in USD/ha/year)
by land use type for Phia Oac-Phia Den National Park
No
1
2
3
4
5

Value (USD/ha/year)
Entire ecosystemservices by landuse type Provisioning Regulating Suppoting Cultural Total
Close forest
1,828
2,529
39
867 5,263
Open forest
1,828
2,529
39
867 5,263

Bushes/Grassland
Agriculturalland/Paddy
Bareland

1,305

184

1,214

270

25

-

-

295

-

-

-

-

-

26 2,729

Table 19. Summary of monetary values for entire ecosystem services (in USD/ha/year)
by land use type for Nam Xuan Lac Nature Reserve
No

Entire ecosystemservices by landuse type1

Close forest

2

Open forest

3

Bushes/Grassland

5

Agriculturalland/Paddy
Bareland6

Fresh water/River

4

Value (USD/ha/year)
Provisioning Regulating Suppoting Cultural Total
1,828
2,529
39
867 5,263
1,828
2,529
39
867 5,263
1,305

184

1,214

2,333.2

25

-

-

2,358

1,914

-

-

2,166

-

187

26 2,729

4,267

2.6. Results
2.6.1. Landuse and landcover change
2.6.1.1. Landuse and landcover change in Cham Chu Reserve during 1986-2017(1). Landuse/landcover in the communes of Cham Chu Reserve during period 19862017
Cham Chu Nature Reserve is located in the administrative boundaries of 5 communes:
Trung Ha, Ha Lang and Hoa Phu in Chiem Hoa district; Yen Thuan and Phu Luu Ham Yen
district, Tuyen Quang province.
The total area of the reserve is 15,262.3 ha, including 6,168.4 ha in Ham Yen district and9,093.9 ha in Chiem Hoa district. The information related to forest cover is shown in Table 5.

29

Table 20 shows a breakdown of the land-cover in hectares and by percent for the classes
described above for the whole area.
Table 20. Area of land cover-land use of Cham Chu Nature Reserve
1986

1998

2007

2017

Land cover type
(ha)

(%)

(ha)

(%)

(ha)

(%)

(ha)

(%)

Close forest

24,41060.4%

23,96259.2%

23,23057.4%

25,786

63.8%

Open forest

6,199

15.3%

6,581

16.3%

5,806

14.4%

5,122

12.7%

Bush

4,017

9.9%

3,791

9.4%

4,573

11.3%

1,489

3.7%

Open bare land

3,456

8.5%

4,070

10.1%

4,165

10.3%

6,161

15.2%

Paddy

1,905

4.7%

1,854

4.6%

2,471

6.1%

1,775

4.4%

Water

160

0.4%

188

0.5%

115

0.3%

113

0.3%

Cloud cover

297

0.7%

-

0.0%

86

0.2%

-

0.0%

40,445100.0%

40,445100%

40,445100%

40,445100%

Total area

The results for the land-cover classification of Cham Chu Reserve during the last 40
years (1986-2017) indicate forest cover has not been changed much. It suggests that there arelarge areas of the reserve, about 60%, that are still in evergreen forest, either primary
evergreen forest or secondary or disturbed evergreen forest. The areas of evergreen forest thatare far into the core of the reserve are most likely primary forest, probably some of the last
primary forest left in Vietnam. The evergreen forest that is closer to the edge of the reserve orin the buffer area has most likely been selectively logged, or may even, in some cases, besecondary forest that has grown back after a swiddening cycle. Looking at the derived
vegetation maps, it is easily seen that the amount of evergreen forest decreases as one moves
into the buffer area around the reserve.

30

Land use-land cover in Cham Chu Reserve during
1986-2017 (ha)30,00025,00020,00015,00010,000
5,000
0
1988

1998

Close forest

Open forest

2009
Bush

2019
Open bare land

Figure 5. Land use-land cover in Cham Chu Reserve during 1988-2019 (ha)Land use-land cover change in Cham Chu
Reserve during 1986-2017 (%)
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
(2.0)

1986-1998

1998-2007

2007-20191986-2017

(4.0)
(6.0)
(8.0)
(10.0)
Close forest

Open forest

BushOpen bare land

Figure 6. Land use-land cover change in Cham Chu Reserve during 1988-2019 (%)

31

Figure 7. Evolution of land use and land cover change for Cham Chu Reserve during1986 – 2017(2). Landuse and landuse/landcover change by communes of Cham Chu Reserve
during period 1986-2017
Tables 21, 22, 23 and 24 show the current landuse/landcover for 5 communes in
Cham Chu Reserve for 1986, 1998, 2007 and 2007, extracted from analysis of satellite
images.
Table 21. Land use / Land cover for communes of Cham Chu Reserve in 1986.
Unit: HaNo

CommuneNatural
areas
(ha)

Close
forestArea interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)
Open
Bare
Agricultural
BushesWater
forestland
land/Paddy

OthersI

Ham Yen district

16445.7

9883.262304.811807.831506.87818.01124.83

0,09

1

Phu Luu

8913.875163.121357.831030.41761.13536.49

64.8

0,09

2

Yen Thuan

7531.83

4720.14946.98777.42745.74281.52

60.03

0

II

Chiem Hoa district

23999.49

14526.45

3894.66

2209.59

1949.311086.66

35.55

297,27

1

Trung Ha

10285.29

6546.151645.29753.21

842.22440.91

20.34

37,17

2

Ha Lang

7818.57

4805.55

1335.78628.92566.37229.05

10.8

242,1

3

Hoa Phu

5895.633174.75

913.59827.46

540.72

416.7

4.41

18

32

Total40445.19

24409.71

6199.474017.423456.18

1904.67

160.38297.36

Table 22. Land use / Land cover for communes of Cham Chu Reserve in 1998.
Unit: HaNo

CommuneNatural
areas
(ha)

Close
forestArea interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)
Open
Bare
Agricultural
BushesWater
land/ Paddy
forestland

OthersI

Ham Yen district

16445.79243.452338.83

1636.472144.61

931.41150,93-

1

Phu Luu

8913.87

5211.99

1249.38743.4

1046.88599.31

62,91

-

2

Yen Thuan

7531.834031.461089.45893.071097.73

332.1

88,02

-

II

Chiem Hoa district

23999.49

14718.06

4241.972154.78

1925.10922.41

37,17

-

1

Trung Ha

10285.29

6489.18

1681.56867.6

865.08

365.4

16,47

-

2

Ha Lang

7818.57

5219.11290.78590.94505.35

198.63

13,77

-

3

Hoa Phu

5895.633009.781269.63696.24554.67358.38

6,93

-

Total

40445.19

23961.51

6580.803791.254069.71

1853.82

188.10-

Table 23. Land use / Land cover for communes of Cham Chu Reserve in 2007.
Unit: HaNo

CommuneNaturalareas(ha)Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)CloseforestOpen
forestBushesBare land

Agriculturalland/ Paddy

Water

OthersI

Ham Yen district

16445.7

8515.712705.222116.08

1859.131166.04

82.17

1,35

1

Phu Luu

8913.874638.871376.37975.241194.03686.70

42.21

0,45

2

Yen Thuan

7531.83

3876.841328.85

1140.84665.10479.34

39.96

0,90

II

Chiem Hoa district

23999.49

14714.01

3100.682456.822306.071305.00

32.40

84,51

1

Trung Ha

10285.29

6131.971341.721125.541032.57

628.20

15.39

9,90

2

Ha Lang

7818.57

5223.15

979.38641.79534.87355.23

9.90

74,25

3

Hoa Phu

5895.633358.89779.58689.49738.63321.577.11

0,3640445.19

23229.72

5805.904572.904165.202471.04

114.57

85.86

Total

Table 24. Land use / Land cover for communes of Cham Chu Reserve in 2017.
Unit: HaNo

CommuneNaturalareas (ha)Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)CloseforestOpen
forestBushesBare land

Agricultur
al land/
Paddy

Water

OthersI

Ham Yen district

16445.7

9514.172376.45452.253222.45788.76

91,62

-

1

Phu Luu

8913.875249.34

942.57264.42

1949.40466.74

41,40

-

33

2

Yen Thuan

7531.834264.831433.88

187.83

1273.05

322.02

50,22

-

II

Chiem Hoa district

23999.49

16271.46

2745.631037.072938.32

986.13

20,88

-

1

Trung Ha

10285.29

6208.38

1359.72

629.82

1624.41455.587,38-

2

Ha Lang

7818.57

5893.92

769.68260.73662.67223.83

7,74-

3

Hoa Phu

5895.634169.16616.23146.52651.24306.72

5,76

-

Total

40445.19

25785.63

5122.081489.32

6160.77

1774.89112.50-Figure 8. Land use-land cover in Cham Chu Reserve by commune during 1986-2017(ha)(3). Landuse and landuse/landcover change by altitude of Cham Chu Reserve during
period 1986-2017
The landuse and landcover by altitude in Cham Chu Reserve for the years of
1998, 1998, 2009, 2019 is presented in Tables 25, 26, 27 và 28 and the topographic map
is presented in Figure 9.

34

Figure 9. Topographic map of Cham Chu Reserve
Table 25. Land use / Land cover by altitude of Cham Chu Reserve in 1986
Unit: haAltitude(m)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushes

Bare
land

Agriculturalland/Paddy

Water

OthersTotal

0 - 100

885.82806.09

1,538.35

1,042.98

1,050.63

130.8

8.54

5,463.22

100 - 200

3,602.55

2,727.10

1,545.81

1,049.39

507.22

26.3

14.63

9,472.99

200 - 500

8,233.05

2,358.49

797.62

1,121.15

208.98

9.04

43.66

12,772.00

500 - 1000

8,584.55

261.9276.27

206.08130.43

9.35

238.3

9,506.91

1000 - 1500

3,147.42

9.51

8.7

12.3

14.42

23.09

3,215.45

1500 - 2000

14.63

Total

24,468.02

14.63
6,163.12

3,966.76

3,431.89

1,911.69

175.49328.2240,445.19

Table 26. Land use / Land cover by altitude of Cham Chu Reserve in 1998
Unit: haAltitude(m)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushes

Bare
land

Agricult
uralland/Pa
ddy

Water

OthersTotal

0 - 100

453.94

1,050.63

379.032,014.76

1,396.42

168.63

5,463.41

100 - 200

3,364.45

2,494.41

1,586.94

1,601.11

403.5422.62

9,473.05

35

200 - 500

8,433.29

2,354.03

1,520.46

422.91

30.76

10.45

12,771.91

500 - 1000

8,659.70

513.18210.35

82.89

31.24

9.8

9,507.16

1000 - 1500

3,133.00

39.71

20.87

12.84

7.73

1500 - 2000

15.52

Total

24,059.89

3,214.15
15.52

6,451.96

3,717.65

4,134.50

1,869.69

211.5

40,445.19-

Table 27. Land use / Land cover by altitude of Cham Chu Reserve in 2007
Unit: haAltitude(m)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushes

Bare
land

Agricult
uralland/Pa
ddy

Water

OthersTotal

0 - 100

316.33930.52

1,263.21

1,254.03

1,598.61

94.98

8.64

5,466.31

100 - 200

2,463.88

2,485.83

2,024.79

1,750.42

719.34

23.73

8.26

9,476.25

200 - 500

8,450.54

1,978.40

1,167.96

1,057.02

103

9.14

9.23

12,775.27

500 - 1000
1000 1500
1500 2000
Total

8,866.30

245.04118.35

91.24

89.84

8.59

91.13

9,510.51

3,177.80

8.43

7.1

8.89

3,202.22

14.62
23,289.47

14.62
5,648.21

4,581.41

4,161.60

2,510.79

136.44117.2640,445.19

Table 28. Land use / Land cover by altitude of Cham Chu Reserve in 2017
Unit: haAltitude(m)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushes

Bare
land

Agricult
uralland/Pa
ddy

Water

OthersTotal

0 - 100

675.3

1,673.90

140.84

1,953.29

923.7998.04

5,465.16

100 - 200

4,266.05

1,780.18

600.422,300.94

505.5

21.91

9,475.00

200 - 500

8,847.90

1,285.30

671.731,800.61

158.66

9.73

12,773.93

500 - 1000
1000 1500
1500 2000

8,866.48

237.9662.5

172.31

159.4610.45

9,509.15

3,177.01

11.52

7.76

Total

25,848.27

10.13

3,206.43

15.52

15.52
4,988.86

1,483.25

6,227.15

36

1,757.54

140.13-40,445.19

Figure 10. Land use-land cover in Cham Chu Reserve by altitude during 1986-2017(ha)
In summary, the characteristics of land use and land cover of Cham Chu Reserve are
the followings:i). In general, the area of close forest (or closed-canopy forest as such evergreen
broad-leaved tropical forest...) has a large coverage, accounting for more than 60%of the area in the communes of the Reserve; Open forest, or the form of degradedclose forest at different levels, accounting for a certain percentage, about 15%, but
this land use type has a decreasing trend, mainly due to the process of naturalregeneration of forests;
In the period 1986-1998 and 1998-2007, the types of land use have not changed much,
but in the period 2007-2017, the area of close forest is increased rapidly due to adecrease in the area of bushes, mainly due to the natural restoration of the forest andreforestation programs and increased bare land, probably due to the expansion ofagricultural crops (orange trees). Thus, in the period 1986-2017, the area of close
forest and bare land also increased, on the basis of a decrease in bush area and open
forest.
ii). By commune, the area of close forest is distributed fairly evenly in the communesof the Cham Chu Reserve, but 2 communes in Chiem Hoa district (Ha Lang andTrung Hoa) have the dominant area; The large areas of bare land, bushes and37

agricultural land (including shifting cultivation) are concentrated in 2 communes Phu
Luu, where the area for oranges is the largest in the Reserve, Yen Thuan commune(Ham Yen district) and Trung Ha commune (Chiem Hoa district).
iii). By altitude, most of close forest are concentrated in the elevation zones ranging
from 200m - 1500m, in which the elevation zone greater than 1500m is covered
mainly by close forest.
Areas of open forest and bushes are concentrated in the high elevation zones ranging
from 100 m – 500 m, where reforestation activities, forest exploitation andagricultural activities are interlinked. The zone ranging from 0m - 100m is mainly
agricultural land and bare land.
2.6.1.2. Landuse and landcover change Bac Me Nature Reserve during 1988-2019
Bac Me Nature Reserve is located in the administrative areas of 3 communes(Minh Ngoc, Lac Nong and Thuong Ta) in Bac Me district, with a total natural area of
8,791.8 ha, of which the forest area is 6,649.81, accounting for 75.6% of the naturalarea; Non-forested land 1,771.91 ha, accounting for 20.2%, the remaining land is water
surface, agricultural land and other land is 370.08 ha (See Figure 11).

Figure 11. Forest cover of Bac Me Nature Reserve (MARD, 2019)38

(1). Landuse and landuse/landcover change in the communes of Bac Me Nature
Reserve during period 1988-2019
Table 29 shows a breakdown of the land-cover for the 3 communes covering Bac Me
Nature Reserve.
Table 29. Area of land use/land cover-for communes of Bac Me Nature Reserve
during 1988-2019
Land covertype
Close forest
Open forest
BushOpen bare land
Paddy
Water
Total area

1988
(ha)
(%)

1998
(ha)
(%)

2009
(ha)
(%)

2019
(ha)
(%)

13,071
2,748
2,989
1,481
581
217
21,087

10,242
4,676
3,544
1,588
830
207
21,087

11,134
4,210
2,818
2,122
331
473
21,087

9,847
4,660
3,395
1,132
1,406
647
21,087

62.0
13.0
14.2
7.0
2.8
1.0
100.0

48.6
22.2
16.8
7.5
3.9
1.0
100

52.8
20.0
13.4
10.1
1.6
2.2
100

46.7
22.1
16.1
5.4
6.7
3.1
100

Source: Remote sensing image analysis data, 2020
Note:
+ During the period 1988-2019, among 21,087 ha of Bac Me Nature Reserve
communes, close forest has the largest area accounting for 62.0%, 48.6%, 52.8% and47.6% of the total area in the years of 1988, 1998, 2009 and 2019, respectively. Open
forest has the second largest area, accounting for 13.0%, 22.2%, 20.0% and 22.1%.
Thus, after 30 years, the area of close forest is decreased by 15.3% and the open forest
increased by 9.1% (See Figure. Graph of changes in land use). For the entire area of the
Nature Reserve’s communes, a part of close forest has been degraded and converted
into open forest, which is in fact the secondary forest and poor forest.
+ In the period 1988-2019, areas of bush have a trend to increase, accounting for14.2% to 16.8%, 13.4% and 16.1% of the total areas in 1988, 1998, 2009 and 2019,respectively while the area of bare land is at first increased from 7.0% in 1988, to 7.5%
in 1998, and to 10.1% in 2009 and then dropped down to 5.4% in 2019. Thus, someareas of bush have converted into bare land, especially in 2019. Other land use, such as
agricultural land/rice fields and water surface, occupy a small percentage and do notchange significantly.
+ In summary, during the past 30 years, close forest is decreased by 15.3%, open
forest increased by 9.1%, bush increased by 1.9%, bare land decreased by 1.6%,
agricultural land increased by 3 .9% and water surface increased by 2.1%.

