Human Ecological Pyramid for Studying the Impact of Local Buffer Zone Communities on Forest Resources

The relationship between the hierarchical arrangement of factor groups and individual activities and sustainability (Diagram 2.1) [24]. Based on this pyramid, it can be explained that the relationship between the adverse impacts of the community on medicinal plant genetic resources and local socio-economic development - conservation of medicinal plant genetic resources is a negative relationship. That is, the more the local socio-economic development, the more material and spiritual living conditions are ensured and the conservation of medicinal plant genetic resources is well implemented, the more adverse impacts on medicinal plant genetic resources will decrease. The adverse impacts of local communities on medicinal plant genetic resources have an ecological basis and are influenced by many socio-economic factors.

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develop

local socio-economic

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conserve

medicinal plant genetic resources

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Moral level

Disadvantages of local communities to resources

Institutional level

Economic level

drug genes

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Ecological level

-Cultural factors

-Institutional and policy factors

-Economic factors

-Ecological and technological factors

Figure 2.1: Human ecology pyramid for studying the impact of local communities in buffer zones on forest resources

Ecological basis is explained by biophysical factors, divided into 2 types: Uncontrollable factors such as climate, hydrology, terrain... and controllable or limited factors such as erosion, floods, pests, forest fires, drought... Controllable or limited factors need to be studied by scientific and technological solutions.

Economic factors such as livelihoods, living standards of local communities, market demand. These factors are very significant for the impact of local communities on medicinal plant genetic resources.

Institutional level is explained as factors of institutions, policies, community organizations... indirectly affecting the impacts of local communities on medicinal plant genetic resources.

Morality is understood as the customs, perceptions or at a higher level, the culture of communities. Any impact of other factors can change the attitudes and perceptions of the community.

According to the ecological-human pyramid (diagram 2.1), any solution to minimize adverse impacts on medicinal plant genetic resources, conserve medicinal plant genetic resources and develop buffer zones must be based on ecology and ensure economic and social factors of the local community.

2.4.1.3. Conservation and development perspective.

Over the years, when facing difficulties in managing protected areas and national parks, especially those established in densely populated areas, many countries in the world have paid attention to how to manage protected areas and national parks and meet the needs of local people. This is the reason for the formation of conservation-development perspectives.

According to Gilmour DA and Nguyen Van San (1999), the conservation and development perspective is to link resource conservation and local development needs, generally including the following 3 main components (approaches) [10]:

-Firstly, if the local community development needs can be met by other alternative sources, then its impact on resources will be reduced and resources will be conserved: The livelihood alternatives approach.

-Secondly, if the community is economically very poor and cannot care about conservation because the basic needs of the community are still not met, then first of all, efforts must be made to improve their socio-economic situation well enough so that they can care more about resource conservation: Economic development approach.

-Thirdly, the local community is also in agreement with the conservation of natural resources if they can be actively involved in the planning and management of resource use and share in the benefits from the resource. In this way, resources can be conserved while at least some of the needs

The basic needs of local people can be met through the rational and sustainable use and exploitation of resources: A participatory planning approach.

The impacts of local communities in the buffer zone have negatively affected forest resources. However, with the actual situation in Ba Vi National Park, it is not possible to propose solutions to eliminate these impacts to improve the quality of life of the people. At the same time, it is also impossible to ignore the task of preserving medicinal plant genetic resources of the National Park. The objective of this study is to propose solutions to minimize the adverse impacts of local communities on medicinal plant genetic resources, while supporting local socio-economic development. Therefore, in this study, the first and third approaches are applied to carry out the research content.

2.4.1.4. Participatory approach in research.

Participation is defined as a process through which actors influence and share development initiatives and decisions. It is important that local people are able to communicate their perspectives on medicinal plant genetic resources to researchers and regulatory agencies and that these agencies, in turn, understand and respond to the perspectives expressed. In 1996, Hosley proposed seven levels of participation from low to high, namely: advocacy participation, passive participation, consultation participation, participation for the purpose of receiving external material support, functional participation, support participation, self-mobilization and organization [15].

In this study, a participatory approach was used, in which local communities participated at level 3, i.e. through consultation and information provision. Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods were used to collect information for the study. These methods help collect information and analysis from local communities themselves, so the information can be used for many local needs such as support for TNR use rights and conflict resolution solutions.

2.4.2. Methods and tools for collecting information and data

The research topic is carried out according to the steps in diagram 2.2.

Identify the NC problem

Research objectives

Research content

Select NC point

Collect problem identification

Group discussion

Data analysis

Qualitative analysis by PRA

Quantitative analysis using SPSS, Excel

Cause of impact

Form of impact

Socio-economic solutions

Conclusion and Recommendations

Economy

Society

Family Interview

Personal interview

Figure 2.2: Steps to conduct research

2.4.2.1. Collect secondary documents related to the research problem

Documents related to the study area collected at Ba Vi National Park and the Commune People's Committee include documents on natural conditions, socio-economic conditions of the buffer zone of Ba Vi National Park, reports on forest protection and management work of Ba Vi National Park, reports on support programs for the buffer zone... These documents will provide basic information about the study area.

