14078 giz VTN BZDP 2012 missionreport PART i and II draft v1 1

PHONG NHA-KE BANG BUFFER ZONE DEVELOPMENT PLAN – MISSION REPORT AND GUIDELINE Mission Report Part I and Part II -Sandra Sudhof January, 2013 forGIZ Quang Binh, Nature Conservation and

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PHONG NHA-KE BANG BUFFER ZONE DEVELOPMENT PLAN

– MISSION REPORT AND GUIDELINE

Mission Report Part I and Part II

-Sandra Sudhof

January, 2013

forGIZ Quang Binh, Nature Conservation and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in the

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park Region, Quang Binh Province

Published by :

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Phong Nha Ke Bang Buffer Zone Development Plan – Process and Guidelines P a g e | 2

PHONG NHA KE BANG BUFFER ZONE DEVELOPMENT PLAN – MISSION REPORT AND GUIDELINE

Sandra Sudhoff - Mission Report Part I and II

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AFOLU Agriculture, Forestry and other Land Use

BCEF Biomass conversion and expansion factor

BMZ Bundesministerium für Zusammenarbeit; German Federal Ministry for Economic

Cooperation and Development

CIFOR Centre for International Forestry Research

CITES Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species

DARD Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

DOLISA Department of Labor, Invalid and Social Affairs

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FCPF Forest Carbon Partnership Facility

FIPI Forest Inventory and Planning Institute

FLEGT Forest law enforcement, governance and trade

FLITCH Project for forestry development and livelihood improvement in the Central Highland

funded by ADB

FPDF Forest Protection and Development Fund

FPIC Free prior and informed consent

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FREC Forest Resources and Environment Center (under FIPI)

JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency

M&E Monitoring and evaluation

MARD Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

MOLISA Ministry of Labor, Invalid and Social Affairs

MONRE Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

MRV Monitoring, reporting and verification

PFES Payment for forest environmental services

RAMSAR The Convention on Wetlands (named after a town in Iran, where it was signed)

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RBM Results-based management

REDD Reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation

SNV Stichting Nederlandse Vrijwilligers (Netherlands Development Foundation SRTM Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, Radar data

SUFMB Special use forest Management Board

TTLT Interministerial Circular

UNCCD United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification

UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

UNREDD REDD- Programme of the United Nations

VNFOREST Viet Nam administration of forestry, MARD

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This mission report covers the documentation on the Buffer Zone Development Plan and the BufferZone Development Guidelines Part III, all REDD related activities are covered in a separate document.Original timeframe and TOR’s can be found in the Annex.

PART I: Bufer Zone Development Plan documentation

Background

The Project “Nature Conservation and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in the PhongNha-Ke Bang National Park Region” is a Vietnamese-German Development Cooperation, initiated bythe Vietnamese Government in cooperation with the German Federal Ministry for EconomicCooperation and Development (BMZ) The Project is implemented jointly by the two GermanDevelopment organizations, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) andthe German Entwicklungsbank (KfW) in cooperation with the People’s Committee of Quang Binhprovince The project’s overall goal is “Contribution to the conservation of the Northern AnnamiteRegion, its biodiversity and ecological services in close relation with a sustainable socio-economicdevelopment“ and more specifically for the process described in this report: “Reduction of thepressure on the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and amelioration of the legal income of the targetgroups living the park region.”

The project intervention area consists of the core zone of the PNKB National Park with the area of85,754 ha and the extension of 31,070 ha and the bufferzone of around 225,000 ha It is covering 13communes in the three districts of Bo Trach, Minh Hoa and Quang Ninh situated in the northwest ofQuang Binh province, with a population of around 60,000 people

Due to its outstanding karst and cave system1 the National Park is classified as a World heritage site

under Criterion vii: as an outstanding example representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features.

It has recently been proposed that PNKB National Park with its extension should also be nominated forWorld Heritage listing under two new Criterion2, as

 an outstanding example representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities

of plants and animals (Criterion ix); and

 containing the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation (Criterion x).

1 PNKB is believed to host the world’s largest cave: Son Doong Cave Extending further into Lao PDR, the region contains more than 100 km of caves and underground rivers, turning it into one of the most outstanding limestone karst ecosystems in the world [10].

2 IUCN Technical Evaluation, 2011 (ID 951bis) to the renomination of PNKB NP to UNESCO WHC for biodiversity values

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The park is also part of the Greater Annamites Global 200 priority ecoregion3 and an Endemic BirdArea4 as well as a global biodiversity hotspot as it is home to over 2,650 vascular plant species and 735vertebrate species, including 113 mammals, 302 birds, 81 reptiles and amphibians, and 72 fish Over 70

of these vertebrate species are considered globally threatened, and ten primate species andsubspecies are residing in the Park Many species are endemic and one of them, the Laotian Rock Rat,

is considered as a living fossil

Hin Nam No National Biodiversity Conservation Area, situated in Laos PDR, is part of the same

ecoregion with similar biodiversity values and authorities would like to have it nominated as WorldHeritage Site Since PNKB has already been nominated for its outstanding karst system, Hin Nam No,being part of the same karst system, cannot be given the status under the same criterion However,Lao PDR can seek the nomination for biodiversity instead In fact, the parks could apply together as a

cooperation The PNKB project has compiled a concept paper on regional cooperation in the past and

in the future in the light of the common goal; having the parks nominated as WHS and functioning as

an important transboundary ecoregion [28].6

PNKB is also the focus of fast growing domestic and international tourism with up to 300,000 visitors

per annum with only few inhabitants of the buffer zone benefiting from tourism Livelihood options forthe local population remain limited, depending mainly on agricultural land and forest resources whichare not sufficiently available7 As pointed out in the Feasibility Study for PNKB Region Project by GFA in

2006, these conditions contribute to the pressure of local communities resorting to illegal extraction of

forest resources from the park area and surrounding protection forests They also place limits andconstraints on the potential to develop alternative livelihoods

The proportion of ethnic minorities in the buffer zone is high; especially in the mountainous areas

where shifting cultivation is being practiced While the percentage of the ethnic minorities in thewhole province falls just below 20%, it is higher than 50% in six of the buffer zone communes, reachingover 90% in Dan Hoa, Trong Hoa, Tan Trach and Thuong Trach [18]

The fast growing tourism poses an additional threat Furthermore, commercial activities of State ForestCompanies and State Forest Enterprises have not been adequately considered and might alsocontribute to the depletion or degradation of natural resources and biodiversity in PNKB Region.8 [18]

3 The Global 200 is a list of ecoregions identified by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as priorities for conservation According

to the WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or water containing a characteristic set of natural communities that share a large majority of their species, dynamics, and environmental condition More information on ecoregions can be found here: http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/about/

4 Endemic Bird Areas are identified by Birdlife International important for conservation because it contains the habitats of restricted-range bird species (smaller than 50,000 km 2 ) An EBA is formed where the distributions of two or more such restricted-range species overlap http://www.birdlife.org/action/science/endemic_bird_areas/index.html

5 Note: Transboundary WHS is not a new criterion; it merely describes Sites which are covering more than one country The

criterion would still remain ix and x An example of a transboundary WHS can be found here: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1133/

6 In fact, this has also been expressed in the Stakeholders meeting November 2010 and the need to link the zones and create corridors for biodiversity has been stipulated in the minutes Apart from Him Nam No, also Net and Khe Ve Natural Reserves were mentioned.

