Assessing the role of non timber forest products in developing household economy of tan binh commune in ben en national park

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT VIETNAM NATIONAL FORESTRY OF UNIVERSITY STUDENT THESIS Title ASSESSING THE ROLE OF NON- TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS IN DEVELOPING HOUSEHOLD ECO

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

VIETNAM NATIONAL FORESTRY OF UNIVERSITY

STUDENT THESIS

Title ASSESSING THE ROLE OF NON- TIMBER FOREST PRODUCTS IN DEVELOPING HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY OF TAN BINH COMMUNE

IN BEN EN NATIONAL PARK

Major: Natural Resources Management

Code: D850101

Faculty: Forest Resources and Environmental Management

Student: Dang Thi Thao Student ID:1253090030

Class: K57 Natural Resources Management Course: 2012 - 2016

Advanced Education Program Developed in collaboration with Colorado State University, USA

Supervisor: Dr Tran Viet Ha

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To complete this study, apart from my own efforts, I also receive a lot of guidance and help from my teachers, organizations and individuals

Firstly, I would like to give thanks to my supervisor: Dr Tran Viet Ha, who has taught

me many precious knowledge and experiences throughout my learning and researching process and implementing this thesis I would like to express my gratitude to Prof Lee MacDonald for finding out the time to check and give advises to my proposal

Secondly, I want to sincerely thank the Board of Directors of Ben En NP, Ben En Forest Protection Department, Xuan Ly Forest Protection Station , Leaders and Citizens of Tan Binh commune - where my study deploy, who created favorable conditions for during my data gathering and investigation process

Finally, I want to say thanks my parents, thanks for supporting me a lot during the learning process and the implementation this thesis in Ben En NP

I sincerely thank you!

ABSTRACT

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) play an important role in rural livelihoods People living in and around forests are dependent on a variety of NTFPs for their subsistence and income generation This thesis gives a general overview on the diversity and the role of NTFPs for households living in core zone of Ben En NP Focus on 6 villages of Tan Binh commune to propose some solution to sustainable management NTFPs The main method that

we used for collecting data is PRA The results of this study indicated that NTFPs play an important role to households located in study area NTFPs bring up a lot of benefits to people such as medicine, food and handcraft Therefore, this study has proposed some solutions to managing, protecting and developing the sources of NTFPs in Ben En NP more effectively and sustainability

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES

ABBREVIATION

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER 2 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 4

2.1 Goal 4

2.2 Objectives 4

CHAPTER 3 STUDY AREA CHARACTERISTIC 5

CHAPTER 4 METHODOLOGY 7

4.1 PRA method 7

4.2 S.W.O.T method 8

4.3 Data analysis method 9

CHAPTER 5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 10

5.1 The status of NTFPs resources in 6 villages located in core zone in Ben En NP 10

5.1.1 Classify based on use value of NTFPs 10

5.1.2 Used and exploitation NTFPs in study area 12

5.2 NTFPs market in study area 14

5.2.1 NTFPs consumption 14

5.2.2 NTFPs market demand 17

5.3 Assessment of NTFPs market potential 19

5.4 The role of NTFPs in households 20

5.5 NTFPs cultivation in 6 villages of Tan Binh commune in core zone of Ben En NP 22

5.6 S.W.O.T analysis in the sustainable management of NTFPs in Ben En NP and assessment of NTFPs market potential 24

5.7 Solution 27

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION, SHORTCOMINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 28

