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Potential and current status of ecotourism development in U Minh Thuong National Park - Kien Giang province - 2



DLST‌

Ecotourism

National Park

National Park

UMT

Upper U Minh

VNU

Vietnam National University, Hanoi

Science & Technology

Science and technology

KBTTN

Nature Reserve

SDVN

Vietnam Red Book

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Potential and current status of ecotourism development in U Minh Thuong National Park - Kien Giang province - 2


INTRODUCTION


1. Urgency of the topic

Nowadays, when people's lives are increasingly improved, tourism has become a necessary need in social life. Economically, tourism has become an important industry, a dynamic comprehensive economic sector and is considered an effective solution for each region and each country to develop its economy.

However, countries with developed tourism have realized that the price to pay for tourism activities is not small, because of its negative impacts on the economy, society and environment. The requirement for tourism activities is to limit the negative impacts it causes, in order to ensure sustainable development.

Ecotourism (ECOT) is a tourism model that is highly responsible for the environment and the community. It is a rapidly developing trend and attracts the research attention of many scientists. In 2002, the World Tourism Organization identified it as the “Year of Ecotourism” with the theme: “Ecotourism: The Secret to Sustainable Development”. This reflects the growing interest and recognition of the international community for ecotourism in contributing to the sustainable development of humanity.

In Vietnam, tourism has only been widely developed in recent decades, so its negative impacts on the economy, society and environment have not yet been fully revealed. Therefore, ecotourism has received little attention and has not yet developed in accordance with its nature, although Vietnam has great potential for this type of tourism.

U Minh Thuong National Park (VQG) is a National Park of Vietnam, upgraded from U Minh Thuong Nature Reserve to National Park according to Decision No. 11/2002/QD-TTg dated January 14, 2002 of the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. U Minh Thuong National Park is a protected area with the highest biodiversity in the Mekong Delta region with 387 species of plants, 172 species of insects, 66 species of fish, 7 species of frogs,


31 species of reptiles and 172 species of birds, 32 species of animals. Coming to U Minh Thuong, visitors will enjoy the fresh air with open space, freely watching birds, wild animals, and flora and fauna. There are many places to visit such as bird area, crow bat area, primary cajuput forest, wild boar population, otters, monitor lizards, and especially Hoa Mai Lake fishing entertainment area... That is why the number of tourists coming to U Minh Thuong is increasing, however, U Minh Thuong National Park does not have a truly reasonable plan to develop tourism here, especially eco-tourism to sustainably develop the biological population here.

The problem for U Minh Thuong National Park now is to soon build a suitable eco-tourism model to both develop tourism and preserve natural values, indigenous cultural and humanistic values, and at the same time contribute to improving the lives of local people.

That is why the author chose the topic: " Potential and current status of Ecotourism development in U Minh Thuong National Park - Kien Giang Province " as the research topic for his graduation thesis.

2. History of research on the problem

2.1. In the world

In recent decades, tourism has developed widely in the world, revealing more and more clearly its impacts on the economy, culture, society and environment of tourist territories. Therefore, tourism researchers have been very interested in studying these impacts and trying to find the most effective tourism development models (minimizing the harmful effects and maximizing the benefits that tourism brings) with the goal of developing sustainable tourism. One of the most interested models is the eco-tourism model.

Ecotourism has only begun to be discussed in the world since the early 80s. The pioneering and typical researchers in this field are Ceballos - Lascurain, Buckley... along with many theoretical and practical studies on ecotourism by scientists and organizations interested in this field such as Cater, Chalker, Dowling,... Ecotourism Association, Wildlife Conservation Fund (WWF), Conservation Organization


The World Conservation Union (IUCN), ... has conducted many research works and published viewpoints and concepts on ecotourism, practical lessons as well as guidelines for managers and participants in ecotourism activities such as: The Ecotourism Association published the book "Ecotourism: A Guide for Planners - Ecotourism Diagnosis and Planning Guidelines", George N.Walace (1998): Visitor Management, Lessons from Galapagos National Park; Karrtrina Brandon (1998): Basic Steps to Encourage Local People's Participation in Ecotourism Projects.