7 In the Gender, Poverty and Ethnicity Study [18], it was mentioned that most households in the buffer zone have areas of 0.5

ha and less assigned for cropping, not necessarily always counting areas for shifting cultivation, since they are often classified

as forest There is no minimum plot size defined for land allocation to a household, but since 2003 with the introduction of the red book the ceiling is 30 ha per household

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The main focus of the second phase of the project/GIZ component is to support the elaboration of theconservation-oriented socio-economic development master plan for PNKB NP bufferzone until 2020and with the vision until 2030 (BZDP) More on its objectives as well as the timeline of the elaboration

of this plan can be found in the next chapters

Figure 1: Overview of the Buffer zone communes, the core zone of the PNKB National Park and its extension area.

More background on the PNKB Region Project and its components can be found in GIZ Programmedocumentation and in the TOR in the annex of this report

Objectives of the Bufer Zone Development Plan

The objectives and the rationale of the Buffer Zone Development are covered in full detail in the BZDPitself and in the guidelines as well as the TOR Therefore, only a brief summary is included in thischapter

8 The Minutes of November 2010 stakeholder Meeting clearly spell out that external threats to the Buffer Zone need to be evaluated, since not all threats are coming from the buffer zone communities However, this has not been attempted.

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T O P D O W N

B O TT O M U P

Policy, framework, regional planning

BZDP

First and foremost: the BZDP is a Provincial Planning Document It has been

elaborated with continuous input from all line agencies and other stakeholders All steps have been

authorised by the PPC Once the BZDP has been approved by the PPC, it becomes a legally binding

document This is one of the main reasons, why all stakeholders have been involved from the

beginning, to ensure awareness and increase ownership of the process and its product

Additionally, it ensures a conservation oriented objective whilst including socio-economic

development aspects; therefore linking the Strategic as well as the Operational Management Plan of

PNKB NP with the socio-economic goals laid out in the Province, District,Commune and Village development plans Thus it is in line with current plansand at the same time warrants feasibility and sustainability The concept hasbeen agreed on by all stakeholders of the province and is reflected by the full name of this Plan:

“Conservation-oriented socio-economic development plan for the Bufer Zone of the Phong Nha – Ke

Bang National Park Region, Quang Binh province, Viet Nam”.

Figure 3: Linking Socio-Economic Planning with Conservation-oriented Planning

In terms of scope BZDP looks at the sectors, e.g planning of the sectors does need to be taken into

account and will be analysed and incorporated Not all planning aspects from the socio-economicdevelopment plans on all the sectors will be of relevance to the BZDP and to keep the volume of theBZDP manageable, it was set to have a focus on the productive sectors (e.g agriculture, forestry,processing and marketing skills) which have a direct positive impact on livelihoods, but no negativeimpact on conservation

The time frames the BZDP is to include have been specified in the Minutes of the first Stakeholder

Meeting November 2010: the strategic vision covers 25 years, whereas the development goals are set

for 10 years Concrete implementation and activities are devised for 5 years.

Figure 2: Bottom-Up and Top-down

harmonized

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Additionally, the BZDP adheres to a spatial scope, e.g.

analysis and planning recommendations look at the location and proximity to the park as well as economic aspects in regards to the location All villages are ranked individually in terms of threats,since location and hence access to resources matter and result in different behavioural patterns andexploitation of natural resources

socio-Figure 4 gives an overview of all aspects which were integrated in the BZDP Orange depicts the

approach, blue the scope and green the objectives.

Figure 4: Integrated planning aspects at one glance Objective, scope, approach.

The BZDP consists of three parts:

International and Vietnamese Context, legal framework, analysis of situation &institutions & stakeholders, vision, development goal, objectives, guidingprinciples, methodology and approach

Recommendations, sequence of finally approved measures, spatially explicitand illustrated by thematic maps on a 5-year basis for all communes; includingannual / village plans

DPI, as direct counterpart and host of the support project, was assigned to facilitate the process, e.g.

communicating with the PPC and the stakeholders as well as calling the workshops and officialmeetings

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Relevance for other projects and planning processes

As pointed out in the previous chapter, the elaboration of the BZDP consisted of a new approach and

no reference documents were available9 The process is observed with interest from nationalauthorities and other projects and is expected to contribute to a Circular10 on the production of bufferzone master plans

Bufer Zone Development Plan Timeline

Originally, the Buffer Zone Development Plan elaboration was supposed to take 9-12 months and was

to be finalised at the end of 2011 However, involving every stakeholder in the process and getngapproval on all milestones from the PPC did take its time Additionally, since there were no referenceplanning documents for this type of process available in country which could have been used forconsultation, it was not possible to avoid delays Moreover, some studies, including the strategicmanagement for the national park, were not completed and knowledge gaps identified for whichsupplementary surveys needed to be commissioned by either the GIZ or the KfW component of thePNKB project More details on these studies can be found here

The first concept paper was drafted as early as June 2010, originating in brainstorming sessionsbetween PPMU, GIZ and AHT; however the introduction to the province stakeholders only took place inNovember 2010

The elaboration process can be structured in three different phases, as shown in the graph below:

Figure 5: The three phases in the elaboration of the BZDP, adapted from GIZ Stakeholder Consultation workshop presentation,

October 2012.

The actual timeline with Milestones is shown here as well to give a sense when the main activitiesstarted and ended For more information on the referenced studies, refer to Chapter Other integratedplanning documents and additional studies

9 As pointed out in the Final Stakeholder Workshop in October 2012, despite the fact that Vietnam hosts around 50 National Parks, no reference documents for Bufferzone planning have been elaborated yet.

10 A circular is a legal document which function is to assist with interpretation of a legal text and to standardize procedures and rules civil servants of the relevant sector should adhere to In principle, circulars exist only to comment on existing law and to explain its application in concrete terms.

