FWD: The Business of Preservation

[vuca@envi.env.civil.saitama-u.ac.jp (Vu Thanh Ca)]

Vietnam Business Journal, June '97

The Business of Preservation

A World Wide Fund for Nature staffer explains how protecting the
environment can mean bringing together some unlikley allies.

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by Chad Ovel

Vietnam's natives and visitors alike seek out the country's natural beauty,
but is this beauty something that can be preserved? The Vu Quang Nature
Reserve and Con Dao Island, both among the country's most beautiful
national parks and both containing rare species, are threatened by
development. The World Wide Fund for Nature has been helping in the search
for solutions that protect these parks without interfering with economic
development.

Because of a recent decree closing all of Vietnam's primary forests to
commercial logging, production at sawmills throughout the country may grind
to a halt in the coming months. With an eye on the rapidly deteriorating
state of Vietnam's forests, Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet has stressed the
importance of preserving what still remains. Yet the complex task of
protecting Vietnam's rich natural environment involves more than simply
revoking logging rights.

Conservation of Vietnam's biodiversity is complicated by several factors.
Large populations live both on the borders of and deep within important
forests. No option exists for creating vast protected areas that are absent
of humans. The forest and the abundant resources it provides will always be
linked to the people's livelihood. Fuel wood collection and agricultural
encroachment threaten both the quality and size of Vietnam's forests.

Aside from extensive fuel wood collection, extremely intensive hunting and
poaching is leading to a serious depletion of key species. There have been
some dramatic confiscations of smuggled wildlife by police and customs
officials since the enactment last year of the Prime Minister's decree
banning the sale and trade of endangered animals, but many other undetected
loads of illegally caught pangolins, turtles, snakes and primates continue
to make their way to Vietnam's border with China.

The source for many of these unfortunate animals is the forested mountains
of central Vietnam, the region with the nation's lowest per-capita income.
"When I was surveying for primates in June, I found one very poor village
that had captured 5,000 monkeys in the last year," said Professor Pham Nhat
of Vietnam's Forestry College. "Even with only rough population estimates
for the monkeys and langurs in that area, I know this is not sustainable.
Something must be done quickly, or we risk losing our cherished and rare
primates."

In the last five years, international scientists have focused their
attention on the very same mountainous areas that Nhat speaks of, but for
entirely different reasons. WWF-sponsored field surveys in 1992 led to the
discovery of two new large mammal species previously unknown to science:
the sao la, a primitive bovid with long, straight horns and the giant
muntjac, a newly described species of barking deer. The scientific marvel
of discovering these two new species, along with a new fish species
identified in the same watershed last May by Vietnam's leading
ichthyologist, Dr. Nguyen Thai Tu, has put Vu Quang Nature Reserve on the
map as a biodiversity hot spot warranting increased conservation activity.

Providing conservation technical assistance to Vietnam since 1985, WWF has
learned that introducing new and innovative approaches is needed to
conserve Vietnam's biodiversity. The identification of Vu Quang as a
crucial place for the preservation of key species led WWF to assist
provincial and national authorities in developing a strong strategy for
conservation of biodiversity in the area.

Acknowledging the pressure placed upon Vu Quang's forest resources by the
area's high population, the project has opted to weave "classic"
conservation activities with development assistance to the surrounding
communities.

Funded by government of The Netherlands, the project's diverse activities
in Vu Quang will be implemented over a period of five years. Starting in
the communities surrounding the reserve, extensive talks and interviews
will be held to determine exactly how the villagers utilize the forest
resources. In consultation with commune and district leaders, nature
reserve staff and provincial authorities, the project staff will construct
a management plan for the protected area.

One of the most important functions of the management plan is to demarcate
various degrees of use, including buffer zones, regeneration zones and
strict protection zones. After demarcation is achieved, all parties with a
vested interest are much closer to a common understanding of boundaries and
restrictions on use of the forest resources.

The project also focuses on physically guarding the forest. Guard stations
have been built at strategic points of entry into the forest (there are no
roads, only foot paths). The guards will be trained in protection
techniques and in handling villagers who are desperate to enter the forest
to supplement their subsistence income. The guards will also be given the
tools they need to do an effective job, including motorbikes and
binoculars. Because the construction of guard shacks on the edge of the
forest will do little to win the hearts of villagers quite accustomed to
hunting and gathering as their means of livelihood, special use zones will
serve as a cushion between the strictly protected center of the forest and
the more active edges of the forest.

The project is also holding demonstrations on environmentally sound farming
techniques and examining renewable-energy options such as solar power and
hydropower.

The entire project is also monitored from start to finish for both
socioeconomic and biological changes. Whenever new and innovative
approaches are adopted, such as those utilized in the integrated
conservation and development project in Vu Quang Nature Reserve, their
ability to accomplish the original objective of conservation of
biodiversity must be assessed for effectiveness. Balancing high
populations, valuable forest resources and the populations' dependence on
those resources is always a difficult task.

Equally threatened by human intervention are Vietnam's marine ecosystems.
Throughout the country, unsustainable fishing techniques are overexploiting
marine resources. Cyanide and dynamite are both used widely to catch fish.
Cyanide has extremely detrimental effects on all living organisms in the
surrounding environment and dynamite does irreparable damage to coral reef
systems.

In 1992, WWF sponsored marine surveys in conjunction with Vietnam's
Institute of Oceanography to examine relative biodiversity levels in and
threats to eight different marine ecosystem throughout Vietnam. Con Dao
Island of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province was identified as among the areas with
the highest in diversity of species and has since been designated a
national park.

Con Dao is not only plagued by intensive cyanide and dynamite use and
turtle poaching, but faces other threats as well. In pursuit of economic
opportunities, there are currently plans for several major investments at
Con Dao Island, including resort development, construction of a commercial
fishing port, expansion of the airport and installation of oil storage
facilities. It is clear that these plans are incompatible with each other,
and their implementation could lead to an overall decline in Con Dao's
relatively pristine environment.

Since 1995, WWF has provided support for marine conservation, focusing
mainly on turtle activities at Con Dao National Park. WWF technical experts
have assisted the park staff in making important improvements to their
program to protect and conserve nesting beaches for hawksbill and green
turtles that lie on five of the outer six islands in the Con Dao
archipelago. Support was also provided for basic equipment and
infrastructure, including radio equipment for the guards who are stationed
on the outer islands.

Future conservation actions will not be limited to species protection. They
will also examine the integrated use of the archipelago by competing
interests. The solution? Unknown as of yet, but a conservation-minded next
step is for the local people, developers and environmentalists to prepare
an overall development plan. In a scenario where the ambitions of oil
companies and real estate concerns play out on a sensitive natural area,
cooperating on a realistic plan is essential.

As evidenced by population pressures at Vu Quang and potential commercial
development at Con Dao, conservation of Vietnam's biodiversity must often
include an awareness of economic needs and development interests. These
often-conflicting interests must be considered and integrated. The future
of Vietnam's natural resources relies on cooperation between development
and preservation.

Chad Ovel works for WWF Indochina Programme, which seeks innovative ways to
promote and preserve Vietnam's biodiversity. He is based in Hanoi.