2.2. In Vietnam.

In Vietnam, ecotourism is a relatively new form of tourism, many issues are still being studied for planning, management and operation of tourism. Ecotourism emerged in Vietnam from the mid-1990s of the 20th century, but has attracted special attention from tourism and environmental scientists. There are many conferences and seminars on ecotourism held in Vietnam, such as: "International Conference on Sustainable Tourism in Vietnam" organized by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation (Germany) in Hue, May 1997; Workshop "Ecotourism with sustainable tourism development in Vietnam" held in Hanoi, April 1998; Workshop "Building a National Strategy for Ecotourism Development in Vietnam" held in September 1999, in Hanoi, organized by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism in collaboration with IUCN and ESCAP. In which, many papers were presented and contributed valuable values ​​on theoretical basis and practical experiences in developing eco-tourism of tourism and environmental researchers from many countries around the world and Vietnam.

Many research works, PhD theses, textbooks... have mentioned the issue of sustainable tourism, with many different approaches, typically by authors such as: Le Van Lanh, Pham Trung Luong, Dang Duy Loi, Nguyen Thi Son...

In addition, DLST issues can also be found on the websites of electronic newspapers, mass media, and in specialized publications.

At U Minh Thuong National Park, there have been a number of comprehensive natural ecological research projects that mention the tourism resource values ​​of the park such as carnivores.


(Carnivora) in U Minh Thuong National Park, Kien Giang province was published in the VNU Science Journal, Natural Sciences and Technology 25 (2009). Nguyen Kiem Son, Do Thanh Hai, Diversity of fish species in U Minh Thuong National Park, basic issues in life sciences, Science & Economics Publishing House, Hanoi, 2005. On April 20, the Department of Science and Technology of Kien Giang organized a Science and Technology Council to evaluate and accept the project "Reviewing and evaluating the overall ecology of U Minh Thuong National Park and proposing conservation solutions" chaired by the Institute of Marine Technology, Associate Professor, Dr. Luong Van Thanh as the project manager. The project has been implemented from 2008 to present. With the initial objectives, the project has synthesized and compiled the research results on U Minh Thuong National Park, combined with field surveys to provide an overview of the current status of forest ecology.

In addition, there have been many articles researching and introducing the ecotourism resources in U Minh Thuong National Park. However, the overall research on ecotourism here is still an open issue. This topic is expected to be an important premise for future research and planning of ecotourism in U Minh Thuong National Park.

3. Objectives and tasks of the research topic

3.1. Objectives

Based on the application of theory and practice of ecotourism development in the world and Vietnam, the topic analyzes the potential and current status of ecotourism development in U Minh Thuong National Park to propose orientations and solutions for ecotourism development in the research area.

3.2. Tasks

From the perspective of geography (tourism geography), the thesis focuses on solving the following tasks:

- Overview of theoretical and practical issues in developing sustainable tourism in the world and in Vietnam.

- Inventory and evaluate the main ecotourism potentials and current status of ecotourism development in U Minh Thuong National Park.

- Proposing appropriate orientations and solutions for ecotourism development in the National Park


U Minh Thuong, ensuring socio-economic and conservation goals, to sustainably exploit tourism resources.

4. Research limitations

The topic is limited to the territory of U Minh Thuong National Park, including the buffer zone and tourism connections with Kien Giang tourism territories.

The analysis and assessment of potential and current situation are mainly qualitative due to limited ability and time for thesis writing.

5. Research viewpoints and methods

5.1. Main viewpoint

5.1.1.System perspective

This viewpoint has been applied in the process of researching the topic. The topic has studied the natural, economic and social aspects of U Minh Thuong National Park in a system closely related to each other to ensure scientific and practicality.

