Hanoi (VNA) – Boasting great resources of forestand forest land, Vietnam is advised to develop forest ecosystem services,especially forest-based ecotourism to create jobs and improve incomes forlocals, contributing to sustainable poverty reduction among mountainouscommunities.

A report from the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (MARD), in 2022, Vietnam had 14,790,075 ha of forest area, of which10,134,082 ha were natural forests and 4,655,933 ha were planted ones.

According to the MARD’s Department of Forestry, income from forest services isabout 40 trillion VND (1.62 billion USD) each year, including about 2 trillionVND from forest tourism.

Since 2016, forest-based community tourism has thrived. In2022 alone, this kind of tourism attracted 3.1 million tourists.

Recently, national parks and natural reserves across the country,including Pu Mat, Cuc Phuong, Phong Nha Ke Bang U Minh Thuong, Ba Vi, Bac Ma,Cat Tien, Cat Ba, Hoang Lien, Tam Dao, Ba Na-Nui Chua national parks, as wellas more than 60 natural reserves across the country have worked hard to promoteforest-based ecotourism.

However, forest-based ecotourism in Vietnam has still beenin its beginning stage with limitations in professionalism, management andresource using for tourism. Meanwhile, the research, baseline study and forest-basedecotourism development planning have yet to be conducted effectively.

Do Van Lap, Vice Director of the Cuc Phuong National Park, saidthat the park has organised various programmes, activities and tours inassociation with wildlife rescue and preservation. Cuc Phuong is home to 2,230floral species and 669 animal species, including 73 listed by InternationalUnion for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and endangered species needing urgentprotection.

Tran Anh Tuan, founder of Nature Expedition, said that thefirm’s experience tourism products in Cuc Phuong National Park have attracted alarge number of visitors, especially children, helping educate them about theresponsibility to protect the environment and wildlife.

According to experts, Vietnam needs to give suitablepolicies, strategies and approaches to diversify forest ecosystem services. Atthe same time, the country should also diversify forest welfare for thecommunity and educate the community about the significance of the forest, thusencouraging actions to protect fores as well as the environment andbiodiversity in Vietnam./.