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objectives and contents of BZDP

• Conduct first workshop

• Ranking villages, communes in

bufferzone based on level of threats to PNKB NP

January 2011

• Conducting Provincial workshop

to present and getting comments on BZDP Outline

• Revising BZDP Outline (2nd version)

Feb-June 2011:

• Elaborating oriented Village Development Plans of 157 villages in 13

Conservation-bufferzone communes

•Elaborating

Conservation-oriented Commune Development Plans of 13 buferzone communes and

• The BDSG in cooperating with International consultants to

finalise BZDP Outline

• Submitng BZDP Outline to DPI

for appraisal and to PPC for approval

May-July 2011

• Development of 11 thematic

maps to provide inputs for BZDP

• Conducting study on Integration

of Climate change proofing into

Master Plan for the Buferzone

of the Phong Nha - Ke Bang

National Park to 2020 and

visioning to 2030”

Nov-Dec 2011

• Conducting study on Gender,

Poverty and Ethnicity in order

to provide inputs for BZDP

January – March 2012

• BDSG members collected relevant information, data and documents on sectors for

• Conducting Rapid Assessment

on High conservation value forest in buferzone

• Consultation with BDSG members

• Review of available data, fieldwork

July-Sept 2012:

• Drafting BZDP

• BDSG members continue collecting and providing information and data as requested

• First draft of BZDP is sent to BDSG for comments

October 2012

• Consultant revise BZDP based

on comments from BDSG members

• Finalise 2nd draft of BZDP

•Conduct Consultation

workshop to present the BZDP

and collect comments from relevant stakeholders at different levels

Note: At the time of writing, the BZDP had not been finalized and submitted to the PPC This is scheduled to happen before the end of the year 2012 After having been approved through the PPC, the plan becomes a binding legal document and needs to be consulted for any planning activities in the region.

Figure 6: Timelines of Elaboration of Buffer Zone Development Plan, adapted from GIZ Stakeholder Consultation workshop

presentation, October 2012.

As referenced in the timeline, the Outline for the BZDP had to be revised several times; initially it wasbased on a similar planning exercise conducted in South East Asia for lack of national guidance on theoutline After several consultations with the Line Agencies and the BDSG, it was changed to follow thestructure of a regular provincial planning document However, a number of concessions were madewhere the Plan was allowed to differ from an ordinary socio-economic or development planning:

maps showing current status and planned status of the thematic (forest, land use,infrastructure etc) are being produced For those maps scale as well as font size, classifications,

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Bufferzone Development Plan Elaboration Process

More than 5 stakeholder workshops at different

levels

10 consultation workshops and meetings with BDSG

More than 15 consultation meetings with bufferzone

communes and districts

legends etc are prescribed in a decision11 Mapping statistical data and using it for analysis isusually not included After several stakeholder workshops where the differences betweenmaps for visualization purpose (thematic maps) and maps for official planning purposes hadbeen discussed, the BDSG recommended the use of thematic maps for the BZDP, provided thatprovisions for regular planning maps are made, which are showing the recommendations Themaps submitted with the final draft were actual situation maps and planning maps, followingthe Vietnamese prescriptions for this type of maps Therefore the thematic maps can be seen

as an intermediate step to create situational awareness The power of thematic maps shouldnot be underestimated since it allows a new look on things, analysing a situation spatially andallowing people to better understand a situation

sectors was integrated Looking at all aspects that generally are considered for socio-economicplanning would have inflated size and content

More on stakeholder meetings, the involvement of the Bufferzone Support group as well as thestakeholder interaction can be found in here

Figure 7: Meetings and types of workshops conducted during the elaboration of the BZDP

Integrated Planning

Integrated planning entails looking at all planning documents which have been produced for the region

at all levels This chapter also looks at additional reports and studies which have been commissioned tofill the gaps and to allow giving informed recommendations

It was found that more than 203 provincial, district, commune and village based planning documents

were of relevance and had to be studied12 The project team (KfW and GIZ component) commissioned

or procured an additional 23 reports and studies Around 12 independent or pre-project reports were

also found to be useful More about the background and the content of these are found in the nexttwo sub-chapters

11 For example mapping of land use: Decision 23/2007 QĐ-BTNMT and addition (MONRE)

12 This includes all Green VDPs and CDPs Since they also contained elements of the regular socio-economic planning documents, not all of the plans had to be studied cover to cover.

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Legal documents and Provincial Planning

Decrees, decisions and circulars play an important role in planning They are providing planning as well

as technical guidelines but also resolutions which can be referenced

Generally speaking, Decrees issued by the Government give detailed guidelines on the implementation

of laws and resolutions Above all, government’s decrees shall specify tasks, authority andorganizational structures of ministries, ministry-equivalent agencies as well as government’s affiliatedagencies (Article 14 LPLDS 2008)

Decisions of the Prime Minister focus on the state management relating government’s operation,

public administrative system (from central to local levels) as well as working regulations of thegovernment’s members and Chairmen of People’s Committees of provinces (Article 15 LPLDs 2008)

Circulars of Ministers and Head of Ministry-equivalent Agencies shall provide detailed guidelines on

the implementation of laws and resolutions Furthermore, circulars of Ministers shall specifyregulations on technical standards and procedures, as well as setng techno-economic standards ofsectors of which they’re in charge (Article 16 LPLDs 2008)

Each planning document which has been authorised and approved by the PPC will have its ownDecision ID which can be used to cite the document For a full list on all documents and associateddecisions, please refer to the BZDP

The following decrees and circulars are of importance to the PNKB BZ region:

The buffer zone of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is identified, delineated, managed and financed in

accordance with Decree No 117/2010/ND-CP, dated 24.12.10, on Special-Use Forest (SUF)

Organization and Management This decree outlines the functions of buffer zones but also how theyshould be managed

 Article 32, Objectives: Bufferzones play a role in prevention and mitigation of any harmful

impacts or encroachment to SUFs through deployment of management and conservation

measures, in particular livelihood improvements for local populations and sustainable

socio-economic development.

 Article 33, Investment and Ownership: SUF management boards are to set up projects and be

investment owners of buffer zone investment projects in accordance with the regulations ofthe State This is especially of relevance for the implementation of a buffer zone developmentplan

 Article 34, Implementation and Interaction with communities: SUF management boards are

responsible for a) organizing measures to encourage communities in the buffer zone toparticipate in management of the SUF and to implement buffer zone investment projects; andb) co-operating with Commune Planning Committees (CPCs) to establish and organizeimplementation of buffer zone investment projects.13

Additionally, the following decrees and decisions are of relevance and form a legal basis for the BZDP14:

13 Extracted from BZDP Process Progress Report, GIZ, October 2011 [29]

14 Extracted from Minutes of stakeholder workshop on Bufferzone Development Plan, November 2010 Unfortunately, the

minutes do not detail which aspects of these legal documents are of particular relevance.

