Rowing a boat to protect Vietnam's nature, langurs and livelihoods

Nature-based tourism is an indispensable element to a country’s economic and environmental health. It creates jobs, promotes foreign investment and contributes to global GDP. However, the biggest impact it has is on many local communities who depend upon nature-based tourism for their livelihoods.

Through the story of Nguyen thi Ngoan, this video captures the link between biodiversity conservation, economic development, and poverty alleviation as it applies to Vietnam but the narrative of which resonates around the world.

To accommodate a massive influx of tourists, Vietnam will need to improve its infrastructure and make available large quantities of food, water, and other natural resources. The downside of increased number of tourists is that it can lead to residents being pushed out of their homes, a loss of cultural identity and landscapes become polluted, degraded, or destroyed. As one of the world’s most biologically diverse countries, the need to preserve Vietnam’s biodiversity is vital to their economic wealth and environment health.

The World Bank-led Global Wildlife Program (GWP) has been partnering with the government of Vietnam in a project funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). The project has just been launched with the aim to preserve biodiversity through strengthened policy and enforcement, as well as to develop guidelines for establishing sustainable nature-based tourism in several national parks in the country.

These guidelines will help Vietnam’s government to create the kind of enabling environment needed for nature-based tourism to flourish.

On September 25th, 2018, international financial institutions and representatives of worldwide development agencies will meet for the Vietnam Economic Infrastructure Development Forum to discuss upcoming business opportunities in Vietnam. The event will take place at Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel.

Original source: World Bank
Published on 26 June 2018