39

Land use-land cover change in Bac Me Reserve
during 1988-2019 (ha)14,00012,00010,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
1988

1998
Close forest

2009
Open forest

2019
Bush

Figure 12. Land use-land cover in Bac Me Reserve during 1988-2019 (ha)Regarding the landuse/landcover changes during 30 years, from 1988 to 2019,close forest decreased sharply (-3224 ha), open forest increased (+1912ha), bushincreased a little (+406 ha), showing a serious degradation of close forest in quantityand quality and its conversion into other land use/land cover such as open forest andbush. Bare land has steadily increased over the years (1998: +107 ha; 2007: +641 ha),but decreased in 2019 (-349 ha) and this figure shows the clearing of vegetation during
period 1988 to 2007 and natural vegetation recovering in 2019.
The landuse and landcover change for Bac Me Reserve during 1988 – 2019 ispresented in the Table 30, Figure 13 and Figure 14.
Table 30. Land use/land cover change for Bac Me Reserve during 1988 – 2019 (%)
1988-1998

1998-20092009-20191998-2019

Close forest- 13.44.2- 6.1- 15.3

Open forest

9.1

- 2.2

2.1

9.1

Bush

2.6

- 3.4

2.7

1.9

Bare land

0.5

2.5

(4.7)

(1.7)

Paddy
Water

1.2
0.0

- 2.4
1.3

5.1
0.8

3.9
2.0

40

Land use-land cover change in Bac Me Reserve
during 1988-2019 (%)
15.0
10.0
5.0
(5.0)

1988-1998

1998-20092009-20191998-2019(10.0)(15.0)(20.0)
Close forest

Open forest

Bush

Bare land

Figure 13. Land use-land cover change in Bac Me Reserve during 1988-2019 (ha)Figure 14. Evolution of landuse and landcover change for Bac Me Nature Reserve
during 1988 – 2019
Source: Remote sensing image analysis, 2020(2). Landuse and landuse/landcover change by communes of Bac Me Nature Reserve41during period 1988-2019
Tables 31, 32, 33 and 34 show the current landuse/landcover for 3 communes in
Bac Me Nature Reserve for 1988, 1998, 2009 and 2019, extracted from analysis ofsatellite images.
Table 31. Land use / Land cover for communes of Bac Me Nature Reserve in 1988
No

1
2
3

CommuneLac Nong
Minh Ngoc
Thuong Tan
Total

Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)Natural
areas
(ha)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushes

Bare
land

Agriculturalland/Paddy

Water

4,632
9,260
7,195
21,087

2,830
5,555
4,686
13,071

522
1,238
988
2,748

730
1,233
1,026
2,989

356
778
347
1,481

122
378
82
581

72
79
66
217

Table 32. Land use / Land cover for communes of Bac Me Nature Reserve in 1998
No

1
2
3

CommuneLac Nong
Minh Ngoc
Thuong Tan
Total

Natural
areas
(ha)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushes

Bare
land

Agriculturalland/Paddy

Water

4,632
9,260
7,195
21,087

2,310
4,308
3,624
10,242

893
1,952
1,831
4,676

736
1,592
1,216
3,544

498
757
332
1,588

127
580
122
830

67
70
69
207

Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)Table 33. Land use / Land cover for communes of Bac Me Nature Reserve in 2009
No

1
2
3

CommuneLac Nong
Minh Ngoc
Thuong Tan
Total

Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)Natural
areas
(ha)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushes

Bare
land

Agriculturalland/Paddy

Water

4,632
9,260
7,195
21,087

2,466
4,887
3,782
11,134

852
2,094
1,263
4,210

563
1,158
1,097
2,818

607
901
614
2,122

83
186
61
331

61
35
377
473

Table 34. Land use / Land cover for communes of Bac Me Nature Reserve in 2019No1

CommuneLac Nong

Natural
areas
(ha)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushes

Bare
land

Agriculturalland/Paddy

Water

4,632

2,187

995

769

207

358

116

Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)

42

2
3

Minh Ngoc
Thuong Tan
Total

9,260
7,195
21,087

4,462
3,197
9,847

2,047
1,618
4,660

1,324
1,302
3,395

575
350
1,132

743
304
1,406

Figure 15. Land use-land cover in Bac Me Reserve by commune during 1988-2019 (ha)The evolution of land use/Land cover during 1988-2009 and 1988-2019 is represented
in Tables 35 and 36.
The close forest area of Bac Me Nature Reserve during the period 1988-2019 isdecreased sharply, mainly in Thuong Tan commune (-1489 ha), followed by Minh Ngoc
commune (-1093 ha), and Lac Nong (- 643 ha). Meanwhile, the area of open forest isincreased the most in Minh Ngoc commune (+809 ha) and Thuong Tan commune (+630ha), and lastly in Lac Nong commune. Furthermore, the largest increase in bush area
occurs also in Thuong Tan commune (+276 ha) and Lac Nong commune (+39 ha). Thus,
close forests, which are actually tropical evergreen forest, are most degraded in Thuong
Tan and Minh Ngoc communes, and they are converted to open forest and bush.

43

108
423
647

Table 35. Evolution of Land use / Land cover for communes of Bac Me Nature Reservein during 1988-2009
No

1
2
3

CommuneNatural Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)
areas
Close
Open
Bare
Agricultural(ha)
BushesWater

Lac Nong
Minh Ngoc
Thuong Tan
Total

4632
9260
7195
21087

forestforest
-364
330
-668
856
-904
275
-1,936
1,461

-167
-75
71
-171

land
land/Paddy
251
-39
123
-192
267
-21
641
-252

-11
-44
311
256

Table 36. Evolution of landuse and landcover for communes of Bac Me Nature
Reserve during 1988-2019
No

Commune Natural
Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)
areas
Close
Open
Bare
Agricultural
BushesWater(ha)forestforestland
land/Paddy

1

Lac Nong

4,632

-643

473

39

-149

236

44

2

Minh Ngoc

9,260-1,093

809

91

-203

365

29

7,195

-1,489

630

276

3

222

357

21,087-3,225

1,912

406

-349

823

430

3

Thuong
Tan
Total

44

Figure 16. Evolution of somwe landuse landcover types in Bac Me Reserve during
1988-2019 (ha)(3). Landuse and landuse/landcover change by altitude of Bac Me Nature Reserve
during period 1988-2019
The topography of Bac Me Nature Reserve is quite diverse and complex, locatedin the concave area of the Gam river arc-shaped mountainous range to the southeast of
Ha Giang province, with high and medium hilly terrain. The lowest elevation with about
120 m is in the reservoir of Tuyen Quang hydropower station and the highest is the Thai
Giang Phin peak with 1,465 m.

Figure 17. Topographic map of Bac Me Nature Reserve
The landuse and landcover by altitude in Bac Me Nature for the years of 1998,

45

1998, 2009, 2019 is presented in Tables 37, 38, 39, 40.
Among the types of land use and land cover of the Reserve, close forest occupies
the largest area, ranging from 10,000 ha to 13,000 ha, accounting for 46-62% of thetotal area. In which, close forest area is mainly distributed at an altitude belt of 500 m 1,000 m, accounting for about 45-48% of the total area of close forest of the Reserve.
Based on the classification of Vietnamese forest vegetation by Thai Van Trung(1970), close forest at an altitude belt of over 700m belongs to the type of subtropicalhumid evergreen broadleaved forest at medium and high mountains. Forests distributedat altitudes below 700m belong to tropical humid evergreen broadleaved forest at low
mountains.

Table 37. Landuse and landcover by altitude for communes of Bac Me Nature Reservein 1988
Unit: haAltitude
Close
Open
BushesBare
Agricultural Water
Total
(m)
forestforestland
land/Paddy
0 - 100

35.82

7.16

29.56

35.00

14.92

18.80

141.25100 - 200

828.19376.65477.69450.38334.96165.772,633.65

200 - 500

3,232.70

1,295.18

1,595.72

596.32151.82

20.92

6,892.65

500 - 1000

6,010.92

965.21903.89339.70

59.39

4.31

8,283.421000 - 1500

3,058.73

30.19

5.20

31.26

9.65

-

3,135.02

1500 - 2000

-

-

-

-

-

0.27

0.27

13,166.35

2,674.38

3,012.05

1,452.66

570.74Total

210.07 21,086.27

Table 38. Landuse and landcover by altitude for communes of Bac Me Nature Reservein 1998
Unit: haAltitude
Close
Open
BushesBare
Agricultural Water
Total
(m)
forestforestland
land/Paddy
0 - 100

19.52

23.84

25.51

30.88

18.70

20.08

138.54100 - 200355.53642.71571.35512.73392.29163.22

2,637.83

200 - 500

2,193.16

2,012.78

1,712.00

621.68333.91

18.72

6,892.26

500 - 1000

4,757.66

1,885.22

1,214.53

356.40

65.31

3.01

8,282.12

1000 - 1500

2,950.43

130.03

34.24

17.11

2.42

0.09

3,134.33

1500 - 2000

-

-

-

-

-

0.35

0.35

10,276.31

4,694.58

3,557.63

1,538.81

812.63Total

46

205.47 21,085.43

Table 39. Landuse and landcover by altitude for communes of Bac Me Nature Reservein 2009
Unit: haAltitude
Close
Open
BushesBare
Agricultural Water
Total
(m)
forestforestland
land/Paddy
0 - 100

18.46

1.49

0.26

5.23

1.10

114.30140.85100 - 200

420.84468.06391.87775.16226.13356.072,638.13

200 - 500

2,458.68

2,077.13

1,471.19

814.79

66.22

2.57

6,890.59

500 - 1000

5,274.83

1,580.45

942.73470.07

13.59

0.09

8,281.75

1000 - 1500

2,989.95

54.88

41.43

47.07

0.47

-

3,133.81

1500 - 2000

-

-

-

-

-

0.52

0.52

11,162.76

4,182.02

2,847.49

2,112.32

307.52

Total

473.55 21,085.65

Table 40. Landuse and landcover by altitude for communes of Bac Me Nature Reservein 2019
Unit: haAltitude
Close
Open
BushesBare
Agricultural Water
Total
(m)
forestforestland
land/Paddy
0 - 100

14.92

0.81

0.96

0.13

2.52

120.66140.00100 - 200

211.49447.04587.64188.94687.77514.802,637.69

200 - 500

2,101.37

1,840.27

1,954.39

481.47503.6712.33

6,893.51

500 - 1000

4,788.75

2,055.85

852.76396.21186.070.87

8,280.51

1000 - 1500

2,766.15

317.51

15.43

12.84

21.43

-

3,133.36

1500 - 2000

-

-

-

-

-

0.53

0.53

9,882.67

4,661.47

3,411.19

1,079.59

1,401.47

Total

47

649.20 21,085.59

Figure 18. Land use-land cover in Bac Me Reserve by altitude during 1988-2019 (ha)Evolution of Land use / Land cover by altitude for communes of Bac Me Nature
Reserve during 1988-2019 is presented in Table 41.

Table 41. Evolution of landuse and landcover by altitude for communes of Bac Me
Nature Reserve during 1988-2019
Unit: ha
Close
Open
BushesBare land Agricultu
Water
Altitudeforestforestral(m)land/Paddy0 - 100
100 - 200
200 - 500
500 - 1000
1000 - 1500
1500 - 2000
Tổng

-20.9

-6.35

-28.6

-34.87-12.4

101.86-616.770.39

109.95-261.44352.81349.03-1131.33

545.09358.67-114.85351.85-8.59-1222.17

1090.64-51.1356.51

126.68-3.44-292.58

287.32

10.23-18.42

11.78

0

0

0

0

0

0

0.26

-3,283.68

1,987.09

399.12-373.07830.72439.12

During the period 1988-2019, the area of close forest is changed in the direction of
decline, corresponding to 13,166.35 ha; 10,276.31 ha; 11,162.76ha; and 9,882.76 ha in
the years of 1988, 1998, 2009 and 2019, respectively. The large decrease in area of close
forest is at the altitude belt of 500-1000 m (-1,222.17 ha), 200-500m (-1,131.33 ha) and
100-200 m (-616.7 ha) for the whole period 1988-2019.
Meanwhile, the area of open forest tends to increase, corresponding to 2,674.38 ha;
4,694.58 ha; 4,182.02 ha and 4,661.47 ha in the years of 1988, 1998, 2009 and 2019,respectively. The large increase in area is at altitude belt of 500-1000m (+1,090.64 ha),48

200-500m (+545.09 ha). ) and the altitude belt of 1000-1,500 m (+287.32 ha) for thewhole period 1988-2019.
The area of bush tends to increase, corresponding to 3,012.05 ha; 3,557.63 ha; 2,487.49
ha; and 3,411.19 in the years of 1988, 1998, 2009 and 2019, however, year of 2009
witnesses a decrease in area, perhaps due to its conversion to bare land. The large
increase in the area is at the altitude belt of 500-1000m (+1,090.64 ha), 200-500m(+545.09 ha) and the altitude belt of 1000-1,500m (+287.32 ha) in the whole period of
1988-2019.
The area of bare land tends to decrease, corresponding to 1,452.66 ha; 1,538.81 ha;
2,112.32 ha; and 1,079.59 ha in the years of 1988, 1998, 2009 and 2019, respectively
however year of 2009 witnesses an increase in the area, perhaps due to conversion frombush. The large reduction in area of bare land is at the altitude belt of 100-200m 261.44ha), 200-500m (-114.85 ha) in the whole period of 1988-2019.
The area of agricultural land/paddy tends to increase, corresponding to 570.74 ha;
812.63 ha; 307.52 ha; and 1,401.47 in 1988, 1998, 2009 and 2019, respectively
however, year of 2009 witnesses a decrease in area, perhaps due to its conversion tobare land. The large increase in areas is at the altitude belt of 100-200m (+352.81 ha)and 200-500m (+351.85 ha), as the lowlands are easily converted into arable land,
especially when the reservoir of Tuyen Quang hydropower station in Na Hang district(commencing operation in 2008) flooding a large area of the Reserve and also providing
water for crops.
The area of water surface tends to increase, corresponding to 210.74 ha; 205.47 ha;
473.55 ha; and 649.20 in the years of 1988, 1998, 2009 and 2019. The water surface
area is increased rapidly since 2009 due to the establishment of Tuyen Quang reservoir
commencing operation since 2008 and flooding a significant area in the Reserve. The
large increase in water surface area is at at the altitude belt of 100-200m (+349.03 ha)and altitude belt of 0-100m (+101.86 ha). The large area of the reservoir also createsfavorable conditions for strong aquaculture development in Thuong Tan commune of
the Reserve.
In summary, the trend of evolution of land use types by altitude for Bac Me Nature
Reserve during the period 1988-2019 is presented in Table 42 below.
Table 42. Main tendency of evoluation of landuse and landcover by altitude forcommunes of Bac Me Nature Reserve during 1988-201949

Altitude(m)
0 - 100

Close
forestOpen
forest

Bush

Bare
land

Agriculturalland/Paddy

Water

-+

-+

-+

+-

+-

+-

100 – 200

--

+-

+-

--

+

++

200 - 500
500 - 1000

-----

++
+++

+
-+

++-

+
+-

-+
-+

1000 - 1500

--

+

+-

+-

1500 - 2000
Total

---

++

+-

+-

+

+

Note
Minor change
ModeratechangeStrong change
Strong change
ModeratechangeNote:+++ : Very strong increase (>1000ha); ++ : Strong increase (500-1000ha); + : Moderateincrease (200-500ha); +- : Minor increase (0-200ha)-+: Minor decrease (0-200ha); - : Moderate decrease (200-500ha); -- : Strong decrease(500-1000ha)’; ---: Very strong decrease (>1000ha)

In summary, the characteristics of landuse and landcover of Bac Me Nature Reserve
are the followings:i). In general, the area of close forest has a large coverage, accounting for more than
60% in the communes of the Reserve in 1988, but it has decreased rapidly, to just over
46% in 2019. Open forest, in contrast to the trend of close forest, accounts for a certain
percentage, around 13% in 1988, but tends to increase rapidly, up to more than 22%
in 2019, mainly due to close forest degradation.
During the period 1988-1998, the area of close forest is decreased rapidly, andconverted to open forest and bushes. In the following periods, this transition is not
obvious and the land use patterns do not change much.
ii). By commune, the area of close forest and open is distributed mainly in Minh Ngoc
and Thuong Tan communes, where the large area of open forest is increased during
1988-2019, due to the degration of close forest. Meanwhile during this period, the areaof agricultural land is increased due to the decrease of bare land.
iii). By altitude, most of close forest are concentrated in the elevation zones ranging
from 200m - 1000m, where large are of close forest is converted to open forest during
period 1988-2019; The zone ranging from 1000m – 1500m is covered mostly by close
forest and has very little change during period 1988-2019.