6.1 Conclusion 28

6.2 Shortcomings 28

6.3 Recommendations 29 REFERENCES

APPENDIX

LIST OF TABLES

Table 5.1 List of NTFPs groups exploited and used in 6 villages of study area 10 Table 5.2 NTFPs exploitation and use status in 6 villages of study area 12 Table 5.3 Market consumption and price of some non-timber species in 6 villages in study site 18 Table 5.4 S.W.O.T analysis of market demand of NTFPs in Tan Binh commune 19 Table 5.5 Statistics on the cultivation of NTFPs species in 6 villages in the study area 23 Table 5.6 The strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats in the sustainable management

of NTFPs in Ben En NP 24

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1 Map of Ben En NP 6

Figure 5.1 Map of medicinal plant market 15

Figure 5.2 Map of Ornamental plants market 16

Figure 5.3 Map of Plant foods market 17

Figure 5.4 The income proportion of poor household group 21

Figure 5.5: The income proportion of near-poor households group 21

Figure 5.6 The income proportion of rich households group 22

ABBREVIATION

NP: National Park

NTFPs: Non-timber Forest Products

PRA: Rapid Rural Appraisal

S.W.O.T: Strengths – Weakness - Opportunities – Threats

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

Non- timber forest products (NTFPs) not only play an important role in biodiversity of forest but also in economic development of people, who live nearby forest NTFPs bring a lot

of benefit to them such as: food, medicine, income etc In the international conference “The role of non- timber forest products in poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation “was held on 11 and June 13, 2005 in Hanoi, this international conference pointed out that 60 million people around the world live depend on forest, in which are mainly in poor countries such as Latin America, West Africa and Southeast Asia As in 2010 in Vietnam, the forest is home of nearly 25 million people, in which there are about 13 million ethnic minorities, accounting for about 14% of the national population

In Vietnam, there are many researches on the role and current status of NTFPs, these researches was interested scientists since 1997 There were some typical researches that could

be noteworthy below:

In 1997, Pham Xuan Hoan was studied the botanical classification of NTFPs at Phia Đen- Nguyen Binh, Cao Bang province follow intended use The author assessing the situation NTFPs exploit plant is best suitable conducted by local people and provide operators assess the situation as well as some suggestions for sustainable development of plant resources NTFPs

According to Hoang Hoe (1998), NTFPs resources in our country very huge, there are many species with high economic value in which the number of medicinal plants accounting for 22% of Vietnam plant species, there are over 500 species of plants for oil (accounting for 7.14% of total species) and there are over 600 species for tannins and lots of other species, lubricants, fatty oils, plants Besides, rattan, bamboo (at present, the total of bamboo area of our country is 1.492 million ha, with about 4.1818 billion trees) bamboo is not only the

traditional construction materials but also create incredibly beautiful product, in addition capable of bringing the export of high values

Le Quy Nguu, Tran Nhu Duc (1998) has focused on a description of the technical and processing harvest remedies made from plants including plant NTFPs Besides that, Ninh Khac Ban (2003) initially studied NTFP resources in natural vegetation due to overexploitation as one of the signs inform about the situation we are most threatened He said they should be preserved in-situ and ex-situ conservation plan genetic resources in home gardens or on farms in the direction of sustainable use in order to reduce pressure on wild resources, contributing to conservation Biodiversity

In parallel with these studies, some programs being implemented such as The research project local market for timber products in the north of Thailand by the department of agriculture and rural development in the northern state implementation; The project studied a number of socio-economic issues and the role of the woman for processing of rattan, bamboo forest by scientific institutes Vietnam implemented from 1993 to 1995; Specialty reforestation project (integrated in the program of 5 million hectares)

We can see that the development programs and research in the country have expressed interest in NTFPs plant However, the study of plant NTFPs in Vietnam lacks depth Thus, while there have been many studies, programs and projects carried out in many places, but rather there is nowhere really to promote the role of higher plant NTFPs especially studies about role of non- timber forest products in developing household economy

Ben En NP was established in 1992 by decision of the government, location in Nhu Thanh and Nhu Xuan district, Thanh Hoa Province, Ben En not only famous with many beautiful natural landscapes but also famous with diverse fauna and flora ecosystems, representing lowland ecosystems in North Central Vietnam Ben En NP is the destination of the scientific research, besides, since Ben En NP was established many forest resources and

wildlife has been preserved, maintenance and development with the strict management of local government, all activities harmful to forests is prohibited in NP, so the local people to focus on the exploitation of NTFPs as honey, rattan, aromatic and medicinal plants ., and other valuable products

