Bio-diversity

The project will be carried out in Tam Quan and Dai Dinh Communes (Tam Duong District) and Dao Tru Commune (Lap Thach District), the three buffer zone communes of Tam Dao National Park. Tam Dao National Park was established in 1996 and contains the Tam Dao mountains and its surrounding buffer zones stretching the three provinces of Thai Nguyen, Vinh Phuc and Tuyen Quang. It contains highly valuable biological resources of the tropical rainforest ecosystem, which is the home of many rare and endemic species. The high level of biodiversity can be partly attributed to the location of the Tam Dao mountains, located on an ecological frontier zone with species from the tropical forests of south east Asia, the temperate forests of southern China and the alpine forests of the eastern Himalaya. In addition, the forest plays a vital role in conserving and supplying water resources for a wide range of users around the mountains. Conservation and sustainable use of biological resources of the Tam Dao National Park is therefore identified as a national priority in the Vietnam National Biodiversity Action Plan. However, unsustainable natural resource exploitation has resulted in biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation of the Park. As in other national parks in Vietnam, the task of management and protection of the Park is not effective due to the problems of poor co-ordination between national, provincial and local levels of government, and the limited participation of the local authorities and community. The current threats to the park are forest clearing, high levels of firewood collection, agricultural encroachment, tourism development, forest fires, mining, development of dams and reservoirs, and especially the development of wildlife trade. This trade is rapidly leading to many species of birds and entomological species (butterflies, moths, beetles and other insects) and other wild animals becoming threatened. The project will help to mitigate pressing biodiversity threats through enhancing awareness of the local authorities and community in the project area on conservation issues, improving their living standard and encouraging the community to participate actively in the management and protection of the Park and its buffer zone so as to assure their livelihoods while conserving biodiversity. The project expects to contribute to the implementation of the potential macro GEF project on biodiversity conservation of Tam Dao National Park, which has been initiated and developed by UNDP-GEF Vietnam, through creating favourable conditions for the macro GEF implementation by raising awareness and appreciation on the Park of the local authorities and community, and enhancing the co-operation in the Park management and protection between the Park management board and the local authorities and the community. In addition, it will provide the macro GEF project with the lessons learned on an integrated conservation and development model in the buffer zone. The project will also join the effort of the international communities, including UNDP Vietnam as well as the Government in contributing to alleviating poverty of the ethnic communities in the project area through sustainable use of natural resources while conserving the biodiversity. The project will be carried out in Dao Tru Commune, where the UNDP project on poverty alleviation has been taken place and therefore, contributing to enhancing the UNDP project impact.

Vietnam