The Effects of Vietnam’s Tourism Development and Payments for Forest Environmental Services Policies on Local Livelihoods in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park Areas

Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park (PNKB NP) is a world heritage site in Vietnam, where ecosystem conservation is accompanied by government policies intended to improve local livelihoods. Currently, two policies have been implemented: the tourism development and payments for forest environmental services (PFES) programs. This study employs both semi-structured and in-depth interviews to analyze the relationships between tourism development, ethnic differences, and the PFES in the PNKB NP area. The results are as follows. The PNKB NP has devoted much time to the tourism development policy, with some success. However, disparities in implementation have meant that central areas, such as Xuan Tien Village, have benefited significantly from tourism revenue, whereas remote areas, such as Rao Con village have not yet had the opportunity to participate in income-generating tourism activities. As a result, the gap between the livelihoods of the two villages has widened, exacerbated by inappropriate distributions of the financial budget (the Phong Nha fee). Moreover, the lack of participation in the policy by local residents has meant the PFES has had little effect on their livelihoods. Thus, although the aforementioned policies were expected to improve local livelihoods, this has not occurred, because the PFES mechanism does not sufficiently consider those living in the area.