10000445-Protected Area Management in Viet Nam

Viet Nam is one of the 20 regions in the world with the highest biodiversity. Intact and diverse ecosystems are key for climate protection. Protected areas in Viet Nam cover a wide range of ecosystems, including various types of forests, wetland or marine areas. Many people living in rural areas, including ethnic communities, depend on the services provided by healthy ecosystems to secure their livelihoods. At the same time, the country"s resource-intensive economic development model steadily increases pressure on ecosystems. Exploitation, industrial or tourist development harm protected areas. This resulted for example in a large part of the natural forests being degraded. Responsibilities for the regulatory framework or for strengthening capacities of protected areas are allocated to different government agencies. Moreover, until now protected area administrations in Viet Nam face a lack of resources, including finances or qualified staff for the tasks of conservation. These factors make it challenging to ensure an integrated and effective management of protected areas with diverse ecosystems. Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the project "Management and protection of protected areas with diverse ecosystems in Viet Nam" (MEPA project for short) has officially started in 01/2025 with the major part of the implementation taking off in 2026. It involves diverse state actors, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE) as a political partner, the Department of Forestry and Forest Protection (VNFOREST) as implementation partner, the Department of Agriculture and Environment (DAE), Provincial People's Committees (PPC) and the Protected Area Management Board of three pilot areas (Hoang Lien National Park, Van Long Nature Reserve and Xuan Lien National Park) located in three provinces (Lao Cai, Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa). The MEPA project aims to enhance regulatory, institutional and technical capacities for implementing integrated management of protected areas among the responsible authorities and the local population. The project interventions focus on: - Output 1: Improving the regulatory framework for an integrated management of protected areas in general and in three selected areas through the development of technical guidelines and capacity building for integrated management of special-use forests - Output 2: Identification and piloting of sustainable financing mechanisms - Output 3: Development of ecosystem restoration plans and provide support on ecosystem restoration for selected special-use forests - Output 4: Advancing the capacities of the management authorities and local communities of the selected special-use forests are improved for the planning and implementation of sustainable, community-based tourism. The collaboration with the management boards of the three protected areas, as well as with the provincial and national authorities will ensure sustained technical capacity building results as well as advancing the overall regulatory and institutional framework. Potentials for fostering gender equality are used throughout all activities. The effective management and protection of Viet Nam"s diverse protected areas requires coordinated, multi-level interventions and the application of internationally recognised technical expertise. The MEPA project is in the process of completing essential preparatory steps to ensure that technical activities can commence without delay once the project receives approval from the Vietnamese authorities. In order to ensure the effective implementation of integrated management approaches for protected areas with diverse ecosystems, the project requires comprehensive technical expertise, innovative solutions, and alignment with global best practices. Given the complexity of protected area management - including conservation finance for protect areas, digital approaches to capacity building and biodiversity monitoring, forest carbon, ecosystem restoration, and community-based tourism - the project demands highly specialised knowledge that often extends beyond domestic expertise and resources.