50

2.6.1.3. Landuse and landcover change in Phia Oac – Phia Den National Park during
1988-2019
The area of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park is 10,593.5 ha, situated mainly in 5
communes of Thanh Cong, Quang Thanh, Phan Thanh, Hung Dao and Tinh Tuc, Nguyen
Binh district, Cao Bang province, in which the forest land covers 8,914.9 ha, including
8,150.9 ha of natural forest and 764 ha of planted forest and land without forest is 1,678.6
ha.
The total number of people currently living in 05 communes in Phia Oac - Phia
Den National Park is 1752 households, 11,452 people, equivalent to 5-6
people/household and distributed in 40 villages. The average population density of theregion is 68 people/km2, but the distribution is uneven. Thanh Cong commune has thehighest density of 128 people/km2 and Hung Dao commune has the lowest density of
33 people/km2 (See Table 1)
There are 5 ethnic groups living these areas in which Dao ethnic group has 3,912
people, accounting for 47.2%; Nung ethnic group - 1,682 people, accounting for20.3%, Kinh ethnic group has 1,475 people, accounting for 17.8%, Tay ethnic grouphas 1,143 people, accounting for 13.8%, the rest are H'Mong ethnic group, accounting
for 0.9%.
Table 43. The population of the communes in Phia Oac – Phia Den National Park in
2020
NoCommuneNumber ofvillages

Households

Persons

Population
density (pers/km2)

1

Thanh Cong

10

271

2893

128

2

Quang Thanh

7

264

1739

29

3

Phan Thanh

5

300

2974

36

4

Hung Dao

4

124

1152

26

5

Tinh Tuc town

14

793

2694

119

Total

40

11452

68

1752

51

Figure 19. Forest cover in Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park
(1). Landuse and landcover in the communes of Phia Oac-Phia Den National Park
during period 1988-2019
Interpretation of remote sensing images for land use/land cover types over the
past 40 years (1988, 1998, 2010 and 2019) of 5 communes in the National Park showsthat the coverage of close forest is relatively high and there is no major change(68.23%, 63.11%, 62.62%, and 67.38%, respectively) while the cover of open forest
tends to increase (7.26%, 11.51%, 13.67% and 12.59% respectively).

Table 44. Land use/land cover types for Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park
during 1988 – 2019
1988

1998

2009

2019

Landuse/landcover

(ha)

(%)

(ha)

(%)

(ha)

(%)

(ha)

(%)

Close forest

19,826.45

68.23

18,341.25

63.11

18,197.48

62.62

19,582.14

67.38

Open forest

2,110.37

7.26

3,343.84

11.51

3,973.32

13.67

3,658.68

12.59

Bushes3,550.48

12.22

3,632.78

12.50

2,852.97

9.82

2,185.14

7.52

Agriculturalland

3,499.24

12.04

3,657.35

12.59

3,958.48

13.62

3,544.02

12.20

Mining/Bare
land

73.77

0.25

85.09

0.29

78.05

0.27

90.30

0.31

29,060.29

100.0029,060.30

100.0029,060.29

100.0029,060.29

100.00Total

Source: Interpretation of remote sensing imagery, 2021

52

The characteristics of land use/land cover types for Phia Oac - Phia Den National
Park during 1988 – 2019 are presented as follows:+ During the period 1988-2019, among 29,060.29 ha of communes of Phia OacPhia Den National Park, close forest has the largest area, accounting for 68.23%,
63.11%, 62.62% and 67.38% of the total area in the years of 1988, 1998, 2009 and 2019,respectively. Open forest has the second large area, accounting for 7.26%, 11.51%,
13.67% and 12.59%. Thus, after 30 years, the area of close forest is decreased by 1.15%(the lowest reduction in 2009 was 5.61%), while the open forest increased by 5.33%).
For the entire area of the National Park’ communes, a part of close forest has been
degraded and converted into open forest, which is in fact the secondary forest and poor
forest.
+ In the period 1988-2019, areas of bush have a trend to decrease, accounting for12.22%, 12.50%, 9.82% and 7.52%, respectively. Thus, after 30 years, the area of bushare decreased by 4.7%. Bare land and mining land account for a small proportion, lessthan 0.3% for years. Agricultural land is also relatively stable, at 12.04%, 12.59%,
13.62% and 12.2%, respectively.
+ In summary, over the past 30 years, close forest has decreased by 1.15%, open
forest has increased by 5.33%, Bush has decreased by 4.7%, while bare land andagricultural land have not changed much. Thus, a part of close forest and bush have
converted into open forest.

Land use-land cover in Phia Oac-Phia Dennational park during 1988-2019 (ha)25,000.00
20,000.00
15,000.00
10,000.00
5,000.00
0.00
1988

Close forest

1998

2009

Open forest

2019

BushesFigure 20. Land use-land cover in Phia Oac-Phia Den national park during 1988-2019(ha)Thus, regarding the landuse and landcover change during this period, close forest
is decreased in area until 2009 (-1,629 ha) and recovered in 2019 (-244 ha); Open forest

53

is increased rapidly in area, reaching the peak in 2009 (+1,863 ha), then decreasedslightly in 2019 (+1,548 ha); Bush is gradually decreased in area, reaching the peak in2019 (-1,365 ha).
Table 45. Land use/land cover change in Phia Oac-Phia Den National Park
during 1988 – 2019 (%)
1988-1998

1998-20092009-20191998-2019

Close forest

- 5.1

- 0.5

4.8

- 0.8

Open forest

+ 4.2

2.2

- 1.1

+ 5.3

BushesAgricultural land

+ 0.3
+ 0.5

- 2.7
+ 1.0

- 2.3
- 1.4

- 4.7
+ 0.2

Mining/Bare land

0.0

(0.0)

0.0

+ 0.1

Land use-land cover change in Phia Oac-Phia
Den National Park during 1988-2019 (%)
6.0
4.0
2.0
(2.0)

1988-1998

1998-20092009-20191998-2019

(4.0)
(6.0)
Close forest

Open forest

BushesFigure 21. Land use-land cover change in Phia Oac-Phia Den National Park during
1988-2019 (ha)Thus, close forest is decreased in area while open forest is increased rapidly
especially in the period 1988-2009. This is to explain the large conversion of close forest
into open forest in during this period. Meanwhile, bush is also decreased in size,
indicating that some areas of bush is converted into open forest throught the naturalprocess of vegetation regeneration.

54

Figure 22. Evolution of land use / land cover in the communes of Phia Oac – Phia Den
National Park
Source: Interpretation of remote sensing imagery, 2021

(2). Landuse and landcover by communes of Phia Oac-Phia Den National Park
during period 1988-2019
Tables 46, 47, 48 and 49 present the land use and land cover for 5 communes in Phia
Oac – Phia Den National Park for 1988, 1998, 2010 and 2019, extracted frominterpretation of satellite images.
Table 46. Land use / Land cover for communes of Phia Oac – Phia Den National Parkin 1988
No

CommuneNaturalareas (ha)1

Thanh Cong

2

Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)CloseforestOpen
forestBushes8,150.29

5,803.27

799.24813.71732.86

1.21

Quang
Thanh

5,977.59

4,444.61

347.75613.55570.840.84

3Phan Thanh

8,368.66

4,905.87

665.76 1,358.56

1,436.28

2.19

4

Hung Đao

4,408.13

3,343.74

237.07408.93417.30

1.08

5

Tinh
town

2,155.63

1,328.96

60.54

355.72341.96

68.45

Tuc

55

Agricultural Mine/Bare
land
land

Total29,060.29 19,826.45 2,110.37 3,550.48

3,499.24

73.77

Table 47. Land use / Land cover for communes of Phia Oac – Phia Den National Parkin 1998
Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)No

CommuneNatural
areas
(ha)

1

Thanh Cong

8,150.30

5,272.85

1,048.39

998.82830.24-

2

Quang Thanh

5,977.58

4,021.74

702.78637.40615.66-3

Phan Thanh

8,368.66

4,857.30

788.39 1,217.08

1,505.89-

4

Hung Đao

4,408.13

2,854.85

688.98489.69374.61-

5

Tinh Tuc town

2,155.63

1,334.50

115.30289.79330.94

85.09

Total

29,060.29 29,060.30 18,341.25 3,343.84

3,632.78

3,657.35

Close
forestOpen
forestBushesAgricultural Mine/Bare
land
land

Table 48. Land use / Land cover for communes of Phia Oac – Phia Den National Parkin 2010
Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)No

CommuneNatural
areas
(ha)

1

Thanh Cong

8,150.30

5,655.50

1,054.42

585.24855.14-

2

Quang Thanh

5,977.59

4,014.98

596.10592.21774.29-3

Phan Thanh

8,368.66

4,217.36

1,467.75

1,093.45

1,589.72

0.37

4Hung Đao

4,408.13

2,905.54

762.76317.08422.75-

5

Tinh Tuc town

2,155.63

1,404.10

92.28

265.00316.57

77.68

Total

29,060.29

29,060.29

18,197.48

3,973.32

2,852.97

3,958.48

Close
forestOpen
forestBushesAgricultural Mine/Bare
land
land

Table 49. Land use / Land cover for communes of Phia Oac – Phia Den National Parkin 2019
Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)No

CommuneNatural
areas
(ha)

1

Thanh Cong

8,150.29

5,722.32

952.63666.44808.640.27

2Quang Thanh

5,977.58

4,219.37

729.56322.49706.16-3

Phan Thanh

8,368.65

4,961.65

1,235.97

851.391,310.72

8.91

Close
forestOpen
forestBushes56

Agricultural Mine/Bare
land
land

4

Hung Đao

4,408.13

3,415.55

400.39176.77415.42-

5

Tinh Tuc town

2,155.63

1,263.26

340.12168.05303.08

81.12

Total

29,060.29

29,060.29

19,582.14

3,658.68

2,185.14

3,544.02

Figure 23. Land use-land cover in Phia Oac – Phia Den National Park by commune
during 1988-2019 (ha)Evolution of Land use / Land cover by commune for Phia Oac-Phia Den during period
1988-2009 and 1988-2019 is represented in Table 50 and 51.
Table 50. Evolution of Land use and Land cover for communes of Phia Oac-Phia Den
National Park during 1988-2009
No

Commune12
3
4

Thanh Cong
Quang Thanh
Phan Thanh
Hung Đao
Tinh
Tuc
town
Total

5

Naturalareas(ha)8,150.3
5,977.59
8,368.66
4,408.13

Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)
Close
Open
BushesAgricultural Mine/Bare
forestforestland
land-147.77255.18-228.47
122.28-1.21-429.63248.35-21.34203.45-0.84-688.51801.99-265.11
153.44-1.82-438.20525.69-91.855.45-1.08

2,155.63

75.14

31.74

-90.72-25.399.23

29,060.29-1,628.97

1,862.95-697.49459.23

4.28

57

Table 51. Evolution of Land use and Land cover for communes of Phia Oac-Phia Den
National Park during 1988-2019
No

Commune12
3
4

Thanh Cong
Quang Thanh
Phan Thanh
Hung Đao
Tinh Tuc
town
Total

5

Naturalareas(ha)8,150.29
5,977.58
8,368.65
4,408.13

Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)
Close
Open
BushesAgricultural Mine/Bare
forestforestland
land-80.95-225.24
55.78
71.81

153.39381.81570.21163.32-147.27-291.06-507.17-232.1675.78
135.32-125.56
-1.88

-0.94
-0.84
6.72
-1.08

2,155.63-65.70279.58-187.67-38.8812.67

29,060.28-244.30

1,548.31-1,365.33

44.78

16.53

For the period 1988-2019, close forest is decreased by large area until 2009 (-1,628.97
ha) and recovered in 2019 (-244.30 ha), especially concentrated for year of 2009 in Phan
Thanh (-688.51 ha), Hung Dao (-438.20 ha) and Quang Thanh (-429.63 ha); Open forest
is increased rapidly by large area, reaching the peak in 2009 (+1,863 ha), then decreasedslightly in 2019 (+1,548 ha), especially concentrated for year of 2009 in Phan Thanh(+801,99 ha), Hung Dao (+525.68 ha), Thanh Cong (+255.18 ha) and Quang Thanh(+248.35 ha); Bush is steadily decreased by large area until 2019 (-1,365.33 ha),especially concentrated for year of 2019 in Phan Thanh (-507.17 ha), Quang Thanh (291.06 ha) and Hung Dao (-232.16 ha);3). Landuse and landcover by altitude for Phia Oac – Phia Den National Park
during 1988-2019
The landuse and landcover by altitude in Phia Oac – Phia Den National Park forthe years 1998, 1998, 2009, 2019 is presented in Tables 52, 53, 54, 55. Topograpgy ofPhia Oac – Phia Den National Park is presented in Figure 24.
Among the types of land use and land cover of Phia Oac - Phia Den National
Park, close canopy forest occupies the largest area, ranging from 18,000 ha to 19,000
ha, accounting for 62 - 68% of total area of the Park. In which, close forest area ismainly distributed at an altitude belt of 500 m -1,500 m, accounting for about 85-90%of the total area of closed canopy forest of the National Park.
Based on the classification of Vietnamese forest vegetation by Thai Van Trung(1970), close forest at an altitude belt of over 700m belongs to the type of subtropicalhumid evergreen broadleaved forest at medium and high mountains. Forests distributedat altitudes below 700m belong to tropical humid evergreen broadleaved forest at low
mountains.