NTFPs bring great economic value to local people Especially in reducing poverty, improving livelihood, however, overexploitation of many poor households leading to exhausted NTFPs, this problem seriously impact to the sustainable development of the NP Therefore, in addition to improving the system of mechanisms, policies and investment labor

to Ben En NP we also need assessing the great values of NTFPs in household economy development from that propose some method to NTFPs management sustainable Stemming

from the above reasons, I decided to do thesis “Assessing the role of non-timber forest products in developing household economic of Tan Binh commune in Ben En National Park”

CHAPTER 2 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 2.1 Goal

The goal of this study is to analysis the role of non- timber forest products in household economic development of Tan Binh commune in Ben En NP

2.2 Objectives

- To assess the current status of NTFPs exploitation and using in 6 villages of Tan Binh commune in core zone of Ben En NP

- To analyze the market and demand of NTFPs

- To analyze the economic structure on determining household income from NTFPs

- To determine the advantages and disadvantages of sustainable management of NTFP

in the study area

- To propose solutions for protecting and developing NTFPs

CHAPTER 3 STUDY AREA CHARACTERISTIC

Ben En NP is located in Nhu Thanh and Nhu Xuan districts, 36km from Thanh Hoa City It is firstly established in 1992 with geographical coordinates: from 19029’to 19 041 ' North latitude and from 105 0 20' to 105 0 35' East longitude and the total natural area of Ben

En is 14 735 ha Of which primitive forest covers 8,544 hectares (33 sq mi) There are mounts, hills, streams, rivers in the park area The park features a 3,000 hectares (12 sq mi) lake with 21 islets The diversity of plants and animals at Ben En NP remains high, about 737 plant species, 64 mammal species 194 bird species, 28 amphibian species, 58 fish species and

a high diversity of Lepidoptera (Tordoff et al 2000) The geology of the NP is characterized

by sedimentary rocks, mudstone, limestone and alluvial soil About 18.000 live in the buffer and core zones of the NP and continue to exert an influence on the natural environment people the majority of the people living in the NP belong to the Kinh, Thai, Muong, and Tay ethnic groups, although there are also a small number of Tho people Extraction of NTFP and illegal logging by both local people and people from outside NP is common

Tan Binh commune, which is located 30km from center of Ben En NP to the East, has the area about 38,61km2 Climate in Tan Binh is featured of tropical monsoon climate The average hours of sunshine is from 1700 - 1900 hours / year with total heat Q = 8.5000C.The annual average temperature is 23 – 24oC, hottest temperature is 38- 39oC in June, August The coldest temperature is 5oC – 9oC in January, February Humidity ranges from 82-94%.In addition, Tan Binh is also directly influenced by 2-3 storms with winds and heavy rainfall affecting agricultural production and people's daily life Population in Tan Binh (1999) is

2368 people with 568 households People are mainly employed in Agriculture and Forest People mainly harvest agriculture and go to forest with handmade tools Forest resources in Tan Binh existed more than 100 years ago However, in the 1980s, forest really attracted

interest from Organizations and Government The people in Tan Binh live depend a lot on forest, almost income of 6 villages of Tan Binh commune

Figure 3.1 Map of Ben En NP

(Source: Hoang Van Sam- human and environmental influences on plant diversity and

composition in Ben En NP)

CHAPTER 4 METHODOLOGY 4.1 PRA method

4.1.1 Interview

This method would apply to households who live in core zone of Ben En NP The number of household interviewed is 3 in which of 10 households in rich economic group, 10 household in average economic group and 10 household in poor group Using prepared questionnaire to ask them The results after collecting will fill tables following:

No Scientific

name

Vietnamese name Use value

Plant parts use

Usage high medium low

Consumption place

Price (VND)

Market demand High medium Low

This method will apply to object are households who are exploiting NTFPs in the NP