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 Decree No 92/2006/ND-CP dated 07 September 2006 on Overall Planning, Approval and

Management of Socio-Economic Development Plan

 Circular No 38/2005/CT-TTGdated 05 December 2005 on Planning and Reclassification of 3types of forests (SUF, WF and PF)

 Decree No 05/2008/ND-CP,dated 14 January 2008 on Vietnam Conservation Fund (VCF)

 Decision No 24/2012/QD-TTg, dated 1 June 2012on investment policy for development of special – use forests in 2011 – 2020

On province level the Socio-Economic and Development Master Plan for Quang Binh, 2011 – 2020(approved by the Prime Minister in 2011) is of direct relevance to the BZDP, however, the respectiveplanning documents on district (3) as well as commune level (13) also need to be taken into account.Undoubtedly, the sector plans have to be integrated as best as possible Around 42 such plans and

supporting reports or documentations were available from sectors like Forest Protection, Agriculture, Trade, Water and Sanitation, Fisheries, Construction, Health, Tourism and Mining.

Last but not least, the Bufferzone Development Plan is there to support the objectives and theprotection goals of the National Park or nature reserve it surrounds, therefore any planning for theBufferzone needs to be closely interlinked with the Master Plan and the Operational Plan of theNational Park

Village and Commune Planning

In 2012, the government has issued a decision, 24/2012/QD-TTg, related to the above cited Decree

117, in which it set the path to a more participatory approach, making the village the lead unit inbuffer zone development However, the standard approach for socio-economic development planningdoes not take conservation into consideration Which is why the project piloted a new approach in

Quang Binh, participatory and conservation oriented, labelled Green Village Development Plan (VDP).

Apart from local authorities and the village communities, also the National Park Management boardand staff were involved, explaining the conservation priorities of the park and potential threatsresulting from extracting natural resources All participants worked together to identify their currentpatterns, resulting threats, future needs and livelihood activities which are in line with socio-economicdevelopment and conservation15 The planning activity has been perceived as a positive innovation byall stakeholders, creating more awareness and setng the path for future collaboration However, manyparticipants found the two days allocated for the event too short [12, 13] Additionally, they reckonedthat more training events for more people, including refresher trainings on all levels would be useful tosuccessfully conduct the Green VDP Last, and potentially the biggest concern was the implementation

in terms of time and available funding It was found that the motivation and enthusiasm people showfor the approach drops considerably when there is a big delay between planning and implementationand when only 10% funding is secured from the start [12,13,18] Whilst the level funding might differfrom commune to commune, uncertain funds for implementation of the Bufferzone Development Planhas been a concern that has been voiced throughout the province at various levels, including theworkshops16 All in all, 155 Village and 13 Commune Development plans had been compiled using thismethod

15 The main approach being used is Participatory Impact Assessment (PIA), with typical activities like mapping, wealth ranking, 3D models etc Refer to the Green Handbook or brochure for more details.

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Other integrated planning documents and additional studies

After assessing the data which was readily available, the team realised that for some sectors and topicsinformation was limited and insufficient to produce a planning document This chapter lists theadditional studies and project reports which have been produced to support the BZDP

Figure 8: Picture prepared for PNKB report by Truong, Dec 2011.

Biodiversity

One of the sectors having been

underrepresented was biodiversity

Every scientist working in PNKB

Region claims that the biodiversity

value of PNKB is high and some earlier

studies covering parts of PNKB NP

were available, however, none of

these studies included the extension

and the buffer zone Furthermore,

even for the core zone, biodiversity

had not been systematically studied

except for a few species like primates Since the Strategic and the Operational Management Plan forPNKB Region was also under development and required additional surveys, a set of biodiversity studieswas commissioned and completed between January 2011 and May 2012

Studies on Fauna included:

 Bats

 Cave invertebrates

 Reptiles and Amphibians

 Macaque, Langur and Douc Monkeys

 Fish

16 Various documents [BZDP] have tried to shed a light on the various funds available; however, it seems as if not all stakeholders have a clear idea on where the funding comes from Since multidonor funding is required to cover the needs, ensuring the funding is complex and will have to be detailed in implementation plan Also the Park Management is affected as

stated in the Strategic Management Plan: “annual funds allocated to the National park are much less than what the

Management Board of the Park requested”.[21].

Figure 9: All additional documents classified by type and topic The main

focus is on all things conservation: Biodiversity, Fauna, Forest.

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 Rodents and Insectivores

 Small carnivores

 Birds

Additionally, there was also a study commissioned on Flora and Vegetation, as well as comprehensiveStudy on the Extension zone, including a section on Flora and Vegetation

Despite all the studies being rather economical time wise, a

high biodiversity value was confirmed through all of them;

with a lot of the species being identified as endemic or rare

Climate change study

The climate change study was the first of its kind for the region and contained concreterecommendations on what the BZDP should include as climate change adaptations The BZDP goes intodetail on the climatic trends and their likelihood, of which all weather events leading to soil erosionwill have the biggest impact due to the topography, the shortage of agricultural land and the shiftingcultivation practises

Tourism and Livelihoods

Several reports looked into tourism and possibilities for alternative livelihoods As several studiesrevealed, the shortage of land, pressure and the lack of any viable alternative can lead to seasonalmigration [18, 10, 2] Tourism is an opportunity, however, home stays are not frequent and only fewvillages in closer proximity to the caves will benefit from it However, it was found that souvenirs play

an important role for most tourists and a label “Made in Phong –Nha- Khe –Bang” would beappreciated by many tourists Currently, the vending stalls do stock similar products, none of which arefrom the region [14, 4] Whereas the BZDP clearly points out that there is potential in cultivatinghandicraft further and improve its techniques so that it is viable to carry out, the link to tourism andsouvenirs has not been dwelled on This is a pity because it misses out on opportunities that werealready pointed out in the GFA Feasibility Study in 2006 [10] and in the Sustainable TourismDevelopment Plan [25], before they were further researched in 2012 by conducting surveys andinterviews [14,4]

Another opportunity directly linked to protecting forests and being compensated for it is the Paymentfor Forest Ecosystem Services (PFES) A study looked into the possibilities of linking those payments totourism [17] Vietnam has issued a Decree No 99/2010/ND-CP where the conditions and possibilities

of PFES are detailed So far, PFES has rather been linked to

watershed forests and payments of hydropower owners

Whilst it will be difficult to quantify revenue any businesses

might get from tourism to PNKB, there is also the option to

include the fees in the visitor ticket and have the tourists pay

for protection the environment which could take place in joint

being looked into A higher ticket price does not seem to be

an issue according to a survey conducted by the project

In general terms, the GIZ study on Tourism [4] and its related surveys as well as the fieldwork of theFIPI consultants point out that the tourism sector and service culture has room for improvement and

Figure 10: Red-shanked douc monkeys

(Pygathrix nemaeus) Photo credit: Tran Van Bang, [23].