58

Figure 24. Topographic map of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park
Table 52. Landuse and landcover by altitude for communes of Phia Oac – Phia Den
National Park in 1988
Unit: haAltitude(m)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushAgriculturalland/Paddy

Bare/miningland

Total

0 - 100

42.45

-

-

0.01

-

42.46

100 - 200

15.25

1.59

7.42

30.84

-

55.10

200 - 500

1,907.54

400.05338.28498.560.69

3,145.12

500 - 1000

10,871.08

1,462.47

2,363.73

2,242.41

71.28

17,010.98

1000 - 1500

6,148.44

244.60838.29722.31

1.79

7,955.43

1500 - 2000

841.70

1.65

2.75

5.11

-

851.21

Total

19,826.46

2,110.36

3,550.48

3,499.24

73.77

29,060.30

Table 53. Landuse and landcover by altitude for communes of Phia Oac – Phia Den
National Park in 1998
Unit: haAltitude(m)

Close
forestOpen
forestBush

59

Agriculturalland/Paddy

Bare/miningland

Total

0 - 100

38.72

-

-

0.06

-

38.78

100 - 200

17.05

7.75

5.69

27.02

-

57.51

200 - 500

1,776.11

488.65475.81405.06-

3,145.63

500 - 1000

9,429.84

2,353.00

2,537.69

2,606.171000 - 1500

6,234.68

493.44610.80616.45

0.05

7,955.42

1500 - 2000

844.85

0.99

2.79

2.58

-

851.21

Tổng

18,341.25

3,343.84

3,632.78

3,657.35

85.04 17,011.74

85.09 29,060.30

Table 54. Landuse and landcover by altitude for communes of Phia Oac – Phia Den
National Park in 2009
Unit: haAltitude(m)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushAgriculturalland/Paddy

Bare/miningland

Total

0 - 100

34.16

-

-

0.06

-

34.23

100 - 200

0.18

13.81

6.43

40.00

-

60.43

200 - 500

1,026.14

1,066.33

440.21

613.420.02

3,146.12

500 - 1000

9,542.09

2,582.69

1,943.49

2,866.63

1000 - 1500

6,749.94

309.88458.85436.71

0.04

7,955.42

1500 - 2000

844.97

0.62

3.98

1.65

-

851.21

Total

18,197.48

3,973.32

2,852.97

3,958.48

77.99 17,012.89

78.05 29,060.30

Table 55. Landuse and landcover by altitude for communes of Phia Oac – Phia Den
National Park in 2019
Unit: haAltitude(m)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushAgriculturalland/Paddy

Bare/miningland

Total

0 - 100

38.69

-

-

0.06

-

38.76

100 - 200

11.88

7.90

2.49

34.10

1.00

57.38

200 - 500

1,896.50

535.73214.82489.01

8.03

3,144.09

500 - 1000

10,057.91

2,598.86

1,723.39

2,552.11

1000 - 1500

6,727.50

515.44244.30468.090.18

7,955.51

1500 - 2000

849.67

0.74

0.15

0.65

-

851.21

Total

19,582.15

3,658.68

2,185.14

3,544.02

60

81.09 17,013.36

90.30 29,060.30

Figure 25. Land use-land cover in Phia Oac – Phia Den National Park by altitude
during 1988-2019 (ha)Evolution of Land use / Land cover by altitude for communes of Phia Oac – Phia Den
National Park during 1988-2009 and 1988-2019 is presented in Table 56 and 57.
Table 56. Evolution of Land use and Land cover by altitude for communes of Phia Oac– Phia Den National Park during 1988-2009
Unit: haAltitude
Close forest Open forest
Bush
Agricultural
Bare/
(m)
land/Paddy mining land
-8.28
0.05
0 - 100-15.06
12.22
-0.99
9.16
100 - 200
-881.40666.27101.93114.87-0.67
200 - 500
-1,329.00
1,120.22-420.24624.22
6.71
500 - 1000
601.4965.28-379.44-285.60-1.75
1000 - 1500
3.26
-1.04
1.23
-3.46
1500 - 2000
-1,628.98
1,862.95-697.50459.24
4.28
Total

Table 57. Evolution of Land use / Land cover by altitude for communes of Phia Oac –Phia Den National Park during 1988-2019
Unit: ha61

Altitude(m)
0 - 100
100 - 200
200 - 500
500 - 1000
1000 - 1500
1500 - 2000
Total

Close forest

Open forest

-3.76
-3.36
-11.04-813.17579.06
7.96-244.316.31
135.681,136.39
270.84-0.91
1,548.31

Bush

-4.93
-123.47-640.35-593.99-2.60-1,365.34

AgriculturalBare/
land/Paddy mining land
0.05
3.26
1.00
-9.55
7.34
309.699.81-254.22
-1.61
-4.46
44.78
16.54

Table 58. Evolution of Land use and Land cover by altitude for communes of Phia Oac– Phia Den National Park during 2009-2019
Unit: haAltitude
Close forest Open forest
Bush
Agricultural
Bare/
(m)
land/Paddy mining land
4.53
0 - 100
11.70
-5.91
-3.94
-5.90
1.00
100 - 200
870.36-530.59-225.40-124.418.01
200 - 500
515.8316.17-220.11-314.52
3.10
500 - 1000
-22.44205.56-214.5531.38
0.141000 - 1500
4.70
0.13
-3.83
1.00
1500 - 2000
1,384.67-314.64-667.83-414.46
12.26
Total

Regarding the period 1988-2009: The area of close forest is decreased sharply (1,628.98 ha), concentrated at the altitude belt of 500-1000m (-1,329 ha) and the altitudebelt of 200-500 m (-881.40 ha); Contrary to close forest, the area of open forest isincreased strongly, mainly at the altitude belt of 500-1000m (+1,120.22 ha) and thealtitude belt of 200-500 m (+666.27 ha). This contrasting trend explains that most of theclose forest area has been converted to open forest, the more degraded type of forest.
Meanwhile, the area of such is also decreased significantly (-697.50 ha), mainly at thealtitude belt of 500-1000m (-420.24 ha) and the altitude belt of 1000-1500 m (-379.44
ha). Agricultural and swidden land are increased significantly (+459.24 ha), but at thesame time, is increased at the altitude belt of 500-1000 m (+624.22 ha) and decreased
at the altitude belt of 1000-1500 m (-285.60 ha). This explains that most of the area ofbush and swidden cultivation at the altitude belt of 1000-1500 m is converted into close
forest (+601.49 ha) through natural regeneration or reforestation (See Table 45).

62

Regarding the period 2009-2019: During this 10-year period, the area of close forest
has increased sharply (+1,384.67 ha) on the basis of a decrease in the area of open forest(-314.64 ha), bush (-667.83 ha) and swidden land (-414.46 ha) through natural process
of forest vegetation regeneration and reforestation. Specifically, the area of close forest
is increased sharply at the altitude belt of 200-500 m (+870.36 ha) and the altitude beltof 500-1000 m (+515.83 ha), while the area of open forest is decreased sharply at thealtitude belt of 200-500 m (-530.59 ha) and the area of bush is reduced at the altitudebelt of 200-500 m (-225.40 ha), the altitude belt of 500-1000 m (-220.11 ha), and thearea of agricultural/swidden land is decreased sharply at the altitude belt of 500-1000
m (-314.55 ha, the altitude belt of 200-500 m (-124.41 ha) (See Table 47).
Thus, for the whole period of 1988-2019, the first period of 1988-2009 witnesses a
decrease in the area of close forests and converted into open forest and bush, and thesecond period of 2009-2019 is characterized by a rehabilitation process to convert open
forest, bush and swidden land into close forest.
In summary, the characteristics of land use and land cover of Phia Oac – Phia Den
National Park are the followings:i). In general, the area of close forest accounts for a large proportion, ranging from
62% to 68% of the National Park's area, but this forest has low coverage during theperiod of 1998-2009; Open forest, in contrast to the trend of close forest, accounts fora certain percentage, around 7% in 1988, but tends to increase, up to about 13% in2009 and 2019, mainly due to close forest degradation.
During the period 1988-1998, the area of close forest is decreased rapidly, andconverted to open forest, while in the period 2009-2019, this area is increased, mainly
due to the decrease of open forest and bushes.
ii). By commune, the area of close forest is distributed mainly in Phan Thanh and Thanh
Cong communes, and for smaller portion, in Quang Thanh and Hung Dao communes.
However, thee communes (Phan Thanh, Hung Dao and Hung Dao) witness large
decrease in area of close forest due to the increase of open forest during period 19882009.
iii). By altitude, most of close forest are concentrated in the elevation zones ranging
from 500m - 1500m, where large are of close forest is converted to open forest during
period 1988-2009.

63

2.6.1.4. Landuse and landcover change in Nam Xuan Lac Reserve during 1988-2019
Nam Xuan Lac Reserve has a natural area of 4,150, 21 ha, of which strictly
protected zone 2,547.04 ha; 1,586.12 ha ecological restoration zone; service administrative zone 9.04 ha; the buffer zone in 8.01 ha. Nam Xuan Lac Reserve islocated on the administrative territory of three communes Xuan Lac, Dong Lac and Ban
Thi of Cho Don district, Bac Kan province. The area of the outer buffer zone is
16,371.53 ha..
The current status of land use types and forest types of Nam Xuan Lac Reserve bystatistics are shown in the Table 59 below.
Table 59. Area of land use types and forest types of Nam Xuan Lac Reserve
By administrative unit (ha)Land use/Forest types
I. Forested land

Xuan
Lac

Total

Dong
Lac

NatureReserve's
buffer zone

Ban
Thi

14,316

6,206

2,441

5,669

4,575

1. Forest in terrestrial mountains

6389

3463

1537

1389

1022

Mixed wood forest + bamboo

1761

1028

206

527

994

Medium forest

600

600

-

-

-

Poor forest

96

91

-

5

26

Rehabilitated forest

3932

1744

1331

857

2

2. Forest on limestone

7,219

2,303

850

4,066

3,335

Rich forest on limestone

1,864

1864

-

-

-

264

113

-

151

-

4,903

326

848

3729

3335

Rehabilitated forest on limestone

188

-

2

186

-

3. Forested plantation

708

440

54

214

218

Young plantation

708

440

54

214

218

II. No-forest land

2,552

1,788

224

540

117

1. No-forest land in terr.
mountains

916

599

196

121

86

Bareland with bushes (Ia, Ib)

756

550

191

15

84

Bareland with wood regrowth (Ic)

160

49

5

106

2

2. No-forest land on limestone

60

1

59

-

-

Bareland with bushes (Ia, Ib)

60

1

59

-

17

III. Other land

1636

1189

28

419

31

Other land

367

16

-

351

-

Agriculture

1269

1173

28

68

31

18,504

9,183

2,693

6,628

4,723

Medium forest on limestone
Poor forest on limestone

Total

64

The total number of people living in 3 communes of Nam Xuan Lac Reserve foryear of 2019 is 8,386 people, with 1,881 households and divided into 28 villages, 4 -5
people per household (Table 60). The average population density of the region is 45
people/km2, but its distribution is uneven. Dong Lac commune has the highest
population density of 62 people/km2, and Ban Thi commune has the lowest density of
26 people/km2.
Table 60. Polulation and labors of communes in the Nam Xuan Lac reserve in 2019No

CommuneNo ofvillages

1
2

Xuan Lac
Dong Lac

3

Ban Thi

14
6
8

Total

28

No of
households

No ofpersons

LaborsPopulation
density(pers/km2)

845
596
440

4,140
2,562
1,684

2,399
1,623
1,138

45
62
26

1,881

8,386

5,160

45

Source: Statistical Yearbook of Cho Don district in 2019

There are 6 ethnic minorities, of which the Kinh about 53.49%, Tay - 33.02%,
Nung - 4.39%, Dao - 4.35%, H'mong - 3.06%, other ethnic groups about 1.68%. Table
2 shows the composition of ethnic minorities by commune in Nam Xuan Lac Reserve.
According to the ethnic traditions, the Tay and the Kinh often live in lowland areas,near roads, and cultivate wet rice; H’mong and Dao ethnic groups live mainly in themountainous areas.
Table 61. Minority ethnics of communes in 2019
Unit: %
Minority ethnic by composition
Tay

Nung

Dao

H’mo
ng

OthersBan Thi

17.93
33.87
5.08

32.68
0.30
0.13

5.42
0.07
7.69

0.23
1.85
6.82

2.19
0.08
2.37

0.00
0.00
1.68

Average

53.49

33.02

4.39

4.35

3.06

1.68

No

Commune

1
2

Xuan Lac
Dong Lac

3

KinhNguồn: Statistical Yearbook of Cho Don district in 201965

(1). Landuse and landcover in the communes of Nam Xuan Lac Reserve during
period 1989-2017
Table 62 shows a breakdown of the land-cover for the 3 communes covering Nam Xuan
Lac Reserve.
Table 62. Land use/land cover types for Nam Xuan Lac Reserve
during 1989 – 2017
1989

1998

2007

2017

Landuse/landcover

(ha)

(%)

(ha)

(%)

(ha)

(%)

(ha)

(%)

Close forest

13,913.6

72.2

15,188.4

78.8

14,629.5

75.9

13,491.2

70.0Open forest

1,209.6

6.3

642.0

3.3

924.8

4.8

586.5

3.0

Bushes

1,731.4

9.0

360.8

1.9

1,680.2

8.7

1,423.6

7.4

Agriculturalland

2,414.8

12.5

3,083.5

16.0

2,041.6

10.6

3,776.5

19.6

Mining/Bare
land

7.3

0.0

2.0

0.0

0.5

0.0

0.6

0.0

19,276.7

100.0

19,276.7

100.0

19,276.6

100.0

19,278.5

100.0

Total

Source: Interpretation of remote sensing imagery, 2021

The landuse and landcover change for Bac Me Reserve during 1989 – 2019 is presented
in the Table 63, Figure 26 and Figure 27.
Table 63. Land use/land cover change for Nam Xuan Lac Reserve
during 1989 – 2017 (%)
Land use &Land cover
Close forest

1989-1998+ 6.6

1998-2007- 2.9

2007-2017- 5.9

1989-2017- 2.2

Open forest

- 2.9

+ 1.5

- 1.8

- 3.2

Bush

- 7.1

+ 6.8

- 1.3

- 1.6

Agriculturalland/Paddy

+ 3.5

- 5.4

9.0

7.1

Water

- 0.0

- 0.0

+ 0.0

- 0.0

66

Land use-land cover change in Nam Xuan Lac
Reserve during 1989-2017 (%)
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
(2.0)
(4.0)
(6.0)
(8.0)

1989-1998

Close forest

1998-2007

2007-2017

Open forestBush

1989-2017

Paddy

Figure 26. Land use-land cover change in Nam Xuan Lac Reserve during 1989-2017(%)

Figure 27. Evolution of land use and land cover change for Nam Xuan Lac Reserve
during 1989 – 201767

(2). Land use and land cover by communes of Nam Xuan Lac Reserve during period
1989-2017
Tables 63, 64, 65 and 66 show the current landuse/landcover for 3 communes in
Nam Xuan Lac Reserve for 1989, 1998, 2007 and 2017, extracted from analysis ofsatellite images.
Table 63. Land use / Land cover for communes of Nam Xuan Lac Reserve in 1989
No

1
2
3

CommuneDong Lac
Ban ThiXuan Lac
Total

Naturalareas(ha)Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)Agricultura
Close
Open
Bushesl
Waterforestforestland/Paddy

3,644.6
8,984.3
6,647.7

2,063.5
6,371.6
5,478.5
13,913.6

19,276.7

244.4
649.5
315.6
1,209.6

507.4
884.7
339.3
1,731.4

823.1
1,077.9513.8
2,414.8

6.2
0.6
0.5
7.3

Table 64. Land use / Land cover for communes of Nam Xuan Lac Reserve in 1998
No

1
2
3

CommuneDong Lac
Ban ThiXuan Lac
Total

Naturalareas (ha)3,644.6
8,984.3
6,647.7
19,276.7

Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)CloseforestOpen forest

BushesAgriculturalland/Paddy

Water

112.7
355.4
173.9
642.0

98.1
205.7
57.1
360.8

688.1
1,671.2
724.1
3,083.5

2.0
0.0
0.0
2.0

2,743.7
6,752.1
5,692.6
15,188.4

Table 65. Land use / Land cover for communes of Nam Xuan Lac Reserve in 2007
No

1
2
3

CommuneDong Lac
Ban ThiXuan Lac
Total

Naturalareas (ha)3,650.7
8,980.7
6,645.2
19,276.6

Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)Closeforest

2,671.5
6,383.4
5,574.6
14,629.5

68Open
forestBushes

165.0
551.9
208.0
924.8

286.1
1,013.9
380.3
1,680.2

Agriculturalland/Paddy

Water

527.9
1,031.4482.3
2,041.6

0.3
0.2
0.0
0.5

Table 66. Land use / Land cover for communes of Nam Xuan Lac Reserve in 2017
No

1
2
3

CommuneDong Lac
Ban ThiXuan Lac
Total

Naturalareas (ha)3,643.4
8,979.5
6,655.6
19,278.5

Area interpreted from remote sensing imagery (ha)Close forest

1,783.1
5,846.0
5,862.2
13,491.2

Open
forestBushesAgriculturalland/Paddy

Wate
r

99.4
439.9
213.3
845.0
273.9
138.7
586.5 1,423.6

1,321.0
2,075.1
380.3
3,776.5

0.0
0.1
0.5
0.6

3). Landuse and landcover by altitude for Nam Xuan Lac Reserve during 1988-2019
The land use and land cover by altitude in Nam Xuan Lac Reserve for the years
1989, 1998, 2007, 2017 is presented in Tables 67, 68, 69 and 70. Topograpgy of Nam
Xuan Lac Reserve is presented in Figure 28.

