Vietnam	  	  	  	  	  February	  2012	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  Study	   T rip	   R eport	  Hanoi	   a nd	   N ha	   T rang	   B ay,	   V ietnam	  	  February	  25-­‐29,	  2012	  	  Vietnam	  	  	  	  	  February	  2012	  	  Participants	  Master’s program students (JDS fellows) at the Graduate School of Lifeand Environment Sciences, the University of TsukubaDang Nguyet AnhPham Tien DatHa Nam ThangNaoko Kaida, Assistant Professor at Faculty of Engineering, Informationand SystemsSchedule	  D ateT im e9:30 12:0026/2(Sun)14:0016:00

27/2(M on)

28/2(T ue)8:3012:00	  P u rp oses/C on ten tsT o understand thetourismdevelopm ent in N haT rang B ay M P AT o explore the realsituation andconservationm easures in theMPAT o find inform ationabout the activitiesof the M P A and therole of M PA inprotection ofaquatic habitats,livelihoodim provem ents forfisherm en andtourismdevelopm ent in N TO rganizationC ontact personM r. N guyen T hanhT ai, N ha T rang B ayM P A staff

14:00-16:00M eeting w ithm anagem ent boardof N ha T rang B ayM P A A uthority

16:00-17:00V isitO ceanographicm useumT o discover m arinespecies

08:30- 9:30H ave m eeting w ithInstitute ofO ceanographyT o understand thestatus of m arineresourceconservation in N T
B ayInstitute ofO ceanographyM r. N guyen V anL ong, H ead of theD epartm ent ofM arine L ivingR esourcesT o discuss M arineconservation inV ietnamA gricultureProjectM anagem entU nitM r. C hu T ien V inh

11:45-13:3015:3016:1529/2(W ed)A ctivitiesV isit som eplaces/islandsaround N ha T rang
B ayInterview som e
localpeople/tourismoperatorsV isit som e islandsunder them anagem ent of theN ha T rang B ay
MPA

0:10F light to H anoiH ave a m eetingw ith the form erD irector G eneral ofthe D irectorate ofF isheriesN ha T rangB ay M PAA uthorityM r. T ruong K inh(D irector)O ceanographicm useumF light to Japan

1	  Vietnam	  	  	  	  	  February	  2012	  	  Nha	  Trang	  Bay	  Marine	  Protected	  Area	  (MPA)	  Authority	  Date:	  February	  27	  (14:00-­‐16:00)	  Interviewee:	  Mr.	  Truong	  Kinh,	  Director	  of	  the	  Nha	  Trang	  Bay	  MPA	  Authority	  Over the past 10 years, the Nha Trang Bay Marine Protected Area(MPA) has faced many difficulties. First, the MPA concept is still new inVietnam in spite of 10 years of development. Therefore, the understandingof the local authorities and other relevant stakeholders are limited. Thebudgets for some activities proposed by the MPA have not been approvedsuch as that for the maintenance of the Nha Trang Bay MPA website. Infact, the MPA in Nha Trang is not well supported by the local authority.
Second, a comprehensive legal framework for the management of theMPA in Vietnam has not been established. Up to now, there are a numberof legal documents including:-Decree No. 57/2008/NĐ-CP on issuing regulations for management ofVietnam’s MPAs of national and international importance,-Decision No. 742 QD-TTg dated 26/05/2010 on approving the system ofVietnam’s MPAs towards 2020, and-Decision No. 188/QĐ-TTg on approving the fisheries resourcesprotection and development program towards 2020.