So the numbers of people who take part in discussion will divide into different groups, each group from 5 to 7 people, the total group in survey is 4 groups these group will discussion other topics include:

- The purpose of exploit, level of exploit, the number of exploit / year, after mining technology

- The objects of exploit, the method of exploit, and the frequency of exploit

- The value of NTFPs

4.1.3 Multi-voting

This method is used to determine the priorities and needs assessment of NTFP tree development through multi-criteria vote in the discussion group The preliminary criteria selected include: Easy to exploit, easily consumed, nothing high economic value, ease of storage, available in nature

4.2 S.W.O.T method

S.W.O.T is an acronym of the letters S - Strengths, W - Weakness, O - Opportunities and T – Threats In this part, use analysis tool S.W.O.T that used to assess status of object through strengths, weakness, opportunity and threat then propose some solutions to reduce weakness and develop by opportunity

The performance would follow these steps below:

-Step 1: Learn reality through the study of relevant documents, interview to assess the realistic situation

-Step 2: in this step I will chose 4 groups, each group include 5 to 7 people belong to objects: management, perception of local people, participation of local people and the affect

to environment from community

-Step 3: List issues

-Step 4: List strengths

-Step 5: List threats

-Step 6: Solutions

-Step 7: Use this table to analyze

Strengths Weakness Opportunities Use strengths to take

opportunity

Overcome weakness that stopping us

to opportunity Threats Use strengths to reduce threat Overcome weakness that can be

threat

4.3 Data analysis method

All of information after collected, use Microsoft-Excel software for data analysis

CHAPTER 5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 5.1 The status of NTFPs resources in 6 villages located in core zone in Ben En NP

5.1.1 Classification based on use value of NTFPs

According to the data collected from field, this study has listed a total of 127 timber species which local people exploit and use for differen purposes that shown in table 5.1 following:

non-Table 5.1 List of NTFPs groups exploited and used in 6 villages of study area

No Group of use

purpose

Number of species

Percentage to total

31.5 Fallopia multiflora, Leea

rubra Blume, Xanthium strumarium, etc

5 Tannin, dye 5

3.9 Cupressus tonkinensis

Dioscoreaceae, Terminalia myriocarpa etc

9.5 Abelmoschus moschatus,

Amomum xanthioides, Pogostemon cablin, etc

As can be seen in Table 5.1, medicinal plants group is the highest percentage

accounted for 31.5% (40 species) including some rare species such as Fallopia multiflora, Leea rubra Blume, Xanthium strumarium This group is one of the main income source for

local households For mountainous area, particularly fragmented and isolated areas, transportation is difficult, traditional medicine plays an integral part for local communities’ health However, this remedy is simple and mainly served in place The development of these remedy become products and services providing for large market demand, create jobs contributing economic development in the locality is very good

Plants provide foods have 35 species accounting for 27.6% This group is very important in common life and contributes to the income of local households, in which the

popular species such as Melientha suavis and bamboo shoots are easy to harvest and consume

However outdated mining habits, exploitation without conservation in a long time lead to the depletion of these resource In general food plants are very diversity and richness, widely distributed, and it is one of market potential sources If people is rational exploitation, these plants has ability to be very resilient, stable yields, and less affected by the disaster factors

Ornamental plants group with 20 species accounted for 15.7% Interviewed people said that these plats have high market potential with high economy value Not only modern life is constantly improved but also the pressure of industrial life caused to spiritual life of residents, especially in big cities and crowded areas, the demand of ornamental plants are increased significantly NTFPs have many kind of products with beautiful and fragrant flowers, diverse shapes, great shapes are preferred Many people looking for the beautiful

shape as Barringtonia acutangula or Wrightia religiosa This would be a good direction for

the policy to diversify the crops of farmers

NTFPs group provides fiber and handicrafts accounted for 11.8% with 15 species This group is exploited and served the human needs is increasingly diverse They are used for fencing, wicker handmade to maintain life of local people in study area as well as contributes significantly in generating jobs and income for households