Figure 28. Topographic map of Nam Xuan Lac Reserver
69

Table 67. Land use and Land cover by altitude for communes of Nam Xuan Lac Reservein 1989
Unit: haAltitude
Close
Open
BushesAgricultural Water
Total
(m)
forestforestland/Paddy
29.1
24.7
39.3
53.9
147.0
100 - 200
200 - 500

5,687.9

987.5

1,289.6

1,602.3

16.2

9,583.6

500 - 1000

7,978.5

192.9

375.6

760.8

12.9

9,320.71000 - 1500

225.4

Total

13,920.9225.4
1,205.1

1,704.5

2,417.0

29.0

19,276.7

Table 68. Land use and Land cover by altitude for communes of Nam Xuan Lac Reservein 1998
Unit: haAltitude
Close
Open
BushesAgricultural Water
Total
(m)
forestforestland/Paddy
42.4
7.5
10.9
84.5
145.2
100 - 200
200 - 500

6,842.6

316.7

250.5

2,158.7

500 - 1000

8,123.4

283.4

76.2

824.5

1000 - 1500

224.7

6.2

Total

15,233.1

613.9

24.5

9,592.9
9,307.5
230.9

337.6

3,067.6

24.5

19,276.7

Table 69. Land use and Land cover by altitude for communes of Nam Xuan Lac Reservein 2007
Unit: haAltitude
Close
Open
BushesAgricultural Water
Total
(m)
forestforestland/Paddy
16.9
14.1
35.6
75.0
141.6
100 - 200
200 - 500

6,046.7

592.1

1,421.3

1,505.3

500 - 1000

8,419.3

220.9

209.1

454.8

9,304.01000 - 1500

222.7

5.9

5.8

8.1

242.4

Total

14,705.6

832.9

1,671.8

2,043.1

70

23.2

23.2

9,588.6

19,276.7

Table 71. Land use and Land cover by altitude for communes of Nam Xuan Lac Reservein 2017
Unit: haAltitude
Close
Open
BushesAgricultural Water
Total
(m)
forestforestland/Paddy
6.6
16.5
116.3
139.4
100 - 200
200 - 500

5,725.4

266.3

955.3

2,628.8

11.5

9,587.2

500 - 1000

7,562.9

305.9

423.9

1,020.6

11.6

9,324.81000 - 1500

225.2

-

-

-

-

225.2

Total

13,520.1

572.2

1,395.6

3,765.7

23.1

19,276.7

In summary, the characteristics of land use and land cover of Nam Xuan Lac Reserve
are the followings:i). In general, close forest has a large coverage, accounting for more than 70% in the
Reserve (72.2% in 1989, 78.8% in 1998, 75.9% in 2007 and 70% in 2017). Open forest,
accounts for a certain percentage, ranging from 3 % to 6.3%, but this forest decreases
during period during 1989-2017.
During the period 1988-1998, the area of close forest is increased rapidly due to thedecrease in open forest and bush. In the following periods, close forest has trend to
decrease while open forest and bush increase (1998-2007) or agricultural land /shifting
cultivation land increase (2007-2017).
ii). By commune, the area of close forest and open is distributed mainly in Ban Thi and
Xuan Lac communes, where the large area of open forest and bush is concentrated in
Ban Thi commune. During the period 1998-2017, there is a trend of conversion fromclose forest to bush or agricultural land/swidden land, especially in Ban Thi commune.
iii). By altitude, most of close forest and open forest are concentrated in the elevation
zones ranging from 200m - 1000m; Bush and agricultural land/swidden land focus
mostly in the elevaltion zone ranging from 200m – 500m, where large proportion ofland use / land cover change is done.
2.6.2. Assessment of ecosystem services of the study sites
2.6.2.1. Cham Chu Reserve(1). Assessment of ecosystem services for Cham Chu Reserve during the period
1986-2017
The method of value transfer (de Groot et al., 2012, Table 16, page 29) is used to
calculate the Indexes of ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, cultural and71

supporting) for different types of land use (Close Forest, Open Forest, Bush,
Agricultural land/Paddy, Fresh water) for Cham Chu Reserve. Some indexes/functions
not defined by de Groot et al., (2012) were added from the methodology developed by
Costanza et al., (1997: Table 2, p 256) for Function for Pollination (regulating
ecosystem service) for the land use type is Agricultural land/Paddy. The index/functionof the ecosystem service provided by the agricultural land/Paddy land use type isestimated from the statistics of production value (VND converted to USD) per 1 hectareof arable land, notable from the Statistical Yearbook of Ham Yen and Chiem Hoa
districts, Tuyen Quang province in 2017 (See Table 12, p. 26).
Table 72 presents the total value of ecosystem services for each land use type ofCham Chu Reserve during 1986-2017 and Figure 29 shows the distribution map of
ecosystem service value (USD/ha) in Cham Chu Reserve in 1986, 1998, 2007 and 2017.
Table 72. Estimated total value of ecosystem services for each land use type of Cham
Chu Nature Reserve
Unit: Million USD

Landuse type
Close Forest

1986
1998
2007
2017
MillionMillionMillionMillion
%
%
%
%
USD
USD
USD
USD
128.46 71.75 126.11 70.82 122.26 70.28 135.72
78.43

Open Forest

32.62

18.22

34.64

19.45

30.55

17.56

26.95

15.57

Bushes

10.96

6.12

10.35

5.81

12.48

7.17

4.06

2.35

Bare Land

0

0.00

0

0.00

0

0.00

0

0.00

Rice Paddy

6.32

3.53

6.15

3.45

8.19

4.71

5.84

3.37

Water surface
Total(Million USD)
Total
(USD/ha)

0.69

0.39

0.81

0.45

0.49

0.28

0.48

0.28
100.00179.05 100.00

178.06 100.00

173.97 100.00

173.05

4.427

4.403

4.301

4.279

72

Figure 29. Map of total value of ecosystem services (USD/ha) in Cham Chu Nature
Reserve in 1986, 1998, 2007 and 2017.

(2). Assessment of ecosystem services by commune for Cham Chu Reserve during
the period 1986-2017
The value of ecosystem services for Cham Chu Reserve for years of 1986, 1998, 2007
and 2017 is shown in Tables 73, 74, 75 and 76.
Table 73. Estimated total value of ecosystem services by commune for Cham Chu
Reserve in 1986
Unit: Million USD
No

Administrative unit

Close Open Bushes Bare Agricultural Water
forest forest
land land/Paddy

I

Ham Yen Distric

52.02

12.12

4.92

0

2.72

0.52

72,3

1

Phu Luu commune

27.18

7.14

2.81

0

1.78

0.27

39,18

2

Yen Thuan commune

24.84

4.98

2.11

0

0.94

0.25

33,12

II

Chiem Hoa district

76.46

20.5

6.02

0

3.6

0.14

106,72

73

Total

1

Trung Ha commune

34.47

8.66

2.05

0

1.46

0.08

46,72

2

Ha Lang commune

25.29

7.03

1.72

0

0.76

0.04

34,84

3

Hoa Phu commune

16.7

4.81

2.25

0

1.38

0.02

25,16

128.48

32.62

10.94

0

6.32

0.66

179.02

Total

Table 74. Estimated total value of ecosystem services by commune for Cham Chu
Reserve in 1998
Unit: Million USD
No

Administrative unit

Close Open Bushes Bare Agricultural Water
forest forest
land land/Paddy

Total

I

Ham Yen Distric

48.66

12.3

4.46

0

3.08

0.65

69,15

1

Phu Luu commune

27.43

6.57

2.03

0

1.98

0.27

38,28

2

Yen Thuan commune

21.23

5.73

2.43

0

1.1

0.38

30,87

II

Chiem Hoa district

77.45

22.32

5.89

0

3.05

0.16

108,87

1

Trung Ha commune

34.15

8.85

2.36

0

1.21

0.07

46,64

2

Ha Lang commune

27.46

6.79

1.62

0

0.65

0.06

36,58

3

Hoa Phu commune

15.84

6.68

1.91

0

1.19

0.03

25,65

126,11

34.62

10.35

0

6.13

0.81

178.02

Total

Table 76. Estimated total value of ecosystem services by commune for Cham Chu
Reserve in 2007
Unit: Million USD
No

Administrative unit

Close Open Bushes Bare Agricultural Water
forest forest
land land/Paddy

Total

I

Ham Yen Distric

44.81

14.23

5.77

0

3.87

0.36

69,04

1

Phu Luu commune

24.41

7.24

2.66

0

2.28

0.18

36,77

2

Yen Thuan commune

20.4

6.99

3.11

0

1.59

0.18

32,27

II

Chiem Hoa district

77.44

16.32

6.73

0

4.34

0.13

104,96

1

Trung Ha commune

32.28

7.05

3.08

0

2.09

0.06

44,56

2

Ha Lang commune

27.49

5.16

1.76

0

1.18

0.04

35,63

3

Hoa Phu commune

17.67

4.11

1.89

0

1.07

0.03

24,77

122.25

30.55

12.5

0

8.21

0.49

174

Total

74

Table 78. Estimated total value of ecosystem services by commune for Cham Chu
Reserve in 2017
Unit: Million USD
No

Administrative unit

Close Open Bushes Bare Agricultural Water
forest forest
land land/Paddy

Total

I

Ham Yen Distric

50.09

12.51

1.24

0

2.62

0.4

66,86

1

Phu Luu commune

27.63

4.96

0.73

0

1.55

0.18

35,05

2

Yen Thuan commune

22.46

7.55

0.51

0

1.07

0.22

31,81

II

Chiem Hoa district

85.62

14.46

2.84

0

3.28

0.08

106,281

Trung Ha commune

32.67

7.16

1.72

0

1.51

0.03

43,09

2

Ha Lang commune

31.02

4.06

0.72

0

0.75

0.03

36,58

3

Hoa Phu commune

21.93

3.24

0.4

0

1.02

0.02

26,61

135.71

26.97

4.08

0

5.9

0.48

173.14

Total(3). Assessment of ecosystem services by altitude for Cham Chu Nature Reserve
during the period 1988-2019
Total value of ecosystem services by altitude for Cham Chu Reserve in 1986, 1998,
2007 and 2017 are presented in the Tables 77, 78, 79 and 80 below.
Table 79. Estimated value of ecosystem services by altitude for Cham Chu Reserve in1986
Unit: Million USD
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushesAgriculturalland/Paddy

Water

Total

0 - 100

4.66

4.24

4.20

3.48

0.56

17.14

100 - 200

18.96

14.35

4.22

1.68

0.11

39.33

200 - 500

43.33

12.41

2.18

0.69

0.04

58.65

500 - 1000

45.18

1.38

0.21

0.43

0.04

47.24

1000 - 1500

16.56

0.05

0.02

0.05

-

16.69

1500 - 2000

0.08

-

-

-

-

0.08

Total

128.78

32.44

10.83

6.34

0.75

179.1275

Table 80. Estimated value of ecosystem services by altitude for Cham Chu Reserve in1998
Unit: Million USD
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushesAgriculturalland/Paddy

Water

Total

0 - 100

2.39

5.53

1.03

4.63

0.72

14.30

100 - 200

17.71

13.13

4.33

1.34

0.10

36.60

200 - 500

44.38

12.39

4.15

0.10

0.04

61.07

500 - 1000

45.58

2.70

0.57

0.10

0.04

49.00

1000 - 1500

16.49

0.21

0.06

0.03

-

16.78

1500 - 2000

0.08

-

-

-

-

0.08

Total

126.63

33.96

10.15

6.20

0.90

177.83

Table 81. Estimated value of ecosystem services by altitude for Cham Chu Reserve in2007
Unit: Million USD
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushesAgriculturalland/Paddy

Water

Total

0 - 100

1.66

4.90

3.45

5.30

0.41

15.71

100 - 200

12.97

13.08

5.53

2.38

0.10

34.06

200 - 500

44.48

10.41

3.19

0.34

0.04

58.46

500 - 1000

46.66

1.29

0.32

0.30

0.04

48.61

1000 - 1500

16.72

0.04

0.02

-

-

16.79

1500 - 2000

0.08

-

-

-

-

0.08

Total

122.57

29.73

12.50

8.32

0.58

173.71

Table 82. Estimated value of ecosystem services by altitude for Cham Chu Reserve in2017
Unit: Million USD
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushesAgriculturalland/Paddy

Water

Total

0 - 100

3.55

8.81

0.38

3.06

0.42

16.23

100 - 200

22.45

9.37

1.64

1.68

0.09

35.23

200 - 500

46.57

6.76

1.83

0.53

0.04

55.73

76

500 - 1000

46.66

1.25

0.17

0.53

0.04

48.66

1000 - 1500

16.72

0.06

0.02

0.03

-

16.84

1500 - 2000

0.08

-

-

-

-

0.08

Total

136.04

26.26

4.05

5.83

0.60

172.77

In summary, the characteristics of ecosystem service value for Cham Chu Reserve areas followings:+ The value of ecosystem services for the whole Cham Chu Reserve is more than 179
million USD (in 1986) and more than 173 million USD (in 2017), and tends to decrease
gradually. Similarly, the value of ecosystem services per hectare is decreased from USD
4,427 (in 1986) to USD 4,279 (in 2017).
+ Among types of land use, close forest has the highest value, varying from 70% to 78%
of the total value of ecosystem services, of which the highest value was 128.46 million
USD in 1986. Open forest has a smaller value, accounting for 15.57% - 19.45%. Other
land uses have relatively low values.
+ Among the communes of the Reserve, Trung Ha commune (Chiem Hoa) has thehighest value, followed by Phu Luu commune (Ham Yen district), then Ha Lang (Chiem
Hoa), and 2 remaining communes (Yen Thuan and Hoa Phu) have a lower value. The
proportion of ecosystem service value among communes also changes with the changeof land use types over time.
+ By altitude, land use and land cover in the elevation zones ranging from 200m 1000m contributes the largest value of ecosystem services (accounting for 60% of thevalue), then followed by the elevation zone ranging from 100m - 200m, the rest of theother zones (0 m – 100 m and >1000 m) have lower values.
2.6.2.2. Bac Me Nature Reserve(1). Assessment of ecosystem services for Bac Me Nature Reserve during theperiod 1988-2019
The method of value transfer (de Groot et al., 2012, Table 1, page 55) is used to calculate
the Indexes of ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting)for different types of land use (Close Forest, Open Forest, Bush, Agriculturalland/Paddy, Fresh water) for Bac Me Nature Reserve. Some indexes/functions notdefined by de Groot et al., (2012) were added from the methodology developed by
Costanza et al., (1997: Table 2, p 256) for Function for Pollination (regulating77

ecosystem service) for the land use type is Agricultural land/Paddy. The index/functionof the ecosystem service provided by the agricultural land/Paddy land use type isestimated from the statistics of production value (VND converted to USD) per 1 hectareof arable land, notable from the Statistical Yearbook of Bac Me district, Ha Tuyenprovince in 2019 (See Table 17, p. 28).
Table 83 and Figure 20 present the total value of ecosystem services for each land
use type of Bac Me Nature Reserve during 1988-2019 and Figure 21 shows the
distribution map of ecosystem service value (USD/ha) in the Bac Me Nature Reserve in
1988, 1998, 2009 and 2019.
Table 83. Estimated total value of ecosystem services by land use type for Bac Me
Nature Reserve during 1988-2019
1988

1998

2009

2019

Land use type Million
USD%

MillionUSD%

MillionUSD%

Million
USD%

Close forest

68.79

74.25

53.90

60.22

58.60

64.65

51.82

58.14

Open forest

14.46

15.61

24.61

27.49

22.16

24.44

24.53

27.52

Bushes

8.16

8.80

9.67

10.80

7.69

8.48

9.26

10.39

Bare land

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Agriculturalland/Paddy

0.79

0.85

1.13

1.26

0.45

0.50

1.92

2.13

Water

0.93

1.00

0.88

0.99

2.02

2.23

2.76

3.10

Total (Million
USD)

93.13

100.0090.20

100.0090.92

100.0090.30

100.00Total(USD/ha)

4416

4278

4312

4282

Thus, over the past 30 years, from 1988 to 2019, the total value of ecosystemservices by land use types in the communes of Bac Me Nature Reserve has not changed
much, fluctuating in the range of 90 - 93 million USD. However, the total value of
ecosystem services only reached $ 90.30 million in 2019, a decrease of $ 2.84 million
compared to 1988 (reaching $ 93.13 million). Close and open forests contribute thelargest amount, about 85% to the total value of ecosystem services because of their
particularly important roles through their inherent functions such as providing food,regulating water biochemical processes in the systems, reaching 4.452 USD/ha/year.
Among four types of ecosystem services, regulating services contribute the largest
part to the total value of ecosystem services in Bac Me Natuer Reserve, reaching 37.47
million USD in 2019, accounting for 41.49% of total value, through the functions such78

as air quality regulation, climate regulation, disturbance moderation, regulation of water
flow, waste treatment, erosion prevention, nutrient cycling, pollination and biologicalcontrol. Provisioning service has the second largest value, reaching 34.07 million USD,
equivalent to 37.73% of the total value.
Table 85. Estimated value of ecosystem services by types for Bac Me Nature Reservein the period 1988 – 2019
Ecosystem
service
types
Provisioning

1988
Million
%
USD
34.01
36.52

1998
2009
MillionMillion
%
%
USD
USD
33.40
37.04
33.08
36.38

2019
Million
%
USD
34.07
37.73

Regulating

40.61

43.61

38.44

42.62

39.42

43.36

37.47

41.49

Supporting

4.25

4.56

4.88

5.41

4.02

4.42

4.69

5.19

Cultural

14.26

15.31

13.47

14.93

14.4

15.84

14.07

15.58

Total

93.13

100.0090.19

100.0090.92

100.0090.30

100.00Figure 30. Distribution map of total ecosystem services value (USD/ha) in Bac Me
Nature Reserve in 1988, 1998, 2009 and 201979