However, there are some overlaps among the legal documents andamong the Law on Biodiversity, and the Fisheries Law in terms of MPAmanagement. Moreover, the policies on conservation have not been clearenough, and special benefit policies for people working in the marineprotected areas have not been issued. Additionally, there are no colleges oruniversities teaching specialties regarding marine protected areas inVietnam. Thus, it is not easy to find qualified candidates to work in themarine protected areas.
Third, there are conflicts between conservation and development,which could be clearly observed in Nha Trang Bay. Tourism has developedquickly and is the core pillar of the Nha Trang economy. Tourism operators2	  	  Vietnam	  	  	  	  	  February	  2012	  	  are not much interested in marine resource conservation in Nha Trang Bayand they take the resource exploitation for granted. At present, there existthree major conflicts between the Nha Trang Bay MPA authority with localfishermen, management agencies, and enterprises (mainly in tourism).
Every year, Nha Trang, as one of the 29 most beautiful bays in theworld, attracts a great number of both domestic and international tourists.
However, only the tourism operators get benefits. The local people livingin Nha Trang Bay have received no benefits.
As of 2002, there were 1,100 households (5,300 people) living in andaround Nha Trang Bay, whose livelihoods depended on the Bay. 80% of thepeople were fishermen and 79% of the women have no employment.
According to Mr. Truong Kinh, finance is not a big problem in NhaTrang Bay at the moment because, in 2012, they are still allocated 4 billionVND for expenses in administration and conservation activities except formaintaining the MPA’s website and community development activities.
[Dang Nguyet Anh]	  	  	  	  	  	  	  Photo	  1:	  Interview	  and	  discussion	  with	  the	  director	  of	  the	  Nha	  Trang	  Bay	  MPA 	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  Photo	  2:	  Sightseeing	  fee	  collection	  at	  Hon	  Mon	  Island 	  	  	  3	  Vietnam	  	  	  	  	  February	  2012	  	  Bich	  Dam	  fishing	  village	  in	  Hon	  Tre	  Island	  	  Date:	  February	  27	  (10:00-­‐11:00)	  Interviewee:	  Mr.	  Hoa,	  the	  head	  of	  Bich	  Dam	  fishing	  village,	  Hon	  Tre	  Island	  	  The population size of Bich Dam village is around 865 people (192households). Its main livelihood is the fisheries and it has not beenapproved for tourism development due to military bases strategicallylocated on this island.
Mr. Hoa mentioned that, in general, villagers in Bich Dam were awareof the importance of marine conservation for future generations and therole of the MPA to their livelihood. However, according to Mr. Hoa,fishermen saw a decreasing trend in fishery production just after theestablishment of the Hon Mun MPA (now Nha Trang Bay MPA), which hascaused many difficulties for their living, because they were not allowed toenter into the core and protected zones for fishing. Moreover, fishingvessels from the village are mainly of a small scale, and therefore, theycannot go offshore beyond the MPA boundary to fish. Consequently, theirproduction is poor and has been increasingly reducing. The decline in thetotal catch is partly explained by the general trend of resource depletionthroughout the country.
With the support from the Sustainable Livelihoods in and around theMarine Protected Areas (LMPA) component, the local people can borrowmoney from microcredits – one program implemented by the LMPAcomponent for their production creating an alternative income.
Additionally, the LMPA component also supported Bich Dam to buildtoilets and 48 filtering tanks. They are a practical support to improve thequality of life for the Bich Dam villagers.
Waste on the island has been collected by the Khanh Hoa UrbanEnvironmental Hygiene Company. In fact, the village is being subsidizedby the Khanh Hoa Authority for waste collection because the cost is muchhigher than the total monthly fee paid by villagers.
It seems that local people evaluate the role of marine conservationbased on how they are supported through LMPA component and Nha TrangBay MPA rather than the function of MPA towards resources protectionand recovery.

4	  	  Vietnam	  	  	  	  	  February	  2012	  	  In the interview, we learnt that the local people expect to get moremicrocredit to develop small production (livestock and husbandry) andupgrade their vessels for offshore fishing.
[Dang Nguyet Anh]	  	  Photo	   3:	   Interview	   with	   Mr.	   Hoa,	   the	  head	  of	  Bich	  Dam	  village	  	  	  	  Photo	   4:	   Villagers	   making	   a	   seashell	  curtain	   (learned	   from	   the	   completed	  MPA	  pilot	  project) 	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  Photo	  5:	  MPA	  zoning	  signboard	  	  	  	  	  	  5	  Vietnam	  	  	  	  	  February	  2012	  	  Institute	  of	  Oceanography	  	  Date:	  February	  28	  (8:30-­‐10:00)	  Interviewees:	  Dr.	  Vo	  Si	  Tuan,	  Vice-­‐Director	  of	  the	  Institute	  of	  Oceanography	  Dr.	  Nguyen	  Van	  Long,	  Head	  of	  the	  Department	  of	  Marine	  Living	  Resources,	  the	  Institute	  of	  Oceanography	  Dr. Vo Si Tuan spoke about the MPAs (Marine Protected Areas) inVietnam and showed several publications from many projects which he hasparticipated in related to the monitoring of MPA in Vietnam. MPA projectsin Vietnam were supported by IUCN-the World Conservation Union, theWorld Bank, and DANIDA (Danish International Development Agency).
All publications are available on the website of UNEP (United NationsEnvironment Programme) at http://www.unep.org.
We interviewed Dr. Nguyen Van Long, who is a head of theDepartment of Marine Living Resources. Dr. Long stated that the NhaTrang Bay MPA is the first MPA in Vietnam and established the Hon MunMPA pilot project in 2001. This is an integrated conservation anddevelopment project. The objectives of the Hon Mun MPA pilot project areto protect the marine biodiversity environment and to enable local islandcommunities to improve their local livelihoods and, in partnerships withother stakeholders, to effectively protect and manage the marinebiodiversity in Nha Trang Bay. However, there is a limitation of the NhaTrang Bay MPA project at Hon Mun Island. Hon Mun is just a small islandlocated in the Nha Trang Bay area, and therefore, the Hon Mun pilotproject was not large enough for the whole scale management of Nha TrangBay. According to Dr. Long, dividing the Hon Mun pilot project in NhaTrang Bay MPA into three zones namely; Sanctuary, Habitat Restoration,and Multiple-use Zones, is not accurate since the definition of the oceanbay is completely different from that applied for forests. Thus, we need totake into consideration the significant differences between bays and forestsin order to monitor both effectively.
In terms of the effectiveness of the MPAs management, Dr. Long toldof his idea that there is a limitation due to a low capacity for marineconservation. He also compared two case studies between the Cu Lao Cham6	  	  Vietnam	  	  	  	  	  February	  2012	  	  MPA and the Hon Mun pilot project. The former case seems to be bettermanaged than the latter case thanks to the positive awareness andresponsibilities of the local government, including the People’s Counciland the People’s Committee. In Nha Trang Bay, on the other hand, tourismdominantly contributes to the city’s economy, thanks to the tourismactivities mainly operated by the corporations such as Vinpearl Company.
These corporations have received much interest and support from the localgovernment to establish resorts or hotel groups. There is a lack of a legalframework to convince the central government and local authorities tofocus on the roles of the MPA and how to balance tourism activities andmarine conservation in the future.
Regarding the economic valuation of the MPAs, according to Dr. Long,up to now there are only a few scientific studies on the economic valuationof the MPA in general and in Nha Trang Bay MPA in particular. Therefore,there is room for conducting such kinds of research. The research shouldconcentrate not only the economic valuation of the MPAs but alsoenvironmental policies towards sustainable marine conservation andmanagement.
[Pham Tien Dat]Photo	  6:	  Interview	  and	  discussion	  with	  Dr.	  Nguyen	  Van	  Long,	  Institute	  of	  Oceanography	  	  	  	  	  7	  Vietnam	  	  	  	  	  February	  2012	  	  Former	   Director	   General	   of	   the	   Directorate	   of	   Fisheries,	   Ministry	   of	  Agriculture	  and	  Rural	  Development	  Date:	  February	  28	  (16:00-­‐17:00)	  Interviewee:	   Dr.	   Chu	   Tien	   Vinh,	   Former	   Director	   General	   of	   the	  Directorate	   of	   Fisheries	   (currently	   engaged	   in	   Agricultural	   Projects	   of	   the	  Ministry	  of	  Agriculture	  and	  Rural	  Development	  as	  a	  supervising	  consultant)	  *Dr.	  Chu	  used	  to	  be	  in	  charge	  of	  MPA	  during	  serving	  for	  the	  Ministry.	  