Additionally, other groups provide tannin, dye and oil accounted for 3.9% and 9.5% These products are used in a variety of products, like cosmetic manufacturing industry, medicine, spices instead of animal oil are good for human health

In conclusion, NTFPs group is very diverse and richness Medicinal group accounted for the highest proportion of species providing NTFPs in the core area of NP The next are food and ornamental plants, this indicates that the potential of NTFP species of study area is enormous

5.1.2 NTFPs exploitation and use in study area

According to data collected from interviewing 30 households, the stury has listed 25 species that interviewee usually exploit and use for different purposes such as medicine, food The detail results are represented in table 5.2 and appendix 1

Table 5.2 NTFPs exploitation and use status in 6 villages of study area

Number of species Total

The availability of 30 non-timber species is devided into 3 groups as High, Medium and Low The result is shown in figure 5.1

Figure 5.1 The availability of NTFPs species in 6 villages of Tan Binh commune

As can be seen in the pie chart 5.1, the amount of NTFPs species is not numerous The available levels mostly are Low (37%) and Medium (50%) The NTFPs species with high availability just occupy 13%

Due to difference in use purpose and NTFPs value, the level of exploitation of different species are not the same Thence, this study divide the exploitation frequency into 3 groups: High, Medium and Low frequency and show it in figure 5.2

Figure 5.2 The exploitation and use frequency of NTFPs species in 6 villages of Tan

13

50

37

High (%) Medium (%) Low (%)

53

37

10

High (%) Medium (%) Low (%)

As a result, it is very to see that the local people exploit NTFPs species with high frequency (53%) and medium (37%) mostly This could be the reason for the decline of NTFPs species in Tan Binh commune recently

The part of use taken from 30 NTFPs species are devided into 8 groups of Fruit; Seed; Leave; Stem and banches; Flower; Bark; Root and tuber; Whole plant that is shown in figure 5.3

Figure 5.3 The part of use taken from NTFPs species in 6 villages of Tan Binh commune

According to the pie chart, the root and tuber (24%) and fruit (18%) are mostly exploited from NTFPs species for use Flower is part of species that is taken at least (3%) A part of NTFPs species are exploited by whole plant but the exploiter just use some part like seed or plower So, this lead to waste of sources

5.2 NTFPs market in study area

5.2.1 NTFPs consumption

There are 30 households in 6 villages in Tan Binh commune at core zone of Ben En

NP was interviewed The result indicated that the NTFPs Consumer market focuses mainly on medicinal plants, ornamental plants and plants for foods In specific:

Bark (%) Root, tuber (%) Whole plant (%)

Medicinal plant market:

According to the results of field survey, medicinal plant market of 6 villages can be described as flow chart below:

Figure 5.4 Map of medicinal plant market

Medicinal plants market occurred in 3 main channels:

 Channel 1: medicinal plants are collected from forest, after that these plants are sold for consumers This is main consumption channel of medicinal herbs Major buyers are local people in commune (traditional medicinal households) or directly sale for tourist in Ben Sung market This channel is simple, less intermediaries and price is less influenced by fees such as transportation, storage, costs for intermediaries

 Channel 2: medicinal plants are usually fresh, raw materials or semi-processed which are directly transported by middleman to other provinces such as Ha Noi, Lang Son, Hung Yen This channel has other stakeholder who is middleman This is focal point to gather medicinal species for delivering to other provinces or even exporting Price in this channel is low due to transportation costs, cost for middleman

 Channel 3: Raw materials after harvesting was sold for middleman Then, these products are sold for large purchasing agent in the region In this channel, consumers need to spend a lot of money to buy these products These prices of NTFPs are higher than the price that traders bought form local households many times because of transportation cost, and cost for middleman

 Ornamental plants market

Figure 5.5 Map of Ornamental plant market

The popular ornamental plants which are cultivated and traded in study area are orchids, camellia or rhododendron According to the interviews in study area, the supplies ornamental plants never satisfy the needs of customers Overall, ornamental plants market in commune is simple, so the products price is less influenced by intermediary costs such as transportation, costs for intermediaries