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training courses on service delivery as well as language courses would be useful.17 There are othermajor challenges which should be mentioned since cross-linking between the areas of study: PNKB isaffected by floods and travelling there can be difficult These are projected to increase because ofclimate change However, even without natural disasters occurring, tourism to PNKB is highly seasonaland subject to change of services offers, for instance since the privately run Paradise Cave has beenestablished, less tourists visit the Phon Nha Cave and hence less visitors need a boat

Land Use and Land Allocation

Since shortage of land is one of the major threats for NTFP and timber extraction and allocation of land

is a mean to increase the plots of the household, a study on those topics has been commissioned bythe GIZ This study also looks into the SFEs/LCCs, their roles and management of the forest as well aspotential conflicts and can be seen as a response or starting point to look into the large and influentialstakeholders which according to the Gender, Poverty, Ethnicity Study had not been adequatelyconsidered Content of this report has also been incorporated into the BZDP, yet, the nature andintensity of the land conflicts especially in Truong Son have not been elaborated on Members of theSFE were invited to the stakeholder workshops and participants did have SFE related questions,however, no one had come

Microfinance, Gender, Poverty and Ethnicity

It might not seem that obvious, but the two missions covering these topics are closely interlinked Atthe time of writing the Microfinance study as well as the follow-up mission for a social baseline studyhad not been completed Gender, Poverty and Ethnicity issues have been included in the BZDP,however, main points like shortage of land and no funds for investments have been mentioned withoutlooking at their causes Microcredits are partially available, at least to poor households, withoutguidance and support on the creation of business plans, they might be spent on scheme which fails.18

Microfinance, in the development context used to set up a credit system accessible to the poor, has sofar only been covered by one international project in the Bufferzone Counterpart International, notpresent in the region anymore, phased out in 2010 Apart from providing consultation services onmicrocredits, business plans and how to create them, they also invested in agricultural extension staff

in each commune to demonstrate and advise on techniques in the villages The regular extensionstaffs, present in each commune, often lack funds for field trips but also supervision, instructions andconstructive feedback, which can make the system inefficient

Vietnam has set up an elaborate system on lending money to the poor with certain credits onlyavailable to poor households This normally falls under the Poverty Reduction Fund (PRP) Theimplementation of Microcredits, mostly under the Women’s Union at Commune Level, supported bythe Social Policy Bank often suffers from lack of consultation and monitoring This also applies torecord keeping of loan receivers which became plain in 2011 when specific information onMicrocredits and household numbers as well as overall lending sums was requested for the thematicmaps.19 Not all loan receivers have created a business plan and received instructions on how to stick to

17 English language training courses have been supported by the Project and are held once a week in PNKB Region Not sure if that is fully true.

18 The Gender, Poverty and Ethnicity Study had the example of piglets 100 women invested in and almost all of them died Allegedly, many micro credit receivers default on their rates, because they have not conducted a market assessment before embarking on their business idea.

19 Please refer to Mission Report No2: “unfortunately the information received on Microfinance has been too varied and it became clear that the level of information available on Microfinance on village and commune levels differs a lot and that the instructions for filling this sheet most likely had not been well understood by all data collectors”.

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the plan Allegedly, there have also been groups which have been set up to fulfill the requirements butwhich are not meeting and loans have been taken out by a poor household and transferred to a lesspoor household Due to these reasons many loans get defaulted on A new GIZ study has beencommissioned to look into these issues and the possibility of setng up Microfinance systemssuccessfully.

Thematic Maps

The Production of thematic maps for the national park buffer zone had been commissioned in 2011and included assessing the availability of geographic and statistical data Soon it was found that notevery village could be mapped because the GPS points were missing, therefore a combinedspatial/statistical data collection in all villages and communes was initiated After producing a set of 10thematic maps in English the whole package was handed over to DONRE to verify the GPS points andproduce the Vietnamese version of the maps A lot of statistical data was collected as well; some of itremained unmapped and was meant to illustrate the BZDP

Threat Assessment

Despite being mentioned last, the threats assessment towards the biodiversity values of the nationalpark had been one of the first reports to be written The Buffer zone communes and villages arecategorized and ranked in reference to their posed threats to the park resources A thematic map hasbeen produced to visualize them This report has been used to prioritize field visits and has also beenmentioned in the BZDP

Interactions between the Stakeholders

First and foremost, it needs to be stated that planning documents in Vietnam are usually elaborated by

a consultant or a team of consultants Line-agencies and the agency employing the consultants are

rarely involved in any other way but providing relevant data which is readily available Any missing datausually gets collected by the consultant through directly connecting with relevant agencies or by going

to the field The full responsibility for content and product lies with the consultant Furthermore, also

the process and methodology is left to the consultant and only the final product will be assessed andcommented on Because of the disconnection regarding the process, the sense of ownership for thefinal product is small, even for the agency which commissioned the consultants

To increase the ownership and involve all relevant stakeholders in the planning process, a participatoryand integrated way of planning was explored by getng all the relevant stakeholders on board Thisalso included the Communes representing the villages, and the Districts and combined a top – downwith a bottom-up approach Therefore the innovation for this planning approach came two-fold: the

first provincial Bufer Zone Development Plan elaborated in Vietnam including top-down planning with a bottom-up planning activities in a holistic fashion.

Since this approach is new to the Province, not everyone involved understood the principle straightaway and the idea needed to be ingested first The involvement and understanding came step by stepand was higher with line agencies which had an active part in the BDSG The first activities on villagelevel20 were well received which also assisted in convincing other stakeholders to embrace the process.However, authorising the BDSG through the PPC with the directive to support the process and a clearset of TORs certainly gave the process the weight it needed to be taken seriously

20 As a first activity on village level to prepare the bottom-up planning, Village Development Plans were elaborated and later combined into Commune Development Plans Refer to the chapter Integrated Planning for more information.

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Seven agencies, on provincial, district and communal level, (DARD, DPI Quang Binh, National Park, DPC

Bo Trach, CPC Thuong Trach, CPC Hoa Son, CPC Son Trach) interviewed on the BZDP and its process

stated that it is an important activity, and five stressed that the participatory approach and the related

activities help to increase awareness (DARD, DPI Quang Binh, National Park, DPC Minh Hoa, CPC Son Trach and CPC Thuong Trach) pinpointing that the harmonization of bottom-up planning and top-down approach is necessary (DPI Quang Binh, DPC Bo Trach.)

