Community based ecotourism turns conservation challenges into opportunities: the Talai Longhouse

Hanoi – 26th December 2014. Today WWF and the Vietnam National Administration of Forest celebrated the achievements of the 6 year long project “Eco-tourism development in and around protected areas in Vietnam” with the participation of representatives from protected areas, related government agencies and media.

Forests are always an important living resource for the local people. Exploiting natural resources is not a habit that can be removed overnight; for many, forests are their main source of income. To protect the forest and its species, conservation work is not enough. Solutions need to be introduced to help the local people reduce their dependence on natural resources. Understanding this, in 2008, WWF-Vietnam kicked off the project with the sponsorship of DANIDA through WWF-Denmark. The goal of the project was to directly benefit local livelihoods and contribute to nature conservation via ecotourism activities in and around Cat Tien National Park (CTNP).

After 6 years of implementation, the project successfully established a community based tourism model and developed a circular for ecotourism development in special use forests and responsible tourism guidelines.

A community based ecotourism model – Ta La Long House 

On a hilltop overlooking the forest, sits the Ta Lai Long House – the first ever community based tourism destination in the region. It is located near a lake in village 4 of Talai commune, just 12km from the CTNP headquarter. The house was built using traditional architectural features and locally sourced materials such as leaves for roofing, bamboo for the walls and rattan for tying materials together. It has enough room for 30 guests, and is accompanied by a camping complex, which can accommodate up to 150 people in tents with sleeping bags.

Local people – the centre of the project
Local people are at the centre of the project, participating from the beginning in planning, constructing and finally running the Longhouse.

“When the project kicked off, the commune authorities were given the chance to engage in organising workshops and training. Meanwhile, local people were the ones who selected the tourism models and way to work.” said Mr. Dang Vu Hiep, Head of  the Commune People Committee.

Now, all service staff at the longhouse are members of the local ethnic minority, who were trained by WWF in hospitality skills. Local people also in charge of co-ordinating community service groups and supporting logistics.

Sustainable business – the role of the private sector

To ensure the sustainability of the project, WWF facilitated the development of a partnership between the local community and a private tourism company to operate the long house. While the local people are in charge of providing services, this private sector partner plays a crucial role through significant supplementary investments in restoration and possible expansion of the business.

As a result of this partnership, the business has been built upon a strong foundation that has led to increasing interest in the brand and a stable turnover, with total revenue reaching 875.8 million VND (approximately 4,100 USD) in the first quarter of 2014.

Returning benefit for the local people

WWF’s project has created eight full-time jobs and supports a further 91 part-time and/or indirect jobs. It is estimated that approximately 91% of the tourism work force made up of ethnic minority members.

The project also created a benefit sharing mechanism to make sure this model contributes money to support the local community. Every visitor pays a fixed entrance fee, which goes directly to the Community Development Fund (CDF). The CDF funds loans for people who want to start alternative livelihoods, and is also used to support households experiencing difficulties. By the first quarter of 2014, the CDF had 40 million VND (1,800 USD).

Benefits to the National Park

In addition to capacity building for park staff and raising their environmental awareness, the project also helped the park develop a framework to monitor resource management and visitor impacts. With key officers trained in the required skills, the park is now able to effectively monitor the incidence of wildlife, the number of visitors in Park zones, litter quantity, noise levels and conflicts regarding trip purpose.

“Ta Lai Long house is the only tourism initiative in the park to have had good results. It is the first successful model for community-based tourism here.” Said Mr Chinh, director of CTNP eco-tourism.

A bigger impact

With the success of this model, WWF thought about how to scale up the impact. At the central level, the project worked closely with the Vietnam National Administration of Forest under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), and the Vietnam National Administration for Tourism under the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism. Together with these agencies, WWF developed a circular with guidelines for responsible tourism and for ecotourism development in special use forests. These legal documents will help the management agencies to more effectively manage natural resources for conservation and the benefit of local communities.

“Ecotourism is developing in Vietnam. If it’s managed appropriately, it can contribute significantly to conservation. State management currently lacks policies on ecotourism development and has no strategy for ecotourism. We look forward to working with WWF to fill this gap.” Said Tran The Lien,  Head of the Department of Vietnam Nature Conservation, MARD.

“Vietnam has a high potential to develop ecotourism in and around the protected areas. WWF wanted to provide a sustainable approach where the human dependence on natural resources is minimized without affecting the livehoods of the local people. With a circular and guidelines in place, WWF hopes this model can be replicated around Vietnam.” Said Ms. Mac Tuyet Nga, the project manager.