5.1.2.Territorial perspective

Any object of geographical research must be associated with a certain territory, tourism is no exception. Tourism territory is a spatially linked system of tourism objects based on resources and services for tourism. This viewpoint is applied to the topic through analyzing and evaluating the potential for ecotourism development in the synthetic relationship of factors in U Minh Thuong National Park.

5.1.3. Sustainable development perspective

Applying this viewpoint, solutions to ensure environmental integrity need to be taken seriously, the impacts of ecotourism in U Minh Thuong National Park on the environmental carrying capacity need to be taken into account so as not to disrupt the ecological balance, creating an environment for sustainable tourism development.

5.1.4. Perspectives on supporting local communities

For ecotourism, the basic goal is to support conservation and contribute to the interests of local communities, ensuring sustainable development. Therefore, the benefits


The economic benefits from tourism activities must be returned to serve conservation work and support the economic community of the U Minh Thuong National Park area.

The role of local communities is extremely important because ethnic communities are the true owners of human values, protectors of tourism resources and participants in tourism activities in the National Park.

5.1.5. Historical perspective - perspective

Every thing and phenomenon has its own movement, change or development process. This viewpoint is applied when studying the history of formation and development of U Minh Thuong National Park and placing it in a specific context to have correct assessments of the present, from which there is a basis to make forecasts and orientations on the development trend of U Minh Thuong National Park in the future.

5.2. Research methods

5.2.1. Methods of collecting, analyzing and synthesizing documents

This method is used throughout the research process, starting from collecting data, pictures, articles, reports... related to U Minh Thuong National Park, then analyzing, synthesizing, comparing and selecting necessary documents for the research topic. The author has consulted sources such as the World Natural Heritage Registration Profile, annual reports of the National Park Management Board and the Department of Tourism and Trade of Kien Giang province.

5.2.2. Field method

Realizing the important role of this method, the author has conducted many field trips with the main activities being:

- Observe, describe, investigate, record, take photos.

- Meet and discuss with local authorities, resource management agencies (Forest Ranger Station), local specialized management agencies (U Minh Thuong National Park Management Board and Kien Giang Department of Tourism and Trade) and local communities.

5.2.3. Map method

This is a special method of geographical research. The map is considered as


materials, research tools, and means of illustrating research results in geography in general and tourism geography in particular.

The thesis implementation process began with the study of the research area through the following maps: Topographic map of U Minh Thuong National Park, map of population, socio-economics of the buffer zone and U Minh Thuong National Park, distribution map of rare flora and fauna of U Minh Thuong National Park, planning map of U Minh Thuong National Park, vegetation map of U Minh Thuong National Park, functional zoning map of U Minh Thuong National Park, map of spatial organization and tourist routes of Kien Giang. The thesis research results were presented through new maps: administrative map of U Minh Thuong National Park, map of current forest use of U Minh Thuong National Park and tourism map of U Minh Thuong National Park.

5.2.4. Methods of applying information technology

In the process of implementing the topic, the author had to use MapInfo application software, exploiting information from the Internet.

In addition, the author also uses other methods such as: Territorial comparison (comparing with other national parks to see the differences and unique values ​​of U Minh Thuong National Park).

6. Main contributions of the topic

- Build theoretical and practical foundations related to the topic and apply them to research in U Minh Thuong National Park.

- Analyze the strengths, limitations and current status of ecotourism development in U Minh Thuong National Park.

- Oriented proposal and 6 specific solution groups.

7. Thesis structure

In addition to the introduction, conclusion, list of references and appendix, the main content of the thesis is presented in 03 chapters:

Chapter 1: Theoretical and practical basis of eco-tourism.

Chapter 2: Potential and current status of ecotourism development in U Minh Thuong National Park.

Chapter 3: Orientation and solutions for developing ecotourism in U Minh Thuong National Park.

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