Conservation hell Indicative of deeper malaise of poor management of protected areas, critics warn  A view of In what was apparently a face-saving move, But even if The IUCN, which had conducted a thorough evaluation of the park, urged UNESCO in a report this month “not to inscribe the nomination of But dismayed conservationists say this is not just a question of Cat Tien, which has already been recognized as a UNESCO biosphere reserve, losing another title. More important is that the failure should serve as a wake-up call for “For the past few years, Vietnam has been all about 'winning' recognition,” Pamela McElwee, an assistant professor of human ecology at Rutgers University in the US who has researched extensively on Vietnam's protected areas, said. “But then after having received this international attention, authorities don't follow up to ensure the cultural or environmental values they won recognition for… are conserved,” she told Vietweek. Conservationists cite the example of the world-renowned Ha Long Bay, where winning international attention has not halted serious environmental problems like coal mining and unregulated dumping of waste into the bay. In 2011 Ha Long Bay, twice recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site, made it to the list of New Natural Wonders of the World in a campaign marred by allegations that organizers asked candidates to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees. Critics also said the voting methods were shrouded in secrecy. After Ha Long scooped the new honor experts had expressed concern about its preservation. But the site has continued to suffer from increasing pollution due to industrial and urban development, coal mining, and tourism. Another example is the rampant deforestation of the World Heritage site Just this month a Quang Binh court handed down jail terms to 12 people in a high-profile case of illegal logging of rare trees in the park. The park director was censured and a deputy director was dismissed for failing to handle the case properly and quickly after it was detected despite an outcry. A study released last May by UK-based conservation group Flora and Fauna International said law enforcement is absent at the park, with illegal logging and transportation of timber being rampant and done openly. Conservationists say such cases are emblematic of the poor management of Not achieving World Heritage recognition for But on the bright side, McElwee said: “This will encourage authorities to look at how they might better address the multiple threats to Cosseted conservation Located 100 kilometers northeast of Eleven ethnic minority groups live around the park. After the discovery of a population of Javan rhinos in 1992, the park was declared a rhinoceros reserve and received worldwide attention. Of 30 national parks and scores of other protected areas spanning forests and wetlands across But the killing of From 1998 to 2004 the WWF alone invested US$6.3 million in the park, with up to $600,000 earmarked for rhino conservation work. From the mid-1990s, a number of organizations were involved in efforts to conserve the remaining Javan rhino population in Cat Tien, but conservationists have blamed land conversion and a growing local population for threatening the animal’s habitat, which has been cut in half since 1988 to about 30,000 hectares today. But in practice, such provisions are minor considerations in land use and infrastructure-planning decisions, it added. Conservationists say the death of the last rhino in Cat Tien should be a bitter lesson that funding alone by no means assures the survival of wildlife. The failure to win the UNESCO recognition “reflects a serious concern in the international community that The IUCN said in its report to UNESCO that since the discontinuation of a major conservation project - funded by the WWF - in 2004 and the decline in other project activities, management support in Cat Tien “has been reduced dramatically and overall management capacity may also have declined.” The report quoted the park staff as saying that “local tourists pose the biggest risk to the biodiversity.” It also identified rampant poaching as a current threat to the park. Speaking to Vietweek two years ago, Tran Van Thanh, then Cat Tien director, lamented that his 130 rangers faced an uphill task in patrolling the 74,000-hectare (182,000-acre) park. Each of them, who were paid around VND3 million a month, had to be on duty for 22 days in a row and stay in the forest on their own. Since then no major headway has been made in terms of personnel or their wages. Experts point out that even if rangers manage a protected area well they get little pay or recognition, so it comes as no surprise that people become corrupt easily and the entire system suffers. “A requirement for being nominated for international recognition ought to be excellence in management - unfortunately it is not, as we see in the case of Cat Tien,” McElwee said. Fading faith The IUCN also expressed concern about plans to build two hydropower stations on the The dams have faced fierce opposition from conservationists who warn if built they would totally alter the marine environment in the park and inundate forests. The planned construction of these two dams “had a major bearing on the recommendation of the IUCN against recognizing Cat Tien,” Long, the Vietnamese expert, said. The opponents of the dams also say the impacts are beyond estimation since it is not only about the park but also the lives of millions of people living in downstream areas in Conservationists say in energy-hungry But the fact is they are driven purely by the desire to make profit at any cost, they say. The pace and scale of hydropower and road development are proceeding with scant regard for Vietnam’s remaining biodiversity and protected areas, experts say. Even the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are contributing to this rapid degradation with support to hydropower and road projects which are having serious negative impacts on protected areas, they add. “Protected area managers in An increasing number of lawmakers, government agencies, environmental groups, and local administrations have joined the opposing camp, saying the two Cat Tien dams must be scrapped. But they are not too sure if their concerns will be heeded. “The dam developer has been lobbying so aggressively,” Trinh Le Nguyen, executive director of People and Nature Reconciliation, one of The National Assembly, Nguyen Van Dien, the current Cat Tien director, declined to say whether he is against or for the building of the dams. “All I can say is that everything has to be carried out in accordance with the law,” he told Vietweek. But he and other Vietnamese experts concur that conservation efforts in the country are all too often undermined by people with vested interests. They say that when developers want the land, power and money do the talking and environmental conservation has no chance of winning. With Vietnamese authorities saying they will submit the application for Cat Tien’s recognition this September, conservationists say the country risks rejection again if it fails to stop the building of the two dams. The fallout from the construction will also be irreversible, they warn. “If “In so doing, Cat Tien will lose the [UNESCO] recognition forever. “But the most important thing is no one will ever believe that By An Dien, Thanh Nien News |
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