Conservation fund to grant support to national parks
HA NOI — About 50 of Viet Nam’s national parks and nature reserves are to be provided with small grants and technical support for the protection of biodiversity in forests.
This is a new approach to the conservation of these areas in Viet Nam, initiated by the Viet Nam Conservation Fund (VCF) and supported with major grants from the Netherlands, through the Trust Fund for Forestry (TFF) and the Global Environment Facility.
The US$15million at the VCF’s disposal will be distributed by the Forest Protection Department and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) as part of the World Bank-supported Forest Sector Development Project.
The support will concentrate on strengthening the management boards of protected areas and encouraging greater planning and management involvement from local people in protected areas, towards the achievement of Viet Nam’s forestry policy objectives.
"The VCF represents a vital new opportunity to improve the management of Viet Nam’s forests and to enable forest protection and management board staff at a site level to work more effectively with local people to conserve our forests," said the director of MARD’s Forest Protection Department, Ha Cong Tuan, at the fund’s launch.
Financial support will be provided to the national parks and nature reserves through small projects, at a maximum of US$50,000 each. For the initial two-year implementation period there will also be technical support provided.
"The World Bank believes that Viet Nam’s protected areas can only be managed effectively with the active participation of local people, and we are therefore pleased to support this ambitious new initiative," said Klaus Rohland, Viet Nam’s World Bank director.
Viet Nam News, May 11, 2005
