|
|
|
Conservation ManagementImproving conservation management capacity at the project sites.
With protected area managers, PARC has been creating applied planning mechanisms to improve enforcement and monitoring activities. With local resource users, PARC is establishing community groups to conserve specific landscape units, such as Ba Be Lake and the proposed Xuan Lac / Ban Thi Habitat and Species Conservation Area, between Ba Be National Park and Na Hang Nature Reserve.
Conservation PlanningPlanning is at the core of the PARC programme for biodiversity conservation and conservation management. PARC shifted the focus from producing management plans for the three protected areas to promoting a more practical system of managing conservation activities, with operational planning as the central pillar of a tiered planning system, as follows:
Conservation strategiesConservation strategies assume that large areas can only be successfully managed for conservation if they are managed as single units. The Ba Be / Na Hang Conservation Complex includes the forests in and around these two protected areas – almost the final refuge of the Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey. Without coordinated management of the entire forest complex this species will almost certainly become extinct. PARC therefore worked with local stakeholders to agree on a conservation atrategy for the area. The strategy is consistent with existing government legislation for protected areas, including consideration of the recently defined protected area category “Species and Habitat Conservation Area”. Yok Don National Park protects a seasonal habitat that is important for large mammals and birds. Therefore, conservation of suitable habitats outside the park borders is essential to ensure the continuity of migratory pathways. PARC has identified priority habitat areas in the wet and dry seasons and management needs for long-term conservation. Based on this information, a multiple-use conservation strategy has been being produced that includes proscribed management of the wider landscape.
Operational PlanningPARC worked with protected area authorities to design a set of simple tools to improve conservation management by focussing on day-to-day field operations. Operational plans define long-term management goals and provide detailed guidance for achieving them. They specify schedules, budgets, and protected area staff responsibilities. In practice, operational plans fill a planning need not adequately met by statutory investment plans. The latter focus predominantly on financing capital items such as infrastructure. The PARC operational planning model was designed to suit the current protected area planning framework in Viet Nam. In support of this approach, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development approved PARC Project sites as pilot areas for operational planning in Viet Nam. Within the approved management strategy for the protected area system in Viet Nam, operational plans will be used as a guide for deciding funding allocations for protected areas. The Viet Nam Conservation Fund has also incorporated the formulation of operational plans as one of its conditions for funding approval.
Landscape Unit Management
Landscape Unit Management PARC Project has promoted conservation management of particular protected area resources by direct stakeholders. For example, the Ba Be Lake Management Co-operative has been established to help reverse prior over-exploitation of lake resources and dynamite fishing. Represented within the cooperative are stakeholders with an interest in the sustainable management of the lake, including Ba Be National Park, district authorities, and resident communities.
Site PlansSite plans describe detailed day-to-day operations for conservation management activities and are an integral part of operational plans. In Ba Be National Park, site plans were produced for caves that have important bats roosts, and to protect their sensitive limestone features. In Yok Don National Park, waterholes are key ecological units of the landscape, providing seasonal water supplies for many animal species. The project mapped the most significant waterholes, and combined this information with other conservation data to identify biodiversity hotspots to target conservation activities in the park. As with other prime biodiversity areas, conservation management of the assemblage of waterholes in the national park is carried out through site planning.
Hotspot analysisBy evaluating conservation criteria at the landscape level, PARC Project assessed biodiversity values within and beyond protected area boundaries. As a picture of different conservation values over the entire landscape was built up, maps were developed showing biodiversity hotspots. This approach assisted the project to identify where to target resources for highest return to biodiversity conservation and formed an important input to the planning processes. In many cases, it was concluded that biodiversity-rich areas were not restricted to the defined protected areas within the landscape.
Capacity buildingPARC has supported and built the capacity of protected area technical staff and rangers, thus strengthening the final link in the chain of conservation management from the broad conservation strategy to on-the-ground operations. A conservation management database has been developed to collate data from ranger patrols. It supports analysis of patrol effectiveness, serves as a basis for biodiversity monitoring, and highlights threats to that biodiversity. As it has been designed for operations at all PARC Project sites, it is appropriate for use in other protected areas in Viet Nam. Field assesment and training of rangers at all PARC protected areas reinforced their understanding of the objectives of ranger work and improved their practical skills to carry out routine tasks more effectively.
Achievements
ReportsBa Be / Na HangBiodiversity report on the Ba Be / Na Hang Conservation Complex A Conservation Strategy for the Ba Be – Na Hang Conservation Complex Sixth Report: Biodiversity Conservation (abridged) Feasibility for a conservation programme for the Vietnamese Salamander
(Paramesotriton deloustali) in Ba Be and Cho Don districts Bat survey and management plan for Puong Cave Ba Be National Park Operational Plan Operational Plan for Na Hang Nature Reserve Evaluation of wildlife trade in Ba Be and Cho Don Districts Evaluation of wildlife trade in Na Hang District Development of the Francois' Langur Species and Habitat Conservation
Area A biodiversity survey of the proposed Francois' Langur Species and
Habitat Conservation Area, Tuyen Quang Province Designation and management of the South Xuan Lac Species and Habitat
Conservation Area Yok Don National ParkDraft final biodiversity report on Yok Don National Park First Report: Conservation Management Second Report: Conservation Management Operational Plan for Yok Don National Park General reportsPARC Project and management planning for protected areas in Viet Nam Recommendations to the PARC Project: Based on the first Viet Nam ICDP
workshop Policy Brief: Biodiversity conservation through landscape ecology Policy Brief: Management planning for protected areas in Viet Nam
|
 top
|
© PARC Project Creating protected areas for resource conservation using landscape ecology |
