Community participation and harvesting of non-timber forest products in benefit-sharing pilot scheme in Bach Ma National Park, Central Vietnam

Benefit-sharing mechanisms between forest-based communities and governments are a way to meet conservation goals in developing countries, while still allowing forest-based income for local people. In Vietnam, the government implemented a pilot Benefit Sharing Mechanism (BSM) in Special Use Forests (SUFs), to develop a legal framework for sharing the benefits, rights, and responsibilities of forest conservation and management with local communities. One of the pilot areas is in Bach Ma National Park. We examined community involvement in the BSM pilot scheme in SUFs in the buffer zone of Bach Ma National Park located in Thuong Nhat commune, Nam Dong District. Sixty household surveys from two villages were undertaken in 2014. Most households agreed there were benefits, but some reported difficulties. Analysis of harvested non-timber forest products (NTFPs) showed a nearly 30% increase in average household income, based on regulated access to harvesting NTFPs by registered forest users. The difficulties experienced by those involved in the BSM pilot scheme included declining meeting attendance, infrequent meetings, harvested amounts of some NTFPs exceeding those allowed by the Benefit Sharing Arrangement, and forest protection teams failing to detect such irregularities. Finally, we suggest a number of improvements to BSM policies, such as incentives for forest protection team members to be more actively involved in harvest monitoring.