(2). Assessment of ecosystem services by commune for Bac Me Nature Reserve
during the period 1988-2019
The value of ecosystem services for Bac Me Nature Reserve for years of 1988,
1998, 2009 and 2019 is shown in Tables 86, 87, 88, 89.
Table 86. Estimated total value of ecosystem services by commune for Bac Me Nature
Reserve in 1988

No

1
2
3

CommuneLac Nong
Minh Ngoc
Thuong Tan
Total

Value of ecosystem services by land use types (Million
Natural
USD)
areas
Close Open
Bare Agricultural(ha)
Bushes
Water

Total

4,632
9,260
7,195
21,087

20.11
39.97
33.06
93.13

forest forest
14.89 2.75
29.24 6.52
24.66 5.20
68.79 14.46

1.99
3.36
2.80
8.16

land
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

land/Paddy
0.17
0.52
0.11
0.79

0.31
0.34
0.28
0.93

Table 87. Estimated total value of ecosystem services by commune for Bac Me Nature
Reserve in 1998
No

1
2
3

Commune Natural Value of ecosystem services by land use types (Million Total
USD)
areas
Close Open
Bare Agricultural(ha)
BushesWater
Lac Nong
Minh Ngoc
Thuong
Tan
Total

4,632
9,260

forest forest
12.16 4.70
22.67 10.27

2.01
4.34

land
0.00
0.00

land/Paddy
0.17
0.79

0.29
0.30

7,195

19.07

9.64

3.32

0.00

0.17

0.29

21,08753.90 24.61

9.67

0.00

1.13

0.88

19.33
38.38
32.49
90.20

Table 88. Estimated total value of ecosystem services by commune for Bac Me Nature
Reserve in 2009
No

1
2
3

CommuneLac Nong
Minh Ngoc
Thuong Tan
Total

Total
Value of ecosystem services by land use types
Natural(Million USD)
areas
Close Open
Bare Agricultural(ha)
Bushes
Water

4,632
9,260
7,195
21,087

forest forest
12.98 4.48
25.72 11.02
19.90 6.65
58.60 22.16

80

1.54
3.16
2.99
7.69

land
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

land/Paddy
0.11
0.25
0.08
0.45

0.26
0.15
1.61
2.02

19.37
40.30
31.24
90.92

Table 89. Estimated total value of ecosystem services by commune for Bac Me Nature
Reserve in 2019
No

1
2
3

CommuneLac Nong
Minh Ngoc
Thuong Tan
Total

Total
Value of ecosystem services by land use types
Natural(Million USD)
areas
Close Open
Bare Agricultural(ha)
Bushes
Water

4,632
9,260
7,195
21,087

forest forest
11.51 5.24
23.48 10.77
16.83 8.52
51.82 24.53

2.10
3.61
3.55
9.26

land
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

land/Paddy
0.49
1.01
0.42
1.92

0.49
0.46
1.80
2.76

19.83
39.35
31.11
90.30

Table 90. Estimation of several provisioning and regulating services by statistics for
Bac Me district Ha Giang province in 2017
No

Ecosystem services

Value (Million VND)

Value (USD)(1 USD=22,980VND)

1Provisioning services

1.1

Agricultural production

692,342.19

30,128,033

1.2

Forestry production

78,834.80

3,430,583

1.3

Aquacultural production

8,972.51

390,449

2

Regulating services

4,781.20

208,059

2.1.

Payment for Forest Environmental
Service

4,781.20

Total

784,930.70

780,149.50

33,949,064

208,059
34,157,124

During the period of 1988-2019, the total value of ecosystem services are
significantly different among communes in Bac Me Nature Reserve. Minh Ngoc
commune has the largest value, varying in the range of 39.35 - 40.30 million USD,
accounting for about 42.5% - 44.3% of the total value for the Reserve. Thuong Tan
Commune, with the second largest value, varies between 31.11 - 33.06 million USD
million, accounting for 34.4% - 36%. Lac Nong commune has the lowest value, ranging
from 19.33 - 20.11 million USD, accounting for 21.3%-22.0% of the total value.
(3). Assessment of ecosystem services by altitude for Bac Me Nature Reserve
during the period 1988-2019
Total value of ecosystem services by altitude for Bac Me Nature Reserve in 1988,
1998, 2009 and 2019 are presented in the Tables 91, 92, 93, 94 below.
81

Table 91. Estimated value of ecosystem services by altitude for Bac Me Nature Reservein 1988
Unit: Million USD
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushes

Bare
land

Agriculturalland/Paddy

Water

Total

0 - 100

0.19

0.03

0.08

0.00

0.02

0.08

0.40

100 - 200

4.36

1.79

1.30

0.00

0.46

0.71

8.61

200 - 500

17.01

6.14

4.35

0.00

0.21

0.09

27.80

500 - 1000

31.64

4.58

2.47

0.00

0.08

0.02

38.78

1000 - 1500

16.10

0.14

0.01

0.00

0.01

0.00

16.27

1500 - 2000

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Total

69.29

12.68

8.22

0.00

0.78

0.90

91.87

Table 92. Estimated value of ecosystem services by altitude for Bac Me Nature Reservein 1998
Unit: Million USD
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushes

Bare
land

Agriculturalland/Paddy

Water

Total

0 - 100

0.10

0.11

0.07

0.00

0.03

0.09

0.40

100 - 200

1.87

3.05

1.56

0.00

0.54

0.70

7.71

200 - 500

11.54

9.54

4.67

0.00

0.46

0.08

26.29

500 - 1000

25.04

8.94

3.31

0.00

0.09

0.01

37.39

1000 - 1500

15.53

0.62

0.09

0.00

0.00

0.00

16.24

1500 - 2000

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Tổng

54.08

22.25

9.71

0.00

1.11

0.88

88.03

Table 93. Estimated value of ecosystem services by altitude for Bac Me Nature Reservein 2009
Unit: Million USD
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushes

Bare
land

Agriculturalland/Paddy

Water

Total

0 - 100

0.10

0.01

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.49

0.59

100 - 200

2.21

2.22

1.07

0.00

0.31

1.52

7.33

82

200 - 500

12.94

9.85

4.01

0.00

0.09

0.01

26.90

500 - 1000

27.76

7.49

2.57

0.00

0.02

0.00

37.84

1000 - 1500

15.74

0.26

0.11

0.00

0.00

0.00

16.11

1500 - 2000

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Tổng

58.75

19.82

7.77

0.00

0.42

2.02

88.78

Table 94. Estimated value of ecosystem services by altitude for Bac Me Nature Reservein 2019
Unit: Million USD
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushes

Bare
land

Agriculturalland/Paddy

Water

Total

0 - 100

0.08

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.51

0.60

100 - 200

1.11

2.12

1.60

0.00

0.94

2.20

7.97

200 - 500

11.06

8.72

5.33

0.00

0.69

0.05

25.86

500 - 1000

25.20

9.74

2.33

0.00

0.25

0.00

37.53

1000 - 1500

14.56

1.50

0.04

0.00

0.03

0.00

16.13

1500 - 2000

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Total

52.01

22.10

9.31

0.00

1.91

2.77

88.10

Figure 31. Estimated value of ecosystem services by altitude for Bac Me Nature Reserve83during 1988-2019
Thus, the value of ecosystem services at the altitude belt of 500 - 1,000 m
contributes the largest amount, reaching 37 - 38 million USD/year, accounting for about
42% of the total value of ecosystem services of Bac Me Nature Reserve. The value atthe altitude belt of 200 - 500 m contributes the second large amount, reaching about 27
million USD/year, accounting for about 30% of the total value. The land use and land
cover types at other altitude belts, i.e. below 200 m and higher 1,000 m contribute less
30% of total value of ecosystem services.
In summary, the characteristics of ecosystem service value for Bac Me Reserve are as
followings:+ In general, the value of ecosystem services for the whole Bac Me Reserve is morethan 93.13 million USD (in 1988) and more than 90.3 million USD (in 2019), and tends
to decrease gradually. Similarly, the value of ecosystem services per hectare isdecreased from USD 4,416 (in 1988) to USD 4,282 (in 2017).
+ Among types of land use, close forest has the highest value, decreasing from 74% (in1988) to 58% (in 2019) of the total value of ecosystem services, of which the highest
value is 68.79 million USD in 1988. Open forest has a smaller value, varying from 8%- 10% of total value, and other land uses have relatively low values.
+ Among the communes of the Reserve, Minh Ngoc commune has the highest value,
followed by Thuong Tan commune and then Lac Nong commune. The proportion of
ecosystem service value among communes also changes with the change of land use
types over time.
+ By altitude, land use and land cover in the elevation zones ranging from 200m 1000m contributes the largest value of ecosystem services (accounting for 70% of thevalue), then followed by the elevation zone ranging from 1000m - 1500m and those of
100m – 200m.
2.6.2.2. Phia Oac – Phia Den National Park
(1). Assessment of all ecosystem services for Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park
during the period 1988-2019
The method of value transfer (de Groot et al., 2012, Table 1, page 55) is used to
calculate the Indexes of ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, cultural andsupporting) for different types of land use (Close Forest, Open Forest, Bush,
Agricultural land/Paddy, Fresh water) for Phia Oac – Phia Den National Park. Some
indexes/functions not defined by de Groot et al., (2012) were added from the84

methodology developed by Costanza et al., (1997: Table 2, p 256) for Function for
Pollination (regulating ecosystem service) for the land use type is Agriculturalland/Paddy. The index/function of the ecosystem service provided by the agriculturalland/Paddy land use type is estimated from the statistics of production value (VND
converted to USD) per 1 hectare of arable land, notable from the Statistical Yearbook
of Cao Bang province in 2019 (See Table 18, p. 29).
Table 95 and Figure 20 present the total value of ecosystem services for each land
use type of Bac Me Nature Reserve during 1988-2019 and Figure 21 shows the
distribution map of ecosystem service value (USD/ha) in the Bac Me Nature Reserve in
1988, 1998, 2009 and 2019.
Table 96. Estimated total value of ecosystem services for each land use type of Phia
Oac – Phia Den National Park
1988

1998

Land use typeMillionUSD%

Million
USD

Close forest

104.35

82.67

96.53

Open forest

11.11

8.80

Bushes

9.69

Agricultural
land

2009

2019

MillionUSD%

Million
USD

%

77.12

95.77

76.20

103.06

79.66

17.60

14.06

20.91

16.64

19.26

14.88

7.68

9.91

7.92

7.79

6.19

5.96

4.61

1.08

0.85

1.13

0.90

1.22

0.97

1.09

0.84

Mine/Bare land

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Total (Million
USD)

126.22100.00125.17100.00125.69100.00129.37100.00Total (USD/ha)

6,292

6,240

%

6,266

6,449

Thus, over the past 30 years, from 1988 to 2019, the total value of ecosystemservices by land use type in the communes of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park has
not changed much, ranging between 125 - 129 million USD. In particular, the total valueof ecosystem services in 2019 reached USD 129.37 million, an increase of USD 3.68
million compared to 2009 (reaching USD 125.69 million) due to the sharp increase in
the area of close forest. Close and open forests contribute the largest amount, about 95%of the total value of ecosystem services because of their particularly important roles
through inherent functions such as providing food, food, regulating biochemical cycles
on Earth, reaching 5,263 USD/ha/year.
Among the four types of ecosystem services, regulating services contribute thelargest value to the total value of ecosystem services in Phia Oac - Phia Den National
Park, reaching $59.31 million in 2019 (45.85%).

85

Table 59 presents the value of ecosystems services for each land use type for Phia
Oac – Phia Den National Park and Figure 16 shows the distribution map of ecosystemservice value (USD/ha) in Phia Oac NP – Phia Den in 1988, 1998, 2009 and 2019.
Table 97. Value of ecosystem services by types for Phia Oac - Phia Den National Parkin the period 1988 – 2019
Ecosystem
service types

1988
Million
USD

1998

2010

2019

%

MillionUSD%

MillionUSD%

Million
USD%

Provisioning

45.68

36.19

45.37

36.25

45.32

36.06

46.29

35.78

Regulating

56.26

44.58

55.65

44.46

56.75

45.15

59.31

45.85

Supporting

5.17

4.09

5.26

4.20

4.33

3.44

3.56

2.75

Cultural

19.11

15.14

18.90

15.10

19.30

15.35

20.21

15.62

Total (Million
USD)

126.22 100.00

125.17 100.00

125.69100.00129.37100.00Figure 32. Distribution map of total ecosystem services value (USD/ha) in Phia Oac Phia Den National Park in 1988, 1998, 2009 and 201986

(2). Evaluation of total ecosystem services by communes of Phia Oac – Phia Den
National Park for period 1988-2019
The value of total ecosystem services by commune for Phia Oac - Phia Den
National Park for the years 1988, 1998, 2009 and 2017 are presented in Tables 98, 99,
100 respectively. In general, these values for Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park in the
period 1988 - 2019 did not change much.
Table 98. Estimated value of total ecosystem services by commune for Phia Oac Phia Den National Park in 1988.

No

CommuneNaturalareas (ha)Value of ecosystem services by land use types (Million
USD)
Close
forestOpen
forestBushesAgricultural Mine/Bare
land
land

1

Thanh Cong

8,150.29

30.54

4.21

2.22

0.23

-

2

Quang Thanh

5,977.59

23.39

1.83

1.67

0.18

-

3

Phan Thanh

8,368.66

25.82

3.50

3.71

0.44

-

4

Hung Đao

4,408.13

17.60

1.25

1.12

0.13

-

5

Tinh
town

2,155.63

6.99

0.32

0.97

0.11

-

29,060.29

104.35

11.11

9.69

1.08

-

Tuc

Total

The value of total service ecosystems is significantly different between thecommunes of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park. In 1988, the total value of ecosystems
services in the National Park reached 126.22 million USD, of which, close forest had
the highest value of ecosystem services, reaching 104.35 million USD, contributing
82.67% total value of ecosystem services. Among the 5 communes of the National Park,
Thanh Cong commune has the largest value, followed by Phan Thanh commune, Quang
Thanh commune, Hung Dao commune and the lowest is Tinh Tuc town, respectively
37.20 million USD, 33 million USD. 47 million USD, 27.07 million USD, 20.09 million
USD, 8.39 million USD, (29.47%, 26.52%, 21.45%, 15.92%, 6.65%).
Table 99. Estimated value of total ecosystem services by commune for Phia Oac Phia Den National Park in 1998

STT

CommuneNaturalareas (ha)1

Thanh Cong

2

Quang Thanh

Value of ecosystem services by land use types(Million USD)
Close
forestOpen
forestBushes8,150.29

27.75

5.52

2.73

0.26

-

5,977.59

21.17

3.70

1.74

0.19

-

87

Agricultural Mine/Bare
land
land

3

Phan Thanh

8,368.66

25.56

4.15

3.32

0.46

-

4

Hung Đao

4,408.13

15.03

3.63

1.34

0.12

-

5

Tinh
town

2,155.63

7.02

0.61

0.79

0.10

-

29,060.29

96.53

17.60

9.91

1.13

-

Tuc

Total

Table 100. Estimated value of total ecosystem services by commune for Phia Oac Phia Den National Park in 2009No

CommuneNaturalareas (ha)1

Thanh Cong

2

Value of ecosystem services by land use types(Million USD)
Close
forestOpen
forestBushes8,150.29

29.76

5.55

1.60

0.26

-

Quang Thanh

5,977.59

21.13

3.14

1.62

0.24

-

3

Phan Thanh

8,368.66

22.20

7.72

2.98

0.49

-

4

Hung Đao

4,408.13

15.29

4.01

0.87

0.13

-

5

Tinh
town

2,155.63

7.39

0.49

0.72

0.10

-

29,060.29

95.77

20.91

7.79

1.22

-

Tuc

Total

Agricultural Mine/Bare
land
land

Table 101. Estimated value of total ecosystem services by commune for Phia Oac Phia Den National Park in 2019No

CommuneNaturalareas (ha)1

Thanh Cong

2

Value of ecosystem services by land use types(Million USD)
Close
forestOpen
forest8,150.29

30.12

5.01

1.82

0.25

-

Quang Thanh

5,977.59

22.21

3.84

0.88

0.22

-

3

Phan Thanh

8,368.66

26.11

6.50

2.32

0.40

-

4

Hung Đao

4,408.13

17.98

2.11

0.48

0.13

-

5

Tinh Tuc town

2,155.63

6.65

1.79

0.46

0.09

-

29,060.29

103.06

19.26

5.96

1.09

-

Total

Bushes Agricultural Mine/Bare
land
land

Thus, the value of total ecosystem services for the National Park in 2019 reached129.37 million USD, of which, ecosystem services of close forest have the highest