Integrating local people into the planning by using a bottom-up approach was seen as positive by three

agencies, two of them stating that the demand comes from the district (CPC Hoa Son, CPC Son Trach, CPC Xuan Trach 21 As pointed out by the Juergen Piechotta in his findings, the understanding of theprocess and the rationale of the BZDP was higher on provincial and district level, on commune levelthe BZDP was more seen in connection with related activities like the VDP/CDP and with consultantsbeing hosted for data collection for the BZDP or any related study

The role of the consultants elaborating the plan have been rated as good point, but also beenmentioned as a weak point It is worth noting that several consultants worked on the process, the firstrough outline was drafted by one international consultant The process was then taken over by a team

of a international and a national consultant; both based in the region, however due to the complexplanning situation and the lengthy process, the team only got as far as the detailed elaboration of theoutline of the plan including content for the description of the current situation which was notaccepted by the BDSG and the PPC The structure of the outline was too far removed from thecomposition generally used for planning documents in the province After the outline revision and theapproval of the PPC, a new team of national consultants was hired, all based in FREC, FIPI Hanoi; acenter which is renowned for their expertise The same head consultant also elaborated thebiodiversity study for the extension zones of the PNKB park22 The acceptance of the new team ofconsultants was high in the Line Agencies directly working with them, potentially also linked to the factthat the consultants are known and their expertise recognized In the Communes, where the team hadlittle interaction except for data collection23, they were seen more elusive, e.g not spending enoughtime on the process and the communication as well as inviting only a limited set of people from the

villages to the meetings (CPC Son Trach) Two agencies (DPI Quang Binh, FDP) claimed limited use of

the international consultant, lacking local knowledge However, it is worth mentioning that generallythe strategy of teaming up an international consultant with expertise on the topic and an internationalview on the topic together with a national expert who knows the institutional landscape and ways toaccess data and tap into agencies’ resources has been successfully implemented for other related

studies (Climate, Gender and Ethnicity, PNKB Strategic and Operational Management Plan) The

lengthy process and the missing intercommunication probably contributed to the failure of the firstteam Even though the list of agencies involved was very comprehensive, it was felt that in order toreflect and integrate issues on Gender, Poverty and Minorities, the VWU, CEM and DOLISA should beinvited to participate in the Buffer Zone Support Group [18]

21 Stakeholder interviews conducted by Mission, augmented with additional interviews with DPI Quang Binh/BDSG

22 Xx verify the exact dates: Hoa, Ngoc Anh, I do not have that study, do you know when it was done?

23 Allegedly, the FIPI consultant team visited all 13 communes in May and June and collected information, total amount of days spent in the field is unknown.

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Bufer Zone Support Group and meetings

The Buffer Zone Support Group was formally acknowledged in March 2011 by Decision No UBND Its specific activities are to be set by the head of the group and the group will cease to existafter those tasks have been completed The group met on needs basis, approximately once per month

556/QĐ-To share data and streamline the content of the BZDP, the buffer zone support group met irregularly onrequest by the consultant and was reportedly well able to fulfil the information needs in a timelymanner All relevant agencies were included and by and large, participation was felt to be sufficient24.[Field notes and Draft report, J Piechotta]

Apart from the formal stakeholder workshops and group meetings which normally have a participantslist and meeting minutes with action points generated, there were also one-on-one meetingsconducted between the authors of the BZDP and the respective line agencies However, meetingsbetween line-agencies not involved in the actual write-up of the BZDP did not happen on a one-on-onebasis The integration of content was predominantly seen as a work of the consultants The consultantsthemselves described communication with the different line agencies as easy, happening primarily byphone and email with around 4-5 meetings (e.g around once per month) with the main line agenciessuch as DONRE, DPI, FPD, DARD and to a lesser extent with DOF Meetings with the National ParkBoard and the KfW team drafting the Strategic Management Plan were not conducted as regularly,which is an aspect that could be improved

The consultants mentioned three main obstacles for faster processing of the information: the volume

fact that the relevant information always had to be extracted out of lengthy reports and studies, and that many authorities are not ready to submit digital copies of their data.25 Especially district andcommunities have difficulties here, which can also be linked to limited information management andinformation processing skills

As solutions, specific budget requests to the national government and prioritization of activities havebeen proposed Another source of funds is the regular government budget and the integration of theBZDP into the yearly and five-yearly planning is not seen as a problem

In Vietnam, workshops and meetings are predominantly formal events and conducted in the followingfashion: The invitees receive the agenda and the documents to comment on They then prepareresponses and comments which are presented in the workshop, commonly one after the other A notetaker ensures that these responses are covered in the minutes Working on content collaborativelyduring an event and keeping the comments to one topic at a time and present them in an interactiveway during a debate is less frequent However, for ensuring that comments and thoughts on specific

questions and issues are included and brought-up in a workshop, a breaking up in working groups can

be helpful This should include the elaboration of a clear set of questions and clear instructions, sincefree debates and brain storming on a topic are less widespread in a group setng

24 However it was commented by DONRE Quang Binh that there should have been a government agency taking the overall responsibility The FPD commented that the consultant only approached the support group in case of problems, which was not felt to be efficient The CPC in Son Trach said that the process “was done in a rush and only the key people from the local authorities and the villages participated”.

25 In Vietnam, the official stamp approving the data or content of a study is seen as validating the data and the permission to use it in reference to the stamp and the administrative process linked to it A workaround could be, getng a hardcopy stamped but still provide the current soft copy to avoid having to type everything out from the hard copy.

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Data

Data is sensitive and information valuable which is why data and harmonising it is an issue in almost allcontexts Some technical challenges have been mentioned in the mission reports from 2011 [19], butwere reiterated by the consultants working on the BZDP during the interview Some specificrecommendations on these problems can be found here

In the current context some data was unavailable which would have been good to include in the BZDP

such as assessment and current status of the infrastructure, especially roads, irrigation and power

recommendations of the socio-economic aspect27 Villages in mountainous areas with limitedlivelihood options through agriculture and forestry will also have limited other economic alternatives ifthey are not easily accessible and not connected to a functional grid or alternative energy system.Whereas statistical data can be compiled by conducting comprehensive data collection or secondarydata review, the spatial aspect of especially the irrigation and the power lines cannot easily begathered without sending out a full mapping team

The sheer volume of data and reports which were being produced and needed to be integrated was

difficult to manage In fact, it was found after the review of the first draft that the consultant team hadforgotten to include key documents They had overlooked some reports and geographic datasets that

had been made available to them Given that the team had around 274 reports and planning

documents as well as raw data sets to study, this is not surprising

The team also reported discrepancies between village/commune level data and district data This

also does not come as a surprise, depending when data was collected and at what level, it can easilydiffer, especially when the figures are naturally fluctuating like population When possible, theconsultants’ team used commune level data; however, if data sets from different level could not beharmonized the next higher level was used This also became necessary for statistical data which wasnot always available at commune level

Despite the fact that it is recognised to be of great importance, environmental impact assessments

which have to be conducted were not considered or not requested Whereas this was because of lack

of time or unavailability of the assessments could not be determined The Strategic Management Plan

for the National Park [21] details the process further: “In Vietnam, any project that uses part or all of the land area of or causes an adverse impact in a world heritage site or national park protected under decision of a Provincial People’s Committees is required to prepare a full Environmental Impact Assessment Report The Provincial-level environmental protection agency must review, approve and certify the environmental protection schemes and examine and inspect the environmental protection work (Decree No 80/2006/NĐ-CP and Decree No 21/2008/ NĐ-CP) However, the Strategic

Management Plan also pointed out, that the procedures of how an EIA/SEIA is conducted and theintervention approved should be streamlined for the whole region

26 According to the Data Collection conducted for the Thematic Maps in July 2011, especially remote villages in Dan Hoa, Thuong Trach, Tan Trach and Truong Son are not connected to the national grid system Of 129 villages around 29 were not connected, for 27 the status is unknown.