According to Dr. Vinh, Vietnam will have 16 MPAs by 2020. On theother hand, the Vietnamese government has officially issued 47 programswhich apply GPS (global positioning system) and RS (remote sensing) formonitoring and control of the fisheries ground and other relevant activities.
Currently Vietnam has the following MPAs:8	
  •Dao Tran (Quang Ninh)•Co To (Quang Ninh)•Bach Long Vi (Hai Phong)•Cat Ba (Hai Phong)•Hon Me (Thanh Hoa)•Con Co (Quang Tri)•Hai Van Son Cha (Thua Thien Hue, Da Nang)•Nam Yet (Khanh Hoa)•NhaTrang bay (Khanh Hoa)•Nui Chua (Ninh Thuan)•PhuQuy (Binh Thuan)•Hon Cau (Binh Thuan)•Con Dao (Ba Ria-Vung Tau)•Phu Quoc (Kien Giang)	  Vietnam	  	  	  	  	  February	  2012	  	  Dr. Vinh affirms the important role of all the MPAs in conservinggenetics and protecting the specific habitats in the sea. MPAs strengthenthe fishermen’s awareness, and limit and prohibit the use of the aquaticresources such as sea-grass, coral, fish and mangroves.
In the context of the Nha Trang MPA, there have been severalchallenges for us, Dr. Vinh said. Firstly, tourism has been in conflict withthe conservation programs. We have to sacrifice numerous benefits for thepurpose of conservation. The tourism operators, however, rarely think ofthese things. We are attempting to improve the consensus among themembers to achieve the best results for the MPA.
Major problems in Nha Trang MPA:•The confusion in the finance mechanism. Currently, the investmentfor the MPAs is not clarified clearly. The budget for the Nha TrangMPA, therefore, is not stable.

•The complexity of the administrative system has caused a lacking inthe annual budget for the MPA.

•The idea that the government wants the MPA to manage all expensesby itself would not be realistic. This is not a vital feature of theMPA. For that reason, the government needs to collaborate betweentourism and conservation activities within a clear and effectivemechanism.

•The management team is not always functioning the best based onconsensus. Sometimes the manager has difficulties in gettingsufficient support from other staff and stakeholders.

•The staff are concurrent in many positions, and not trained as MPAmanagement majors.

•The Nha Trang MPA is quite close to hotels, restaurants, and othertourism activities. They have significant impacts on the aquaticenvironment and the ecosystem of the MPA.

•The Nha Trang MPA has been classified into three zones, namely;the Core Zone, the Buffer Zone, and the Restoration Zone. Theseareas, however, are not so far from the fishing grounds of thefishermen as well as the tourist areas. This zoning problem is thebiggest challenge to the Nha Trang MPA at the moment.	  

9	  Vietnam	  	  	  	  	  February	  2012	  	  [Ha Nam Thang]	  	  	  	  	  	  Photo	  7:	  Interview	  and	  discussion	  with	  Dr.Chu	  Tien	  Vinh	  10