The project “Creating Protected Areas for Resource Conservation using Landscape Ecology” (PARC) was an Integrated Conservation and Development Project of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

From 1999 to 2004, PARC piloted a landscape ecology approach for conserving Viet Nam’s diverse biological heritage. This approach integrated conservation and development by using resource use planning as a basis for project activities in the landscapes of three sites: Yok Don National Park, Ba Be National Park, and Na Hang Nature Reserve.

PARC Overall Objective

To provide for effective biodiversity conservation in Viet Nam’s anthropogenically impacted and fragmented habitats, through the application of a landscape ecology approach to protected area management.

PARC Project sites	PARC objectives To improve operations capacity at project sites in order to efficiently and sustainably manage and maintain the respective protected areas. To reduce external threats to protected areas, through the integration of conservation and development objectives and activities at the local level.

Organisation

PARC was co-financed by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP/TRAC). It was implemented by the Forest Protection Department (FPD) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). IUCN - The World Conservation Union provided technical assistance at the national level and Scott Wilson Asia – Pacific Ltd. provided technical assistance at the site level.

PARC was the first GEF/UNDP-funded project to be nationally executed, which helps to ensure that project experience can be applied elsewhere in Viet Nam.

A landscape ecology approach

Landscape Ecology PARC was also one of the first projects to use a landscape ecology approach to integrate the needs of economic development and resource conservation within the entire human-impacted landscape. By using landscape ecology, planning goes beyond the boundaries of the protected areas themselves. Landscape-level planning can identify and help avoid conflict between conservation and development interests. A core activity of PARC within this approach was therefore to assess resource use and resource use planning for villages and communes in and around protected areas.

PARC Project Programmes

A combination of activities was used to link conservation management objectives with the welfare goals of local communities. Implementing these activities helped build local community knowledge, promoted sustainable livelihoods, created links between protected areas and local residents, and strengthened the technical skills and management capacities of protected area staff.

	Conservation management Improving the conservation management capacity at project sites through new planning mechanisms, improved enforcement, clarification of the natural resource status, and biodiversity monitoring activities.
	Resource use planning and forestry With the participation of local stakeholders, identifying additional habitats in need of protection for biodiversity conservation, defining protected area core and buffer zones, and reaching consensus on land-use around villages and degraded habitats suitable for reforestation.
	Community development Reducing the pressure on local forests through direct assistance to improve the livelihoods of local communities and introducing mechanisms for sustainable agriculture extension services.
	Environmental awareness and ecotourism Raising awareness of the purposes and benefits of protected areas by introducing environmental curricula into local schools, raising awareness among local communities and improving tourism services.