Resource Use Planning and Forestry

Defining protected area core and buffer zones, land use around target villages, and degraded habitats suitable for reforestation.

Participatory Resource Use Planning

Participatory Resource Use Planning (PRUP) integrates local resource use needs with long-term land use planning at the village level. The approach serves to balance conservation and development priorities in a participatory manner. The process necessarily involves local community stakeholders, government agencies, and protected area administrations. It was initially piloted at the Ba Be and Na Hang sites and then improved and implemented at the Yok Don site, covering more than 20 communes overall.

PARC initiated PRUP to improve understanding of how natural resources such as land, water, wood and non-timber forest products are used by communities living in and around the protected areas. Through, participatory mapping of village resource use, PRUP helped identify options for community development and conflicts related to biodiversity conservation.

During the project, PRUP evolved into a methodology for local communities and protected area authorities to resolve boundary disputes, such as in Na Hang, and to monitor and regulate natural resource use within the landscape.

Detailed PRUP, incorporating 3D mapping, was carried out for Drang Phok Village, in Yok Don National Park, to define land usage around the village and to assist authorities to develop an appropriate management strategy to minimise the impacts of the village on biodiversity in the park.

PRUP was a key component in the process of defining the boundaries of two new protected areas and their buffer zones. It also identified key priorities for community assistance at these sites that would help alleviate pressures on biodiversity rich forests.

The information generated by PRUP took on a new dimension, as the approach became integrated into operational planning and provided a basis for planning project activities.

PRUP Outputs

• Maps and documents identifying administrative, strict protection, rehabilitation and other prescribed protected area zones.
• Analysis of resource users in and around protected areas.
• Data sets and information derived from statistics, maps, reports and interviews, describing opportunities and constraints for biodiversity conservation and resource use at each project site.
• Assessment of past and present trends related to biodiversity conservation and resource use in each target community.
• Consensus among stakeholders about conservation and development priorities within the target landscape.
• Recommended village development activities, with financial frames, that can be carried out by different agencies and groups.

Forestry

The 661 Programme of the Government of Viet Nam, through forest protection contracts with local households, had implications for all three PARC sites. The project reviewed the contracts at all sites and explored approaches to strengthen biodiversity conservation through them.

PARC supported counterparts to implement forest management activities to promote conservation through local participatory approaches. These activities supported the improved management of 3,200 ha of protected area forests in Yok Don.

In Ba Be, forest stewardship programmes helped create consensus for conservation and development among local communities at the national park. At Na Hang agroforestry models helped protect hillside forests and restore forest cover.

Village Forestry Clubs were established in Ba Be and Na Hang to provide interested households with a forum for exchange and discussion on common social forestry issues. The common goal of these clubs was the protection of watersheds, prevention of erosion, conservation of habitat and creation of future income sources.

Main achievements

• Agreements for joint resource management with local villages in Ba Be National Park and multiple-use zones designated at Yok Don.

• Introduction of over 25 Village Forestry Clubs as a means of promoting farmer-owned forestry practices and aforestation in Ba Be / Na Hang.

• Agroforestry models to promote aforestation of slopes and occupied shrub land within Na Hang Nature Reserve.

• Participatory boundary demarcation in Na Hang Nature Reserve using Resource Use Planning as a conflict resolution measure.

• Forest stewardship systems to reduce conflict between local communities and protected areas in disputed locations of Ba Be National Park.

• Boundaries and land-use defined for current, newlyestablishd and proposed protected areas.

Reports:

Yok Don National Park

Review of previous activities and forestry possibilities for PARC Project at Yok Don National Park
English Vietnamese

The forest rehabilitation needs of Yok Don National Park
English Vietnamese

Resource Use Plan for Krong Na Commune
Vietnamese

Resource Use Plan for Ea Huar Commune
Vietnamese

Policy Brief:

Integrating conservation and development through participatory resource use planning
English Vietnamese