Removing obstacles to develop tourism under the forest canopy

With the diversity of forest resources, terrain, climate, culture, etc., Khanh Hoa province has great potential to develop tourism products under the forest canopy. In particular, the southern Khanh Hoa region has many advantages when owning the Nui Chua World Biosphere Reserve and Phuoc Binh National Park - which is preserving thousands of rare animal and plant species listed in the Vietnam Red Book and the World Red Book (IUCN), attracting millions of domestic and international tourists to visit and explore each year.

Diverse ecosystem

Nui Chua World Biosphere Reserve (Nui Chua National Park) in Vinh Hai commune has a total area of ​​over 106,646 hectares, the core area is 15,752 hectares, representing the semi-arid and humid ecological zones with 6 different forest types. There are 1,514 plant species, of which 54 are listed in the Vietnam Red Book and IUCN; 763 animal species, of which 60 are rare, 48 are endangered according to the Vietnam Red Book and 34 are globally endangered.

The journey to conquer the 1,039m peak of Nui Chua attracts a large number of trekkers and tourists to experience.

Mr. Tran Van Tiep - Director of Nui Chua National Park - Phuoc Binh said: "Nui Chua National Park is a world biosphere reserve possessing many values ​​in biodiversity with forests, seas, rare animals and plants and unique and distinctive natural landscape beauty. Although located in the driest climate region in Vietnam, Nui Chua still has a system of year-round streams, undulating mountains, green grassy hills, and pristine, majestic blue beaches. In Nui Chua National Park, there are also all kinds of terrain for tourists who are passionate about discovery tourism , like to experience finding the wild with places such as: Hang Rai, trekking Nui Chua 1,039m, exploring the stone park and connecting tourist routes to explore Vinh Hy Bay, vineyards, Cham community culture, Cham towers, traditional pottery villages" ...

Phuoc Binh National Park (Bac Ai Tay commune) currently has 1,338 plant species; of which 172 are rare species, 60 are listed in the Vietnam Red Book and 58 are listed in IUCN. The park's fauna is diverse with 347 species; of which 110 are rare species, 64 are listed in the Vietnam Red Book, 50 are listed in IUCN. In particular, there are 4 endemic animals of Indochina that are of international concern: red-cheeked gibbon, black-shanked douc, ow civet and large-antlered muntjac. Phuoc Binh National Park is also recognized as one of 63 bird areas, where the number of gaurs and deer is the highest compared to other national parks and conservation areas in the current special-use forest system of Vietnam. Currently, Phuoc Binh National Park has been exploiting many types of tourism, tours, and attractive routes such as: Visiting and exploring the botanical garden, Gia Nhong dam, Dragon Tail waterfall, Da Ban waterfall, Ba Tang waterfall; visiting the primeval forest, rowing on the stream to enjoy the scenery; walking in the forest to observe some species of primates, butterflies and learn about many rare medicinal plants and wild orchids; visiting the hybrid gaur model; visiting the historical site "Pi Nang Tac stone trap"; visiting the Raglai cultural village to learn about gong culture, Chapi instrument, unique folk performing arts of the Raglai people; enjoying local cuisine with bamboo rice, grilled black pork in bamboo tubes, wild bitter melon, wild bamboo shoots, grilled chicken, famous "orphan" banana wine. After visiting, visitors can rest right at the National Park's accommodation or can stay overnight in the stilt houses of the people, experiencing the production activities and life of the people.

Many problems need to be resolved

Mr. Tran Ngoc Hieu - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment said: "Implementing the direction of the Provincial People's Committee on developing a project for ecotourism, resort, and entertainment in the forest (referred to as the project), up to now, the whole province has 10 forest owners who have established and approved the project, of which the southern Khanh Hoa area has 7 projects. The forest owners have established a project implementation team at the unit to coordinate with organizations and individuals selected to rent the forest environment to develop specific plans, establish projects to use the forest environment for business services, ecotourism, resort, and entertainment in accordance with the approved project. However, through reviewing and comparing the projects of forest owners approved by the Provincial People's Committee according to Decree No. 156/2018/ND-CP, dated November 16, 2018 of the Government and the Guidance of the General Department of Forestry in Document No. 1183/TCLN-DDPH, dated August 31, 2021, has not yet shown the correct content according to the latest regulations in Decree No. 91/2024/ND-CP, dated July 18, 2024 of the Government. Therefore, when implementing an ecotourism project, the forest owner and the forest environment lessee will have difficulty in implementing it.

Phuoc Binh National Park organizes tours for tourists to Raglai cultural village, learn about gong culture and experience life with the locals.

To ensure smooth implementation of the project, especially the process of developing and appraising the content of ecotourism, resort and entertainment projects in the forest, the Department of Agriculture and Environment has proposed to the Provincial People's Committee to allow forest owners to continue updating and completing the content to submit to the Department of Agriculture and Environment for appraisal and submit to the Provincial People's Committee for approval as a basis for implementation. Currently, the overall project for developing ecotourism, resort and entertainment in the Nui Chua National Park marine reserve has been adjusted and approved by the Provincial People's Committee. It is expected that a conference will be held to announce and call for investment in 2025; the remaining projects are also expected to submit documents for approval this year.

Along with the above difficulties, forest owners whose projects on ecotourism, resorts and entertainment in the forest are approved also face problems such as: Legal documents on land of forest owners at some units have not been reviewed, updated or adjusted because during the process of planning 3 types of forests, adjusting the planning of 3 types of forests in the periods 2007 - 2015, 2016 - 2025, the area of ​​forests and forestry land classified by management entities has changed a lot; the budget of forest owners is not guaranteed to balance the implementation of inventory and statistics of the current status of forests according to the status of the forest environment lease area to serve as a basis for handing over boundaries, current status and managing, monitoring and evaluating the implementation. Regarding funding, the Department of Agriculture and Environment has proposed that the Provincial People's Committee consider allowing forest owners to include it in the criteria for selecting investors (investors must commit to conducting inventory and statistics of the current status before signing the forest environment lease contract) or use other legal funding sources to conduct inventory and statistics of the current status of forests according to the status of the forest environment lease area.

In addition, to effectively implement the project approved by competent authorities, the Department of Agriculture and Environment also proposed that the Provincial People's Committee recommend the Department of Forestry and Forest Protection (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment) to preside over and coordinate with relevant units to develop a set of documents guiding the implementation of ecotourism, resorts and entertainment in the forest to provide detailed instructions on the procedures, processes and necessary legal documents according to regulations and at the same time cover the fields of forestry, construction, land, tourism, bidding, etc. Thereby contributing to removing difficulties for units in the implementation process, helping ecotourism, resorts and entertainment projects in the forest to soon come into operation and bring about the expected results.

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Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/du-lich/202508/go-vuong-de-phat-triendu-lich-duoi-tan-rung-a3b48d2/