88value, reaching 95.77 million USD, contributing 79.66 % of total ecosystem services
value.
(3). Assessment of ecosystem services by altitude for Phia Oac - Phia Den National
Park during the period 1988-2019
The largest area of the national park is distributed mainly at the altitude of 500 - 1,000m,
about 17,000 ha, of which the area of close forest fluctuates about 10,000 ha, accountingfor 58-59%. Next, the second largest area of the national park is distributed at thealtitude belt of 1,000 - 1,500m, mainly close forest.
Among the land use and land cover types of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park, close
forest occupies the largest area, 18,000 - 19,000 ha, accounting for 62 - 68%. In which,the area of close forest is distributed mainly at the altitude belt of 500-1,500m,
accounting for about 85-90% of the total area of close forest of the National Park.
The value of ecosystem services at the altitude of 500 - 1,000m contributes the largest
part, reaching USD 69 - 72 million/year, accounting for about 55% of the total value of
ecosystem services of the Park, followed by in altitude belt of 1,000 - 1,500m has thesecond largest contribution value, 36 - 38 million USD/year, accounting for 28 - 30%.
In which, close forests contribute about 96-104 million USD/year.
Table 102. Estimated value of ecosystem services of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park
classified by altitude in 1988
Unit: Million dollars
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushesAgricultural Mining/Bare
land
land

Total

0 - 100

0.22

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.22

100 - 200

0.08

0.01

0.02

0.01

0.00

0.12

200 - 500

10.04

2.11

0.92

0.15

0.00

13.22

500 - 1000

57.21

7.70

6.45

0.69

0.00

72.05

1000 - 1500

32.36

1.29

2.29

0.22

0.00

36.16

1500 - 2000

4.43

0.01

0.01

0.00

0.00

4.45

Total

104.35

11.11

9.69

1.08

0.00

126.2289

Value of ecosystem services of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Parkby altitude in 1988
80.00
70.00
Mil. dollars

60.00

50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
0 - 100

100 - 200

Close forest

Open forest

200 - 500

500 - 1000

Bushes1000 - 1500

Agricultural land1500 - 2000

MiningFigure 33. Value of ecosystem services of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park byaltitude in 1988
Table 103. Estimated value of ecosystem services of Phia Oac - Phia Den National
Park by altitude in 1998
Unit: Million dollars
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushesAgricultural Mining/Bare
land
land

Total

0 - 100

0.20

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.20

100 - 200

0.09

0.04

0.02

0.01

0.00

0.15

200 - 500

9.35

2.57

1.30

0.12

0.00

13.34

500 - 1000

49.63

12.38

6.93

0.80

0.00

69.74

1000 - 1500

32.81

2.60

1.67

0.19

0.00

37.27

1500 - 2000

4.45

0.01

0.01

0.00

0.00

4.46

Total

96.53

17.60

9.91

1.13

0.00

125.1790

Value of ecosystem services of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Parkby altitude in 1998
80.00
70.00

Mil. dollats

60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
0 - 100

100 - 200

Close forest

Open forest

200 - 500
Bushes500 - 1000

1000 - 1500

Agricultural land1500 - 2000

MiningFigure 34. Value of ecosystem services of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park byaltitude in 1998
Table 104. Estimated value of ecosystem services of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Parkby altitude in 2009
Unit: Million dollars
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushesAgricultural Mining/Bare
land
land

Total

0 - 100

0.18

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.18

100 - 200

0.00

0.07

0.02

0.01

0.00

0.10

200 - 500

5.40

5.61

1.20

0.19

0.00

12.40

500 - 1000

50.22

13.59

5.30

0.88

0.00

70.00

1000 - 1500

35.52

1.63

1.25

0.13

0.00

38.54

1500 - 2000

4.45

0.00

0.01

0.00

0.00

4.46

Total

95.77

20.91

7.79

1.22

0.00

125.6991

Mil. dollars

Value of ecosystem services of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Parkby altitude in 2009
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
0 - 100

100 - 200

Close forest

Open forest

200 - 500
Bushes500 - 1000

1000 - 1500

Agricultural land1500 - 2000

MiningFigure 35. Value of ecosystem services of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park byaltitude in 2010
Table 105. Estimated value of ecosystem services of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Parkby altitude in 2019
Unit: Million dollars
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushesAgriculturalland

MiningTotal

0 - 100

0.20

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.20

100 - 200

0.06

0.04

0.01

0.01

0.00

0.12

200 - 500

9.98

2.82

0.59

0.15

0.00

13.54

500 - 1000

52.93

13.68

4.70

0.79

0.00

72.10

1000 - 1500

35.41

2.71

0.67

0.14

0.00

38.93

1500 - 2000

4.47

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

4.48

Total

103.06

19.26

5.96

1.09

0.00

129.3792

Value of ecosystem services of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Parkby altitude in 2019
80.00
70.00

Mil. dollars

60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
0 - 100
Close forest

100 - 200
Open forest

200 - 500
Bushes500 - 1000

1000 - 1500

Agricultural land1500 - 2000

MiningFigure 36. Value of ecosystem services of Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park by altitude
in 2019

Figure 37. Estimated value of ecosystem services by altitude for Phia Oac – Phia Den
National Park during 1988-2019

93

In summary, the characteristics of ecosystem service value for Phia Oac – Phia Den
National Park are as followings:+ In general, the value of ecosystem services for the whole Phia Oac – Phia Den
National Park is more than 126.22 million USD (in 1988) and more than 129.37 million
USD (in 2019), and tends to increase gradually. Similarly, the value of ecosystemservices per hectare is increased from USD 6,292 (in 1988) to USD 6,419 (in 2019).
+ Among the services, regulating service has the highest value, accounting for about
45% of the total value of the national park, followed by provisioning service, accounting
for about 35%-36% of the total value and cultural service accounts for about 3%-4%.
+ Among types of land use, close forest has the highest value, decreasing from 83% (in1988) to 76% (in 2019) of the total value of ecosystem services, of which the highest
value is 104.35 million USD in 1988. Open forest has a smaller value, accounting for
9% (in 1988) and for about 15% (in 2019).
Bush accounts for 5% - 7% of total value, and other land uses have relatively low
values.
+ Among the communes of the Reserve, Thanh Cong commune has the highest value,
followed by Phan Thanh commune and then Quang Thanh commune.
+ By altitude, land use and land cover in the elevation zones ranging from 500m 1500m contributes the largest value of ecosystem services (accounting for about 85%of the value), then followed by the elevation zone ranging from 200m - 500m and otherelevation zones have a small value.
2.6.2.4. Nam Xuan Lac Reserve(1). Assessment of ecosystem services for Nam Xuan Lac Reserve during the period
1988-2019
Table 106 presents the value of ecosystems services for each land use type for
Nam Xuan Lac Reserve and Figure 32 shows the distribution map of ecosystem service
value (USD/ha) in Nam Xuan Lac Reserve in 1989, 1998, 2007 and 2017.
Table 106. Estimated total value of ecosystem services for each land use type of Nam
Xuan Lac Reserve
1989
Land use typeMillion
USD

1998
%

Million
USD

94

2007
%

Million
USD

2017
%

MillionUSD%Close forest

73.22781.32

79.93787.29

76.99584.37

71.00481.72

Open forest

6.366

7.07

3.379

3.69

4.867

5.33

3.087

3.55

Bushes

4.725

5.25

0.985

1.08

4.585

5.02

3.885

4.47

Agricultural
land

5.695

6.32

7.271

7.94

4.814

5.28

8.906

10.25

Water

0.031

0.03

0.008

0.01

0.002

0.00

0.003

0.00

Total (Million
USD)

90.044100.0091.580100.0091.264100.0086.884100.00Total (USD/ha)

3,099

3,151

3,141

2,990

Figure 38. Distribution map of total ecosystem services value (USD/ha) in Nam Xuan
Lac Reserve in 1989, 1998, 2007 and 2017(2). Assessment of ecosystem services by commune for Nam Xuan Lac Reserve
during the period 1988-2019
95

The value of ecosystem services for Nam Xuan Lac Reserve for years of 1989,
1998, 2007 and 2017 is shown in Tables 107, 108, 109 and 110.
Table 107. Estimated total value of ecosystem services by commune for Nam Xuan
Lac Reserve in 1989

No

1
2
3

CommuneValue of ecosystem services by land use types (Million
USD)

Close
forestDong Lac
Ban ThiXuan Lac
Total

10.86
33.53
28.83
73.23

Open
forest

1.29
3.42
1.66
6.37

BushesAgriculturalland/ Paddy

Water

1.38
2.41
0.93
4.73

1.94
2.54
1.21
5.69

0.03
0.00
0.00
0.03

Total

15.50
41.91
32.63
90.04

Table 108. Estimated total value of ecosystem services by commune for Nam Xuan
Lac Reserve in 1998

No

1
2
3

CommuneValue of ecosystem services by land use types (Million
USD)

Close
forestDong Lac
Ban ThiXuan Lac
Total

14.44
35.54
29.96
79.94

Open
forest

0.59
1.87
0.92
3.38

BushesAgriculturalland/ Paddy

Water

0.27
0.56
0.16
0.98

1.62
3.94
1.71
7.27

0.01
0.01

Total

16.93
41.91
32.74
91.58

Table 109. Estimated total value of ecosystem services by commune for Nam Xuan
Lac Reserve in 2007

No

1
2
3

CommuneValue of ecosystem services by land use types (Million
USD)

Close
forestDong Lac
Ban ThiXuan Lac
Total

14.06
33.60
29.34
77.00

Open
forest

0.87
2.90
1.09
4.87

96

BushesAgriculturalland/ Paddy

Water

0.78
2.77
1.04
4.59

1.24
2.43
1.14
4.81

0.00
0.00
0.00

Total

16.95
41.70
32.61
91.26

Table 110. Estimated total value of ecosystem services by commune for Nam Xuan
Lac Reserve in 2017
CommuneNo

1
2
3

Value of ecosystem services by land use types (Million
USD)

Close
forestDong Lac
Ban ThiXuan Lac
Total

Open
forest

9.38
30.77
30.85
71.00

0.52
1.12
1.44
3.09

BushesAgriculturalland/ Paddy

Water

1.20
2.31
0.38
3.89

3.12
4.89
0.90
8.91

0.00
0.00
0.00

Total
(Million
USD)

14.22
39.09
33.57
86.88

(3). Assessment of ecosystem services by altitude for Nam Xuan Lac Nature
Reserve during the period 1988-2019
Total value of ecosystem services by altitude for Nam Xuan Lac Reserve in 1989, 1998,
2007 and 2017 are presented in the Tables 111, 112, 113, and 114 below.
Table 111. Estimated value of ecosystem services by altitude for Nam Xuan Lac Reservein 1989
Unit: Million USD
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestAgriculturalland/Paddy

Bushes

Water

Total

100 - 200

0.15

0.13

0.11

0.13

0

0.52

200 - 500

29.94

5.2

3.52

3.78

0.07

42.5

500 - 1000

41.99

1.02

1.02

1.79

0.05

45.88

1000 - 1500

1.19

0

0

0

0

1.19

Total

73.27

6.34

4.65

5.7

0.12

90.08

Table 112. Estimated value of ecosystem services by altitude for Nam Xuan Lac Reservein 1998
Unit: Million USD
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushesAgriculturalland/Paddy

Water

Total

100 - 200

0.22

0.04

0.03

0.2

0

0.49

200 - 500

36.01

1.67

0.68

5.09

0.1

43.56

500 - 1000

42.75

1.49

0.21

1.94

0

46.4

1000 - 1500

1.18

0.03

0

0

0

1.22

Total

80.17

3.23

0.92

7.23

0.1

91.66

97

Table 113. Estimated value of ecosystem services by altitude for Nam Xuan Lac Reservein 2007
Unit: Million USD
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushesAgriculturalland/Paddy

Water

Total

100 - 200

0.09

0.07

0.1

0.18

0

0.44

200 - 500

31.82

3.12

3.88

3.55

0.1

42.47

500 - 1000

44.31

1.16

0.57

1.07

0

47.12

1000 - 1500

1.17

0.03

0.02

0.02

0

1.24

Total

77.4

4.38

4.56

4.82

0.1

91.26

Table 114. Estimated value of ecosystem services by altitude for Nam Xuan Lac Reservein 2017
Unit: Million USD
Altitude(meters)

Close
forestOpen
forestBushesAgriculturalland/Paddy

Water

Total

100 - 200

0.03

0

0.04

0.27

0

0.35

200 - 500

30.13

1.4

2.61

6.2

0.05

40.39

500 - 1000

39.8

1.61

1.16

2.41

0.05

45.03

1000 - 1500

1.19

0

0

0

0

1.19

Total

71.16

3.01

3.81

8.88

0.1

86.95

In summary, the characteristics of ecosystem service value for Nam Xuan Lac reserve
are as followings:+ In general, the value of ecosystem services for the whole Reserve fluctuates between
90 - 91 million USD in the period 1989 - 2007, then decreased to nearly 87 million USD
in 2017. Similarly, the value of ecosystem services per 1 hectare is decreased from 3,151
USD (in 1998) to 2,990 USD (in 2017).
+ Among the types of land use, close forest has the highest value, changing from 81%
of total value of the Reserve (in 1989) then increasing to more than 87% (in 1998) anddecreasing to about 84% (in 2007) and about 81% (in 2017). Similarly, the value of
ecosystem services per hectare is decreased from 3,099 USD (in 1989) to 2,990 USD(in 2017).

98

+ Among the communes of the Reserve, Ban Thi commune has the highest value,
followed by Xuan Lac commune and Dong Lac commune. The proportion of ecosystemservice value among communes also changes with the change of land use types overtime.
+ By altitude, land use and land cover in the elevation zones ranging from 200m - 100m
contributes the largest value of ecosystem services, accounting for about 97% - 98% of
the value.
2.7. Discusssion and recommendation for conservation
2.7.1. Discusssion
2.7.1.1. Land use and land cover change in study sites during period of 1988 –2019
Regarding close forests, this forest accounts for a large proportion at the study
sites, mainly concentrated in the altitude belt from 200-1500m. During the period of
1988-2009, Close forest (tropical forest) tends to reduce and convert to open forest,
bushes as different form of degraded tropical forest, concentrated mainly at the altitudebelt of 200-1000m. During the period of 2009-2019, Close forest tends to increase inarea, mainly due to efforts to protect forests and natural process of forest vegetation
rehabilitation and reforestation. However, Bac Me NR still faces serious deforestation.
Regarding to Open forest, this forest has lower proportion in comparison with
Close forest among the landuse/landcover in the areas and is concentrated mainly at thealtitude belt of 200-1000 meters. During the period of 1988-2009, Open forest tends toincrease rapidly in expense of loss of Close forest due to the process of forest
degradation. In the period of 2009-2019, Open forest has a tendency to decrease becausepart of this area converted to close forest by the process of natural regenetion. Regarding
to Bush, the area of this type has similar trend of open forest, that is, it increased rapidly
during the period of 1988-2009 and decreased during the period 2009-2019.
The trend of landuse/landcover change in Bac Me Nature Reserve and Phia Oac-Phia
Den National Park during the period of 1988-2019 is presented in Table 117.
Table 117. Trend of landuse/landcover change in the study sites during the period of
1986/1988 – 2017/2019
Study
sites
Cham
Chu
Reserve

Close
forest--Open
forest++Bushes

+

Bare
land

+-

99

Agriculturalland/ Paddy

+

Water

+-

Note
Close forest decreased
sharply and converted
to Open forest andBac Me
NR

--

++

+

+-

+-

+

Phia Oac– PhiaDen NP

-

++

--

+-

+-

+-

Nam
Xuan Lac
Reserve

-+

--

-+

-+

++

NA

Bush; Bare landslightly increased
Close forest decreased
sharply and converted
to Open forest andBush; Bare landslightly increased
Close forest decreased
sharply and converted
to Open forest; A partof Bush converted toOpen forest; During
2009-2019, Close
forest increased
significant, while
Open forest
deacreased
Close forest slightly
decreased; Open
forest decreased
sharply while
agricultural land or
swiden land increased
accordingly

