Consulting on Ecotourism Project at Cuc Phuong National Park

On the occasion of International Day of Forests (March 21), with the message "Forests and innovation", Cuc Phuong National Park organized a consultation conference on the Cuc Phuong National Park Ecotourism Project for the period 2023-2030 and the potential for exploiting rescue and conservation products to develop sustainable ecotourism.

Attending the conference were leaders of the Forestry Department, the Forestry Department; leaders of the Ninh Binh Department of Tourism, the Tourism Association; the People's Committee of Nho Quan district and neighboring districts of Hoa Binh and Thanh Hoa provinces; domestic and international conservation and nature education organizations; agencies and tourism service business units in the province.

Cuc Phuong National Park has an area of 22,408 hectares, is one of the places with high biodiversity with many rare species of animals and plants listed in the Vietnam Red Book. Besides the diversity of vegetation, Cuc Phuong's fauna is very rich and unique.

This is the first National Park (NP) in Vietnam to implement many environmentally responsible ecotourism products, and has been voted "Asia's Leading National Park" for 5 consecutive years.

However, Cuc Phuong National Park is still facing many difficulties and obstacles in developing ecotourism, from building tourism infrastructure, improving the quality of tourism services, communicating and promoting ecotourism in a sustainable way. Up to now, the Park has only operated in one form, which is to organize tourism types and provide services to tourists.

At the conference, delegates listened to a summary of the draft Ecotourism Project of Cuc Phuong National Park for the period 2023-2030. Accordingly, the Project was developed to concretize Decision No. 208/QD-TTg dated February 29, 2024 of the Prime Minister approving the Project on developing multi-use values of forest ecosystems to 2030, with a vision to 2050; concretizing the sustainable forest management plan of Cuc Phuong National Park for the period 2021 - 2030.

Consulting on Ecotourism Project at Cuc Phuong National Park — Director of the Forestry Department, Bui Chinh Nghia, reported a summary of the draft project on ecotourism in Cuc Phuong National Park for the period 2023-2030.

The Project's viewpoint is to consider environmental protection and biodiversity conservation as the number 1 important task of the Park, the focus for tourism development, towards sustainable ecotourism, integrating and improving knowledge, educating and experiencing about nature, biodiversity, wildlife and endemic species of Cuc Phuong National Park to visitors.

Tourism development is an effective tool to enhance the effectiveness of forest conservation and protection, environmental protection and raise awareness and love for nature. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the quality of experience, service quality and increase the activities of experience, education, and environmental interpretation in a visual, vivid and practical way; continue to maintain and promote the title of Asia's leading national park.

Delegates and experts all agreed that the development of the "Cuc Phuong National Park Ecotourism Development Project for the period 2023-2030" is a necessary requirement, creating a change in nature conservation and rationally exploiting the strengths and potentials of Cuc Phuong National Park according to the development orientation of the domestic and local tourism industry, supporting socio-economic development and creating good experiences for tourists.

In addition, delegates also focused on clarifying issues related to visitor restrictions at Cuc Phuong National Park; developing forest economy with biodiversity conservation, building tours connecting with regions and areas... Many opinions said that in addition to tourism development, it is necessary to raise awareness of environmental protection among visitors, avoiding affecting the natural development of flora and fauna in the Park.

On the other hand, people in the buffer zone need to be trained in basic skills to provide services and tourism. These are frank and enthusiastic opinions, contributing to the completion of the draft, ensuring scientific and accurate information before the "Project for developing ecotourism in Cuc Phuong National Park for the period 2023 - 2030" is approved.

Also on March 21, Cuc Phuong National Park launched the mascots used in the Cuc Phuong Jungle Paths 2024 race, including: box turtle, golden pangolin, Cuc Phuong red-bellied squirrel, delacour’s langur and clouded leopard. Each animal will be a symbol, used at the starting point of each race route.

Attaching the mascot to the Cuc Phuong Jungle Paths 2024 race contributes to spreading the message of wildlife conservation and nature conservation to the community.

The race will be held on April 6 and 7, 2024 with 5 distances: 10 km, 25 km, 42 km, 70 km and Coros 100 km.

Minh Hai - Minh Duong

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