Conservation Awareness Program:
Review 2000
The community-based Conservation Awareness Program (CAP) represents the largest component of the project. CAP is aimed at raising the level of knowledge and awareness of nature, the environment, and the need to help protect Cuc Phuong National Park amongst people in local communities. The program began in late 1996 and has progressively expanded within the three provinces surrounding the park through the establishment of Conservation Clubs at local schools.
Staff of the Conservation Awareness Program
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Presently, Conservation Clubs are running in 30 schools (in three of four districts), with about 8,900 students participating in the clubs. Project staff, hired from communities surrounding the park, are trained to administer club meetings along with a counterpart teacher from each school. Staff and teachers follow prepared lesson plans covering important themes relating to nature and conservation at the park, such as “Endangered Wildlife” and “Animal Homes.” Lessons involve a variety of activities, games, discussion, and stories relating to the theme, and are designed to maximize student involvement.
The Conservation Awareness Program also administers a Village Program (VP) which focuses on adults through hamlet-level meetings within communities around the park. Village Program 1 (Introduction to Cuc Phuong National Park) was completed in 1999 in all but one of four districts bordering the park. Village Program 2 (Values and threats to Cuc Phuong National Park) began in September 1999 and is presently circulating through its second district.
The Village Programs use slides and video presentations, discussion, and performance to address conservation and protection issues, with audiences ranging in size from 100-300 people per meeting. A key part of this program has been the direct involvement of local residents in the meetings, with village leaders, Women's Union leaders, and village elders working with local staff and leading discussions with other residents. VP2 also features a film about the values and threats to Cuc Phuong that was produced by the project and filmed within the communities surrounding the park. The film features local residents discussing the threats to the park, and talking about alternative economic activities that have helped reduce their dependence on forest resources.
It is estimated that the combined efforts of the Village and school-based Conservation Clubs have reached approximately 21,000 people so far. In 2000, the Conservation Clubs will expand into Yen Thuy District, the fourth and final district bordering the park. The project will also focus on transferring the leadership of the program to local staff, a process that began last year with the promotion of a park ranger and member of the Youth Union to leadership positions.
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Education Program
Returns to Hoa Binh
Province
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After nearly six months arranging permissions and an election in Hoa Binh Province, the Provincial People's Committee granted authorization for the Conservation Awareness Program to return to schools in the district of Lac Son, and begin operations in Yen Thuy District. In June of 1999, district police closed the Conservation Clubs in Lac Son District after only one month due to concerns that the education program might represent a “security risk.” Despite support from the People's Committees and Education Departments of both districts, as well as efforts undertaken by the park director to reopen the program, Hoa Binh authorities remained hesitant to allow the program to continue. Copies of letters from the Prime Minister's Office endorsing the project and permission papers from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development both failed to sway provincial authorities, who were apparently hoping to delay the decision until after the autumn provincial elections.
However, following the elections in late November, Hoa Binh authorities authorized the program to return to the province. Children at An Nhiep's primary school and local counterpart teachers excitedly welcomed the CAP leaders back and launched into the program where they had left off in June.
Lac Son District, northwest of the Cuc Phuong, includes two communes that border the park. Yen Thuy District, lying along the park's northern border, includes six communes. The project plans to initiate Conservation Clubs in Yen Thuy District after the Vietnamese New Year in early February. The adult-focused Village Program had already circulated through Yen Thuy District prior to the provincial closure. District authorities had been requesting for the project to initiate Conservation Clubs in the Yen Thuy District since 1998.
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