 Plant for foods market

The vegetables and fruits which are valued, consumed and high consumed, includes

Melientha suavis, bamboo shoots, Dracontomelon duperreanum and Canarium album These

are consumed follow the flow chart:

Figure 5.6 Map of Plant for foods market

The flow chart above illustrates that NTFPs will be sold directly to consumers or through an intermediary only Consumers mainly are local residents to meet basic human needs The advantages of this market are product cost less influenced by transportation cost or storage cost However, the drawbacks is the unstable price, it fluctuate with demand

Overall, the NTFPs consumption market in study area is diverse and potential for local people to continue to cultivate and develop focus on NTFP species which is high value and strength of the region

5.2.2 NTFPs market demand

According to interviews with 30 households in the study area, the market demand for NTFPs are re varied and richness, particularly in harvest season The products after harvesting are gathered in a place, and then traders will collect and deliver it to the small production facility in the region After processing, these products will be transfer to other province for consumption The Market consumption and price of some NTFP species are presented in table 5.3 below:

Table 5.3 Market consumption and price of some non-timber species in 6 villages

in study site

No Specific name Vietnamese

name

Consumption place Price (VND)

Market demand High medium Low

1 Fallopia multiflora Hà thủ ô đỏ Internal and

external province 100.000/kg x

2 Dendrocalamus

latiflorus Munro

Măng tre bát độ Local markets 10.000/kg x

3 Piper lolot Lá lốt Local markets 3.000/kg x

4 Dracontomelon

duperreanum Sấu Local markets 20.000/kg x

5 Cymbidium hybrid Địa lan Internal and

external province 250.000/ tree x

6 Rhododendron Đỗ quyên

hoa trắng

Internal and external province 300.000/tree x

7 Zingiber officinale Gừng Local markets 30.000/kg x

8 Cinnamomum

verum

Quế tích lan

Internal and external province 50.000/kg x

aciculare Nứa Local markets 7.000/tree x

11 Camellia sinensis Chè rừng Local markets 50.000/kg x

12 Morinda officinalis Ba kích Internal and

external province 310.000/kg x

13 Xanthium

strumarium

Ké đầu ngựa

Internal and external province 120.000/kg x

14 Homalomena

amoraticae

Thiên niên kiện

Internal and external province 110.000/kg x

15 Syzygium

aromaticum

Đinh hương

Internal and external province 290.000/kg x

Survey results from Table 5.3 show that the NTFPs market is mainly in internal and external province The demand of NTFPs for people very much, they mainly use valuable

NTFPs such as Syzygium aromaticum, Morinda officinalis and Fallopia multiflora, the price

of NTFPs from 100.000 to 300.000VND/kg The role of NTFPs is very diverse including foods, materials, traditional medicine and commodities harvested from nature NTFPs associated with livelihoods of local community in core area of NPs, and it satisfies the cash needs of people

5.2.3 Assessment of NTFPs market potential

It is essential to analyze, evaluate the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of NTFPs market This will provide the basis for selection of market information system which

is suitable with local people and ensure sustainability in the management of NTFPs sector Based on the results of NTFPs market potential evaluation, the author found out some basis points that are shown in table 5.4

Table 5.4 S.W.O.T analysis of market demand of NTFPs in Tan Binh commune

- Diversity of NTFPs sources

- Available exchange goods sources

- Available in all seasons ( Create jobs)

- NTFPs are used for many different

purposes

- NTFPs contribute to livelihoods

- Over exploitation leads to shortage

- Lack of sources of some valuable species such as medicinal plant

- No conservation planning for NTFPs

- Low education and little knowledge of the market

- Government are investigating in NTFPs

management

- Many projects supported NTFP market

development for local people

- Development in research and

development of NTFPs sector

- No management mechanism for NTFPs

- Isolated and fragmented area

- Other provinces are also involved exploitation and sale of products (difficult

in community management)

- Instability and lack of investment