Note:++ : Strong increase; + : Moderate increase; +- : Minor increase-+: Minor decrease; - : Moderate decrease; -- : Strong decrease;+/-: both increase and decrease
According to the report of the Management Board of Bac Me Conservation Area
and Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park and the Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development, the threats of biodiversity loss and deforestation include: 1 ). Hunting,shooting, trapping and catching animals; 2). Excessive exploitation of non-timber forest
products; 3). Illegal logging and firewood exploitation; 4). Encroachment on land for
agricultural and forestry production; 5). Forest fires caused by human activities.
In fact, these threats have been intensified by the impact of macro socio-economic
development policies, such as the reform policy (known as DOI MOI) in 1986 and WTO
accession in 2007, which have contributed to making Vietnam a low-middle income
country (2010), reaching $2,389 yearly income/per capita in 2017 (GSO, 2017).
Vietnam's forestry policy has undergone significant changes, shifting from theeconomic sector of forest exploitation before 1986, to the policy of protection andlimited exploitation of natural forests or “closure of the forest gates” from 1994-1995,
and subsequent forest conservation and development policies since 2004 (MARD,
2004). In the period since Doi Moi (1986) to 2012, land use changes in the Northern100mountainous region were characterized by the conversion of swidden land into arable
land and afforestation land (Shivakoti et al., 2016). Nguyen et al. (2020) showed that
forest governance regimes have a significant effect not only on forest land
use/landcover change but also on the quantity and values of forest ecosystem service
derived from forests. Thus, the evolution of forestry policy has affected land
use/landcover change and ultimately affects the value of biodiversity and ecosystemservices. In addition, DARD (2014) found that illegal logging, woodland clearing for
agriculture, forest fires, and hunting are the most severe threats to biodiversity in theprotected areas and other mountainous areas in Viet Nam (Wood et al., 2013). The
expansion of cropland changes the landscape pattern, as agricultural production is oneof the underlying reasons for deforestation and forest degradation, causing a gradualincrease in ecological deprivation (Khuc et al., 2018).
2.7.1.2. Assessment of ecosystem services in study sites during period of
1986/1988 – 2017/2019
Regarding ecosystem services, according to preliminary assessment, the total
value of ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting) ranges
from 90-93 million USD, equivalent to 4,282 USD/ha/year for Bac Me NR and from125-129 million USD, equivalent to USD 4,452/ha/year for Phia Oac-Phia Den
National Park. However, this value has a trend to deacrease during the period 19882019 due to the degradation of forest ecosystems.
Despite the fact that there are few studies in Vietnam on measuring total ecosystemservice value, Table 10 showed a comparison of ecosystem services for forest
ecosystems in protected areas in Vietnam in terms of total ecosystem service value perhectare. For comparison, a mangrove forest ecosystem in Thai Thuy Nature Reserve
has a total ESV of $1758/ha (including provisioning, regulating, supporting, andcultural services) (ISPONRE, 2018), while forest ecosystems in Cat Tien Natural Park
have a value of $726/ha (including provisioning, regulating and cultural services)(GECD, 2014). Meanwhile, Ca Mau mangrove forest ecosystem provisioning andregulating services are valued at up to $3,316/ha (Vo et al., 2015). Although there arecertain differences in the results of these studies because of different methods, thefindings of this study using the value transfer method combined with the remote sensing
gives a relative benefit that fits the particular context of Vietnam.

101

Table 118. Comparison of total ecosystem service value for forest ecosystems inprotected areas in Vietnam.
Study sites
Total/Area (YearESV
of($/ha)
publication)
Cham Chu
Reserve /
4,279
40,445.19 ha(2017)
Bac MeReserve /
4,282
21,087 ha(2019)
Phia OacPhia Den NP /4,452
29,060ha(2019)Nam Xuan
Lac Reserve /
2,990
19,276.7 ha(2017)Cat Tien
National Park
/ 71,000ha(2014)Ca Maumangroveforest/ 187,533ha(2015)
Thai Thuy
mangroveforest/ 13,100ha(2016)

726

3,316

1,758

Provisio
ning
service($/ha)

1,616

1,593

39

2,344

1,172

Regulating
service($/ha)

1,777

2,041

668

973

463

Supporti
ng
service($/ha)

222

123

-

-

20

Cultural
service($/ha)

667

695

Main
methods
used andreference
Valuetransfer and
GIS/RS
Valuetransfer
GIS/RS

andValue
transfer
GIS/RS

andValue
transfer
GIS/RS

and

11

Market price,cost-based,
benefittransfer(GECD,
2014)-Market price,
remotesensing (Voet al., 2015)103

Market price,
directinterview,
value transfer(ISPONRE,2018)

The overall assessment methodology in this study can be applied to the rapid
assessment of ecosystem services for specific protected areas and regions, and be consideredas the basis of land use planning and biodiversity conservation. While the value of global
ecosystem services is estimated to be around USD125-145 trillion for 2011 (in 2007 USD)
(Costanza et al., 2014), the value of the ecosystems services in Vietnam is estimated at about$28.87 billion (WWF, 2013), equivalent to 16.8% of GDP in 2013. In fact, ecosystem services

102

have not been appropriately considered in Vietnam in policymaking processes, while globallysustainable development policy is making more use of ecosystem services valuation (Brondizio
et al., 2019). Ecosystem services values are increasingly integrated into strategic environmental
assessments and development policy for national and global conservation and resource
management (Mukherjee et al., 2014).

2.7.2. Recommendation for conservation
In the past 20 years, Vietnam’s Government has issued many policies on biodiversity
conservation associated with sustainable development. The Law on Biodiversity (2008)
emphasizes the management, use and conservation of biodiversity, while the Forestry Law(2017) focuses on guiding the biodiversity conservation in protected areas, and the Law on
Environmental protection (2020) considers the use and conservation of some natural ecosystemservices. In addition, the National Strategy on Biodiversity (2013) also clearly identifies
biodiversity as the foundation of the green economy; Conservation associated with sustainable
use of biodiversity contributes to poverty reduction and improvement of people's quality oflife. Policies of the provinces, such as Tuyen Quang, Ha Giang, Cao Bang and Bac Kan all
have provincial biodiversity conservation planning to localise national policies into their
specific local conditions. The conservation and sustainable development planning for Cham
Chu, Bac Me, Nam Xuan Lac Reserves and Phia Oac - Phia Den National Park - all assess thevalue of biodiversity, consider difficulties, challenges, advantages and opportunities to propose
development plan. The studies on land use / land cover change and assessment of ecosystemservice value of the GIS-Remote Sensing group and those on species biodiversity provide
important results in updating scientific data in implementing conservation planning.
Therefore, some recommendations for conservation work for the four study sites are as
followings:- Continue to synthetize the latest knowledge about protected areas, especially in terms oftaxonomy, population and socio-economic pressures on ecosystems and species, in orderto have a basis for proposing policies for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity;- It is necessary to strengthen the conservation and restoration of natural forests, especiallyin sloping land with an altitude of 200-1000 meters, where human impact on forest
vegetation is greatest.
- It is necessary to raise people's awareness, in combination with livelihood development
for local communities, associated with conservation of biodiversity values.
- There should be in-depth studies on the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services, inorder to have a basis for proposing policies on payment for ecosystem services for the study
area.

103

2.8. Reference
Listing all references used in the report.
Brondizio ES, Settele J, Díaz S, Ngo HT., 2019. Global assessment report on
biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform
on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Bonn, Germany: IPBES secretariat; 2019.
Costanza R., 1997. The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital.
Nature, 387: pp. 253-259.
Costanza R, de Groot R, Sutton P, van der Ploeg S, Anderson SJ, Kubiszewski I, Farber
S, Turner RK., 2014. Changes in the global value of ecosystem services. Global
Environmental Change 2014;26:152-8.
De Groot Rudolf et al., 2012. Global estimates of the value of ecosystems and theirservices in monetary units. Ecosystem Services, 1(1): pp. 50-61.
Emerton L., Ha Tran Thi Thu, Hoang Thach Mai, Viet Anh Hoang and E. Ebert, 2014.
The economic value of Cat Tien National Park. GIZ, Vietnam.
GSO, 2017. General Statistical Yearbook of Vietnam. Hanoi: General Statistics Office(GSO); 2017.
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (GECD). The
economic value of Cat Tien National Park. Berlin, Germany: GECD; 2014.
Institute of Strategy, Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE), 2018.
Valuation of ecosystem services in pilot wetland protected areas: A case of Thai Thuy
coastal wetland, Thai Binh province. Hanoi, Vietnam: ISPONRE; 2018.
Khuc QV, Tran BQ, Meyfroidt P, Paschke MW., 2018. Drivers of deforestation andforest degradation in Vietnam: An exploratory analysis at the national level. Forest
Policy and Economics 2018;90:128-41.
Luong PH., 2018. Payment for forest environmental services: Current status andsolutions. Journal of Science and Forestry. Journal of Science and Forestry 2018;1(2):512
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), 2004. Handbook for
Forestry: Orientation for Forestry Development. Hanoi, Vietnam: MARD; 2004.
Mukherjee N, Sutherland WJ, Dicks L, Hugé J, Koedam N, Dahdouh-Guebas F., 2014.
Ecosystem service valuations of mangrove ecosystems to inform decision making andfuture valuation exercises. PloS one 2014;9(9):1-9.
Nguyen MD, Ancev T, Randall A., 2020. Forest governance and economic values offorest ecosystem services in Vietnam. Land use policy 2020; 97: 1-17.
104

Shivakoti G, Van Thanh M, Vien TD, Leisz SJ, 2016. Redefining Diversity andDynamics of Natural Resources Management in Asia,. Volume 2: Upland Natural
Resources and Social Ecological Systems in Northern Vietnam: Elsevier; 2016.
Tuyen Quang Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD
Tuyen Quang), 2014. Conservation and Development Planning for Cham Chu Nature
Reserve. Tuyen Quang, Vietnam: Tuyen Quang People's Committee;
Wood A, Stedman-Edwards P, Mang J., 2013. The root causes of biodiversity loss.
London, UK: Routledge; 2013.
Vo TQ, Künzer C, Oppelt N., 2015. How remote sensing supports mangrove ecosystemservice valuation: a case study in Ca Mau province, Vietnam. Ecosystem Services
2015;14:67-75.
World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF), 2013. The Economic Value of Ecosystem
Services in the Mekong Basin: what we know, and what we need to know. Gland,
Switzerland: WWF; 2013.
Reference in VietnameseBộ NN&PTNT (MARD), 2006. Cẩm nang ngành lâm nghiệp. Chương Hệ sinh tháirừng tự nhiên Việt Nam.
Sở Nông nghiệp và Phát triển nông thôn Tuyên Quang (DARD Tuyen Quang), 2014.
Quy hoạch bảo tồn và phát triển bền vững các khu rừng đặc dụng tỉnh Tuyên Quang
đến năm 2020. Quyển 3: Quy hoạch bảo tồn và phát triển bền vững Khu Bảo tồn Loài
- Sinh cảnh Cham Chu.
Sở Nông nghiệp và Phát triển Nông thôn (DARD Ha Giang), 2016. Báo cáo quy hoạch
bảo tồn và phát triển bền vững Khu bảo tồn thiên nhiên Bắc Mê, tỉnh Hà Giang đến năm
2020. Chi cục Kiểm lâm. Hà Giang. 139 trang.
Thái Văn Trừng, 1970. Thảm thực vật rừng Việt Nam. NXB Khoa học KT, Hà Nội.
Tổng cục Môi trường, 2020. Báo cáo đánh giá thực hiện chiến lược quốc gia về đa dạngsinh học đến năm 2020, tầm nhìn đến năm 2030. Dự thảo. 218 trang.
Thủ tướng (Prime Minister), 2014. Quy hoạch hệ thống rừng đặc dụng cả nước đến năm
2020, tầm nhìn đến năm 2030. Số: 1976/QĐ-TTg ngày 30/10/2014)
UBND tỉnh Cao Bằng, 2017. Báo cáo Quy hoạch chi tiết chuyển hạng Khu bảo tồn thiên
nhiên Phia Oắc – Phia Đén thành Vườn Quốc gia Phia Oắc – Phia Đén huyện Nguyên
Bình, tỉnh Cao Bằng.
UBND tỉnh Bắc Kạn, 2013. Báo cáo Quy hoạch bảo tồn và phát triển bền vững Khu
bảo tồn loài và sinh cảnh Nam Xuân Lạc, tỉnh Bắc Kạn giai đoạn 2013 – 2020.

105

Other reports and documents, made by Tuyen Quang, Ha Giang, Cao Bang and Bac
Kan People’s Committees and their department.

3. PUBLICATIONS AND PRODUCTS
List all scientific publications and other products/works of the group members,
including those accepted for publication, and presentations in scientific or public
meetings. Please upload electronic reprints or copies of all items to the folder whenavailable.
1. Hoang Van Thang and Vo Thanh Son, 2020. Ecosystem service Trade-offs in the
Northern mountainous region of Vietnam. Vietnam Environment Administration
Magazine (VEM). No. 12 (2020) 44-46.
2. Vo Thanh Son, Luu The Anh, Dao Minh Truong, Trong Dai Ly, and Jing Sun, 2021.
Evaluation of Ecosystem Service Changes due to Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics
in Cham Chu Nature Reserve. Environment and Natural Resources Journal. Paper
accepted by 15/10/2021 and published online (…..)

4. EMPOWERMENT OF YOUNG SCIENTISTS
4.1. Guiding principles for education and training
Brief description of regulations or guideline of the research group for young
research assistants.
Research assistants are eligible to participate in group research activities ranging
from planning, document searching and review, conducting fieldwork, data collection,
data analysis and write a report. Through these specific works, research assistants cangain practical knowledge and skills in their research work. Researchers provide
asssistants with guidance on specific techniques such as determining coordinates,building maps, and editing reports produced by research assistants.
Thus, the GIS/RS research group of the project has also contributed to support
knowledge and skills for 2 PhD students (Mr. Hoang Tuan Anh and Du Vu Viet Quan)
and 1 graduate student (Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan Phuong) to implement their works andstudy.
4.2. Achievement of each young scientist
Listing all products and results realized by research assistants and/or young
scientist during the time of project implementation and assessment of their progress.

106

5. APPENDIX: Photo of main landuse and landcover in the four study sites

Figure 1. Forest cover in Thanh Cong
commune, Phia Oac – Phia Den National
Park (6/5/2021)

Figure 2. Forest cover in Hung Dao
commune, Phia Oac – Phia Den National
Park (8/5/2021).

Figure 3. Forest cover in Yen Thuan Figure 4. Forest trees in the top of Phia Oac
commune, Cham Chu Reserve
mountain, Phia Oac – Phia Den National
Park (8/5/2021).

107Figure 5. Forest cover in Phan Thanh Figure 6. Forest cover in Lac Nongcommune, Phia Oac – Phia Den National commune, Bac Me Reserve
Park (8/5/2021)

Figure 7. Forest Plantation (Acacia) in Lac Figure 8. Forest plantation (Pine) in theNong commune, Bac Me Reserve
Phan Thanh commune, Phia Oac – Phia Den
National Park (6/5/2021).

108

Figure 9. Rice paddies Minh Ngoc commune, Figure 10. Rice paddies in Trung Ha
Bac Me Reserve
commune, Cham Chu Reserve

Figure 11. Rice paddies in Yen Thuan Figure 12. Rice paddies in Lac Nongcommune, Bac Me Reserve
commune, Cham Chu Reserve

Figure 13. Rice paddies in Xuan Lac Figure 14. Maize field in valley of Yen Thuan
commune, Nam Xuan Lac Reserve
commune, Cham Chu Reserve

109

Figure 15. Maize field in valley of Yen Thuan Figure 16. Maize field in Minh Ngoc
commune, Cham Chu Reserve
commune, Bac Me Reserve

Figure 17. Fruit crop (orange tree) in sloping Figure 18.Close-up of orange trees inland of Phu Luu commune, Cham Chu Reserve sloping land of Phu Luu commune, Cham
Chu Reserve110Figure 19. Landscape of Phia Oac – Phia Den Figure 20. Landscape of Cham Chu Reserve
National Park

Figure 21. Landscape of Bac Me Reserve

Figure 22. Landscape of Nam Xuan Lac
Reserve

111

Figure 23. Bushes and bareland in Thuong Figure 24. Bushes and bareland in Tinh Tuc
Tan commune, Bac Me Reserve
town, Phia Oac – Phia Den National Park

Figure 25. Logging forest trees for plywood Figure 26. Utilisation of forest plantationin Ha Lang commune, Cham Chu Reservefor plywood in Ha Lang commune, Cham
Chu Reserve

112

Figure 27. Discussion with local people about
forest changes and local livelihood
development in Ban Thi commune, Nam Xuan
Lac Reserve

113

Figure 28. Discussion with local people
about landuse change and local livelihood
development in Lac Nong commune, Bac
Me Reserve