Na Hang Nature Reserve, Tat Ke Sector - Frontier-publications.co.uk

Na Hang Nature Reserve, Tat Ke Sector 1997
12.3.7 Ecotourism potential
Tourism is seen as a very lucrative source of foreign investment and is a growing
industry in Vietnam. However, at the present time there are no known cases of tourists
visiting either sector of the Na Hang reserve. This gives the reserve managers an ideal
opportunity to develop its tourist industry in a sustainable way that attracts the optimal
numbers of tourists to the area without compromising the quality of the reserve.
Na Hang's current lack of tourism may attract tourists seeking tranquility, remoteness
and unspoilt scenery; however, it is similar in character to Cuc Phuong and Cat Ba
National Parks (Cox, 1994) which are already well established tour destinations, with
good transport links and tourist facilities. At present, the potential for back-packing or
sight-seeing tourists at Na Hang appears limited.
However, there is an opportunity to attract special interest groups, such as
international ornithological or botany clubs, or dedicated ecotourists. These could
provide a valuable source of income for the reserve, providing local employment (for
forest guides and workers in services), whilst causing only the minimum of
disturbance to the forest itself.
12.3.7.1 Specialist ecotourism; bird groups
Na Hang Nature Reserve has a high diversity of birds, including rare and endemic
forms with the potential to attract tourists with a special interest in birds.
In the past years, a small number of specialist bird tour groups have visited Vietnam.
They are usually made up of experienced observers and are led by a professional
leader.
Bird groups cause little disturbance to an area because they involve small groups and
are only resident for short periods of time. Numbers of visitors could be controlled
and directed away from prime areas of the reserve, for example, where the Tonkin
Snub-nosed Monkey is found.
Among the Kiem Lam rangers and local people there are individuals with a good
knowledge of both the reserve and its birds. The most experienced could be chosen
from both sources to act as guides. Most of the other basic services required by
ecotourist groups could be provided in Na Hang town.
The attraction of bird groups would generate revenue for the reserve and local people,
which Cox (1994) lists as an overriding priority.
The principle behind attracting special interest bird groups is to attract limited
numbers of high value tourists, thus bringing valuable revenue with limited
disturbance. For example, Fillon et al. (1992) (in Ceballos-Lascurain, 1996) estimated
Frontier-Vietnam Environment Research Report 9 51