Documents related to the research problem are research reports on buffer zones, documents of workshops on buffer zone development of NRs and national parks, participation of local communities in the conservation of medicinal plant genetic resources, legal documents and policies related to buffer zones... These documents will provide information on the research problem in an overview. These documents are collected by selective inheritance method.

2.4.2.2. Select research site

Selecting the research village is the work done before the survey and data collection. The principle of selecting the research site is to be relatively representative of the research area. Therefore, secondary documents related to the buffer zone of Ba Vi National Park were studied to understand the general natural and socio-economic conditions of the area and a quick survey was conducted in the research area to understand the characteristics of the terrain and socio-economic conditions of each commune.

According to Donovan et al. (1997), the criteria for selecting study sites are: ethnic composition, accessibility and terrain. In the buffer zone of Ba Vi National Park, in villages that are close to the forest (villages located near the foot of Ba Vi Mountain), the factors of terrain and accessibility are relatively homogeneous. Therefore, ethnic composition is the factor chosen as the criterion for selecting study villages in this topic. Ethnic composition is an important factor that affects the selection of production systems, livelihoods of the community and especially the forms of community impact on TNR. Ethnicity and cultural practices can affect the innovation process, the acceptance of new techniques and participation in development activities [5, pp. 1-2].

In Ba Vi commune, there are two ethnic groups living, the Dao and the Kinh, so the selected research villages must have representatives of both ethnic groups.

Due to limited time and budget, the study was conducted in 3 villages: Hop Son, Yen Son, and Hop Nhat.

2.4.2.3. Collect information and data on the scene.

The following PRA tools were carried out to collect field information and data:

- Interviewing village management boards: This tool is first implemented when arriving at the village, to learn about the general socio-economic situation of the village: Population, living standards, education, land types, external support, forms of using medicinal plant genetic resources...

- Household interviews: A semi-oriented interview questionnaire was prepared in advance (see Appendix 1) and conducted in 60 households in 3 research villages (20 households/village). The households were selected by systematic random method. This tool was implemented to understand the general economic situation of the households, the forms of impact and the reasons for people's impact on medicinal plant genetic resources, and also to learn about solutions to resolve the relationship between conservation and development proposed by the people themselves.

- Group discussion: This method is carried out after conducting the household interview tool. Discussions are conducted based on a pre-prepared discussion framework (See Appendix 1).

+ 3 discussion groups were formed in 3 pilot villages. Each group consisted of 5-7 people with all economic components of households in the village. This discussion aimed to reaffirm and supplement the forms of community impact on medicinal plant genetic resources, the causes of that impact. At the same time, find out the difficulties and recommendations of the community in developing production and using medicinal plant genetic resources.

+ Organizational analysis: Identify organizations that exist in the community, community institutions and their influence on community impacts on medicinal plant genetic resources.

- Interview with Ba Vi National Park Forest Ranger Department: This interview aims to learn about the general situation of forest and forest land management of the National Park, policies and programs implemented in the buffer zone and the use of medicinal plant genetic resources by local people.

CĐDP in the buffer zone. At the same time, to cross-check information collected in key villages and collect additional documents.

2.4.3. Data processing, synthesis and analysis.

Data collected through semi-structured interviews were processed and analyzed quantitatively using Microsoft Office Excel software. Descriptive statistics was the main method used to process data in the study. The results were presented in the form of analysis, description, tables and charts. In addition, discussion results, qualitative information such as policies, community organizations, community institutions, and markets were analyzed using qualitative methods.

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1. Basic characteristics of Ba Vi commune

3.1.1. Natural characteristics of the study area

3.1.1. Geographical location

Ba Vi commune is located in Ba Vi district, 50 km west of Hanoi capital center, administratively bordering 5 communes:

- East borders Van Hoa commune

- North borders Tan Linh commune

- West borders Minh Quang commune

- South borders Nam Thuong commune

The commune has a natural area of 2,538.01 hectares, with National Highway 87 running through it, connecting with National Highway 32 and National Highway 21A, making it very convenient for the exchange of goods with neighboring areas.

3.1.1.2. Terrain

Ba Vi is a medium mountainous area, low mountains and hills adjacent to the semi-mountainous area. This area can be considered as a long mountain form emerging in the middle of the plain, only 30 km from the confluence of the Red River and the Da River.

Ba Vi commune has uniform terrain, steep slope, average height above sea level is 75m.

In general, Ba Vi is a rather steep mountainous area, the western slope down to the Da River is steeper than the northwest and southeast slopes. The average slope of the area is 25 0 , from the elevation of 400m upwards the average slope is 35 0 with many places of vertical cliffs.

3.1.1.3. Soil

Ba Vi is an area with a long geological history and is made up of many types of rocks ranging from very old to very young. Most of the area of Ba Vi mountain is covered by basalt eruption rocks under the sea (called spilite) about 250 million years old. This type of rock, when weathered, produces red soil like the basalt soil of the Central Highlands, making it suitable for growing industrial crops and developing pastures for raising horned cattle. Due to its long geological history, the Ba Vi mountain area has many types of minerals such as gold, copper, asbestos, limestone, kaolin, pyrite, etc., but they are not concentrated in large mines but are scattered in the form of nests, lenses or small veins. In the modern geological period, this area has been strongly uplifted with

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