27 In an interview, the FIPI consultants who elaborated the BZDP also claimed that these aspects are important but

information difficult to obtain.

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Communication and Interaction

Another challenge stated by the consultants’ team but also cited in the Poverty, Gender,Ethnicity Study

as well as in the Forest Land Use and Ownership study are linked to communication with and data

accessibility of SFEs Local people have been dissatisfied with the communication and slow land

allocation; whereas SFE representatives claim that the local people have been integrated in theplanning and working process This can also be a reason why threats from other entities but localpopulation have not been sufficiently considered in the analysis; there are political dimensions to beconsidered Whereas private investors, especially when linked to tourism can see a value incooperating and minimizing impact as long as it is economically viable, this is not necessarily the samefor others

Monitoring

A majority of the commissioned studies as well as the stakeholders recognise that law enforcement

population of hunting and encroaching, but rarely look into the dynamics of the markets and who iscommissioning and re-selling the products from the National Park and its buffer zone Since many ofthe plants and animals are re-sold internationally29The new Circular 47 issued by MARD on the

since some of the species are difficult to distinguish and it is hard to prove that they have been rearedand not just caught in the forest and put in a pen Whereas this is common knowledge, it has not beenmentioned in the BZDP document

Time constraints

The timeline to process all information was generally tight, but the consultants’ team also did take on

other commissions during the same time It was felt that the human resources assigned were not

sufficient to complete it in a timely manner.

Existing planning documents

Whereas the common agreement on bottom-up planning seems to be “Let’s do it”, the quality of the

plans was not deemed to be sufficient by everyone The process was considered to be too short and

consultation by extension workers and experts not sufficient to make informed decisions However, the

main issues seem to be that the implementation rate and the monitoring is poor; lacking clear

guidance from local authorities Therefore it is imminent that the Green VDPs are evaluated by theexpert and only recommendations and plans which are truly in-line with the objectives and the overallstrategy should be included in the Operational Management and the Yearly Implementation Plans

Livelihoods

28 There are various reasons for insufficient monitoring: Rangers are at the low end of the hierarchy, neither receiving sufficient remuneration nor recognition for their tasks, resulting in lack of motivation Often, they also lack training and capacity building opportunities Additionally, only 50% of the ranger positions required for an area like PNKB have been created and filled Sophisticated equipment like binoculars, GPS, cameras etc to fulfill the monitoring tasks are not adequately available Law enforcement support from Police, Border army and the districts has been ad-hoc and has not been institutionalized [16].

29 Cited by FIPI as well as FFI were various species of orchids, turtles, beetles, geckos, but also medicinal plants Most of them are red list species and exporting them is illegal Amongst the countries of import are Japan, China, but also European countries.

30 MONRE points out the issues which can arise from such measures on their webpage: http://www.monre.gov.vn/v35/default.aspx?tabid=675&CateID=58&ID=121622&Code=UDLT121622

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As Mr Luong from FFI points out, business opportunities for small business owners are there, but

consultation on businesses plans, finance and coordination is mostly inexistent or weak This has also

been confirmed by other stakeholders [18] A former staff member of Counterpart International alsoclaimed that effective monitoring and active involvement of agricultural extension staff would improvethe way micro credits are granted and utilized

Authority and Mandates

The official guidelines are very clear on the general mandates; however there are also someoverlapping tasks between some of the main authorities.31 In some instances, the mandates orauthority granted to one agency can also be limiting The National Park Authority have the mandate tomanage the park, however, they have no say in what type of construction projects are approved, sincethis is being decided by the PPC

Recommendations

Before making recommendations, the analysis as well as the elaboration of the content have to beexamined Since this is the most challenging and critical part of the BZDP, it is important to have acloser look Some of the recommendations which can be found in this chapter are also included in theGuidelines

Analysis and Elaboration of the Content

It is not possible to assess the full content of the BZDP Since it is still under revision, the chapter would

be outdated too fast However, the process of elaboration of content was looked at and genericconsiderations are stated

It was found that spatial planning and moreover spatial analysis have not found their way into

Vietnamese planning procedures Data is not collected to be analysed but to augmentrecommendations and arguments which were discovered and formulated during fieldwork and whendiscussing with local populations This ensures that local knowledge is taken into consideration,however, requires a consultant to have all necessary information required to take a decision if alivelihood activity can be successfully conducted in specific conditions at his/her fingertips The major

challenge for integrated planning document such as the BZDP is to conduct cross-sectoral analysis

which is more difficult when the deduction and elaboration of each sector is happening in theconsultants’ head and is not quantified

Unconventional ways of extracting information on species were found by asking and visiting thehunters Their whereabouts were disclosed by the village leaders Whereas this helps to assess thesituation, it should also be translated into a set of recommendations that could trigger changes in

livelihood Law enforcement and the presentation of viable livelihood alternatives need to go hand

in hand.

It became evident during the first revision and the final stakeholder workshop, that whilst it makessense to finish the strategy first, that the 5yrs investment plan with more explicit recommendations isrequired to assess the planning and its effectiveness since the strategy document is supposed to be

kept short and not go into the details of implementation However, a planning document is only

31 Refer to Portfolio on Biodiversity [28] where the roles of MONRE and MARD are analysed

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useful if implementation and the necessary funds for implementation have been identified and elaborated on.

Also, it was felt that the first versions did not contain enough graphs, pictures, maps to illustrate thestrategy sufficiently [DPI]

Analysis and Outcome of the BZDP

Elaborating a complex plan like a BZDP is challenging since so many different aspects have to be analysed and reflected on The sheer volume of information that needs to be processed can be

daunting It is a time consuming activity The following points should be considered:

 Ensure that the consultants conducting the analysis can explain how it was achieved and howthey reached their conclusions Repeating the objectives of all other planning documents

without reflecting on their compatibility with conservation objectives is not useful.

