Birds flock to Xuan Thuy National Park in northern Nam Dinh Province every winter. They find at the park a safe shelter thanks to the peaceful and well-protected environment. The park was listed as the 50th Ramsar Convention site and included as a UNESCO-recognised Red River Biosphere Reserve.

Twenty years ago they used to call him "the king of bird snaring", but now 60-year-old farmer Hoang Van Thang from Giao Xuan Village, Nam Dinh Province is a member of a dedicated front-line bird-protection team.

The village is one of five, including Giao Xuan, Giao An, Giao Thien, Giao Hai, Giao Lac which make up the buffer zone surrounding Xuan Thuy National Park

Thang and a group of 30 volunteers, all fishermen, work to protect the park by patrolling the 100-ha mangrove forest around Giao Xuan Village. They meet authorities from the national park every three months to share any news.

Mangrove forests have grown well in the wetland park to create a safe place for birds, crabs and fishes.

"In the 1980’s I used to trap hundreds of different birds each night – which earned me a considerable amount of money for my family," Thang says. "But I realised the effect my actions were having on the environment so I stopped. We need to preserve wildlife for the next generation," he says.

"Our team hasn’t seen any cases of bird snaring for a long time and local people don’t cut down the mangroves anymore," Thang says.

It’s alive

The 7,100ha of heavily forested wetlands, about 150km south of Ha Noi, is home to a wide range of migratory waterfowl and other species. In 1989 it was listed as the 50th Ramsar Convention site, part of an intergovernmental treaty that aims to protect wetlands. This October it was included in the UNESCO-recognised Red River Biosphere Reserve (an umbrella which covers nature reserves in Nam Dinh, Thai Binh and Ninh

Black-faced spoonbills, which were previously considered extinct, can be seen in Xuan Thuy National Park, in Nam Dinh Province, 150km south of Ha Noi every winter.

There are an estimated 30 species of mangroves and 215 species of birds – several of which are listed in the International Red Book of Endangered Species, such as black-faced spoonbills, western white pelicans, black-headed gulls and redheaded egrets.

Experts from the park and Birdlife International have spotted around 60 black-faced spoonbills and 20 spoon-beaked plovers and other bird species that were thought to have become extinct in Xuan Thuy National Park.

Hive of activity

Protecting the park’s 7,100ha generates an estimated annual revenue of VND30 to 40 billion (around US$2.3 million). But, like Thang, many people living in the peripheries of the park haven’t always considered protecting wildlife their highest priority.

Rice farming is still the dominant local industry, but shrimp and fish farming have become the most profitable ways to make a living, which unfortunately can often have a negative impact on the environment, says director of the national park, Nguyen Viet Cach. "Local people raising shrimp, crab and oysters in the park have for years impacted the birds’ habitat."

The park’s core zone, which is deposited with alluvial soil from the Hong (Red) River estuary, creates an abundant environment for aquatic species as well as shelter for waterfowl migration across the continent. But these have suffered from encroaching human activities.

Farmers graze over 500 buffaloes and 200 goats freely, which eat away at the mangrove forests. Fifty households earn money from aquaculture.

"Thousands of villagers come to the park between harvests to collect sea animals which disrupts the wetland’s food chain for birds. They (local people) could earn only a little money from selling seafood, but the birds cannot survive without it," Cach explains.

In an effort to stem the damage, park and Government officials set up a pilot project with support from the Wetlands Alliance and the Coastal Resources Institute to encourage more environmentally-friendly ways to make money. These include bee-keeping, mushroom farming and livestock breeding.

Farmers in Giao An and Giao Thien communes joined the project two years ago.

Pham Van Hien, 68, in Giao An commune says his eight bee hives raise his family an average income of between VND7-8 million per year, a sum typical of other people in the area choosing to do the same.

"Keeping honey bees also makes my 1,000sq.m orchard more productive," he says. "The garden makes me about VND4 million alone. We also fish and breed livestock," he says.

Bee-keeping is one of the favourite extra-income jobs among the approximately 10,000 people living in the commune. Adopting a variety of means to earn a living, instead of relying on one, has helped improve living standards, says the village’s vice chairman Tran Ngoc Hien.

"Creating more jobs and improving living conditions also relieves pressure on the park because local people do not need to seek food there," he says.

Giao An Village has received financial support of around VND5 billion from the national park in infrastructure investment as well as cultivation guidance.

Dinh Thi Ngoan, 55, a farmer in Giao Thien commune, who used to herd buffalo in the park, now leaves her oxen at home and supplements her income with mushroom farming.

"When I understood the effect my oxen were having on the park, I decided to leave them to graze near my house," she says.

Today Ngoan’s 50sq.m mushroom garden makes her family VND3 million each month, while her 2,000sq.m farm provides her with one tonne of rice every six months.

To push the importance of environmental protection, local and park officials have worked closely with the Government and international organisations to educate people in the area, especially school children, says director Cach.

"We also build community houses to teach villagers about the environment and hand out leaflets," he says. "But the only way to ensure the area is safe is when people’s living standards are high."

So far so good

There is a lot of job satisfaction in being a bird protection club member, says Thang. Their years of work have paid off; already animals previously thought to have been extinct, like spoonbills and plovers, have been spotted in the park.

"Migratory birds head to Xuan Thuy Park as a place of safety and shelter," he says.

"I’m proud of the park and am devoted to protecting it. Mangrove forests are crucial shelter for fauna and flora. The forests also ease the destruction caused by natural disasters. This isn’t just about now, but for our children." he says.

More efforts to promote sustainable development in the park include an eco-tour project which started last year in Giao Xuan Village, 5km from the Xuan Thuy National Park headquarters.

The project, which received State funding of VND160 billion (around US$10 million), is set to run from 2004-10. It covers buffer and core zones and hopes to harmonise economic goals with environmental protection.

Over the last 12 years the park has also received help conservation and education from organisations like Birdlife, Crest (Centre for Natural Resources and Environment Studies), International Marine Alliance, MCD (Centre for Marinelife Community Development), IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources), WWF, the Netherlands’ Wetland Management Project as well as scientists.

(Source: VNS)