 It is possible to present a common set of recommendations in the Master Plan for the sake of

volume; however, these will need to be made spatially explicit in the implementation or

investment plan Ideally, the planning maps are also explicit; if no commune level maps areproduced in the first step; those should be included in the implementation plan

 Recommendations presented as “pick and choose” options can only work if experts ortechnical staffs are available to guide the process on village and commune level A hydropowerplant will only be feasible under certain conditions Same as fish keeping or other forms ofhusbandry Apart from the necessary budget, also certain natural criteria need to be present tosuccessfully implement livelihoods activities If no spatial explicit recommendations are made,

the advantages and disadvantages as well as the prerequisites for implementing those

recommended activities need to be clearly presented to the stakeholders The villages and

communes need to be empowered to make an informed decision on which activities they aregoing to pursue

 It appears as none of the mapping agencies spoken to have a clear policy on data

management and update This also encompasses data management and data dissemination If

the responsible person leaves chances are high that the knowledge of when and where data

has been updated, treated, stored, goes missing There is no clear policy of sharing data

amongst agencies A circular on how to track data changes, produce effective metadata and

share a change log file with all other agencies using the same datasets would be more thanuseful

 Comments presented during a workshop mostly evolved around figures and formalpresentation of the content It could be useful to prepare a set of questions before the eventand include the instructions that feedback on structure, spelling and order of topics should be

compiled in writing and submitted prior the event This might help keeping the comments and

debates during the event focused on the content.

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 In the BZDP the various funds which are accessible and can be drawn from have not been

well explained Since this is a sore spot for most of the stakeholders, more time and effortshave to be spend on this 32

Analysis of the Process

The recommendations in this chapter result chiefly from observation and interviews; some have beensuggested by the stakeholders They are practical solutions, aiming at making the process smooth andefficient All recommendations from stakeholders are referenced

Timeframes

 Spend more time in the communities and explain the rationale of the BZDP, ensure theyreceived the proceedings and outcomes of the studies

 Spend/plan in more time for a desk review [FIPI]

 Identify the core stakeholders sooner and save time when setng up the BDSG [DPI]

Collaboration with stakeholders and TOR

 Specifically invite the CPC to workshops to ensure the community leaders know about theprogress of the process

 BDSG: contribute technically as well as to the guideline and ensure that the data comes in aneasy format Especially for statistical figures or any other supporting evidence, it might not benecessary to obtain and read the full study [FIPI, DPI]

 Ensure that the meeting frequency is high enough to create the sense of ownership [DPI]

 Reduce the members of the BDSG, or classify them in core members with a more active roleand responsibilities and additional members who are involved on a case by case basis Thecore members suggested were DARD, FPD, DOF, DONRE, National Park Authority, Tourism, DPI.[DPI]

 BDSG: either enlarge their TOR or create a subgroup looking at implementation of the BZDP.This topic has been discussed during the stakeholder workshop for the National Park Plan

 Ensure that the consultants ONLY work on one contract This recommendation came fromproject owner DPI Equally, it was suggested to have international consultants advise on butnot elaborate the content

 Stakeholders which are involved in activities, be it implementation or elaboration of contentand data for development plan will be more active in the BDSG [FIPI]

 National Park Management Board should be involved more [FIPI, KfW]

 Border army works close with local people; involve them in project activities [FIPI]

32 There are four different funds available: 1 BZDF (income generating), 2 Park Protection Fund (joint patrolling, PES/PFES),

3 Tourism Development Fund, 4 Deposit accounts [Personal information, through interview with project member] A good example of how to explain funds and their functions can be found in the Portfolio for biodiversity, p 13 [28].

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 Establish smaller working groups at workshops and meetings to work on a certain set ofquestions It is important to give clear instructions and phrase clear questions for the group totackle the assignment.

Awareness raising and dissemination of information

 The Park’s authority need to work with Vietnamese Television (VTV) and mass media in QuangBinh Province to have a regularly program focus on protecting PN-KB NP, a World Heritage Site.This program will help to raise awareness of local people in PN-KB and people in Quang Binhabout wildlife conservation and forest protection (DPI)

Data handling

 Compile a full inventory of data and reports which have been made available, ideally indatabase (Excel) format, listing title, author, organisation, topic, subtopic if applicable33, date,spatial coverage, language and from whom the report can be obtained It is then easier to referany consultant, national or international, to the inventory and also to analyse what topics andareas have been covered to which extent This suggestion was supported strongly by theconsultants’ team

 Issues of conflicting data and processing data should be brought up in the BDSG, since they canadvise on their own data Additionally, they can assist in acquiring the data in a format whichcan be integrated much easier This might require review of their TORs to ensure that thisaspect can be covered [DPI, FIPI]

 There a need of integration and harmonization of BZDP contents with Park Management Plan,approved STDP and other available plans

33 For instance if the report is about Fauna, sub topic could be the type: Primates

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PART II: Bufer Zone Development Plan Guidelines

This document is detailing the steps which are necessary to produce an integrated Buffer Zone

Development Plan It is based on the process in Quang Binh, taking international as well as national

guidelines into consideration Whereas it could also serve as general guide, it is customized to the

planning approach in Vietnam Some provinces might have a slightly varying institutional landscape or

the supporting project might be based with a different line agency, therefore modifications could

become necessary

What is a Bufer Zone

Buffer zones can have various functions, for instance political, structural, environmental or military;

this guide focuses on their role in conservation

In nature conservation, a buffer zone is created to shield a protected area from any activities which

might be destructive to its effective conservation A buffer zone may be situated around or may be a

connecting zone or a corridor which links protected areas to

allow migration patterns A buffer zone can also be a part of

the protected area Linked to World Heritage Sites, UNESCO

uses the term as follows:

Whereas it is not mandatory to set up a buffer zone for every

World Heritage Site; a statement is required explaining why a

buffer zone is not needed for the proper protection

[Operational Guidelines]

However, World Heritage Sites which have been recognised

for their natural features like geomorphology (Criterion vii),

evolution and development of freshwater ecosystems

(Criterion ix) or for instance biodiversity (Criterion x) will

always be connected to the areas surrounding the actual site and establishing a buffer zone with

protection-oriented management of socio-economic activities greatly assists in protecting the site It

also helps to reduce climate change impacts or shifts in biomes [30]

National parks and other protected areas can also benefit from buffer zones to take off the pressure on

natural resources if the objectives and the management of the buffer zones are conservation-oriented

At the same time, the socio-economic landscape, the use of natural resources and the needs of the

local people have to be identified and suitable activities defined for effective and sustainable

conservation

Decision 117/2010 (MARD) specifies that Buffer Zones are established around Special Use Forests and

that the conservation measures need to be combined with activities to improve livelihoods for

communities and sustainable socio-economic development With Decision 24/2012 it also stipulates

that communities that reside or carry out activities in buffer zones have the responsibility and right to

join in implementing and managing investment projects in buffer zones

§104 Operational Guidelines:

For the purposes of effective protection of the nominated property, a buffer zone is an area surrounding the nominated property which has complementary legal and/or customary restrictions placed on its use and development to give an added layer of protection to the property

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