Islands of Felicity? – The Effect of Land Cover Changes in and around Protected Areas: A Case Study of Bach Ma National Park, Vietnam

Abstract

In recent decades, Vietnam's network of protected areas experienced extensive growth. More than 160 terrestrial and marine protected areas (approximately 2.2 million ha) associated with remarkable reforestation demonstrate major changes within environmental policies. Nevertheless, the degradation of the existing natural forest communities, the associated loss of species and decreasing resilience suggest that Vietnam has still not reached a satisfactory point of conserving these natural habitats. The current study presents an impressive example of land cover change over a period of approximately 40 years at the Bach Ma National Park. Deforestation and degradation processes are a result of illegal activities and land use changes, a consequence of the increasing population. However, land use conflicts often occur outside of protected areas where land cover changes are concentrated and accelerated.

Identifying conservation priorities in a defaunated tropical biodiversity hotspot

“…The dominant habitat type is wet evergreen tropical rain forest. Although the wider central Annamites region has experienced extensive past disturbance from both defoliation and logging, habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation within the past 20 years has been minimal within our study sites (Matusch, 2014;Meyfroidt & Lambin, 2008). At the landscape scale, forest structure and habitat type are consistent across the study sites, characterized by mature secondary forest with a multi-tiered closed canopy ( Figure S1).…”

First record of the subfamily Oxytorinae (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) from the Oriental Region, with descriptions of two new species from Vietnam

“…Field courses took place in two national parks: Bach Ma National Park in central Vietnam (June 2018) and Cuc Phuong National Park in northern Vietnam (April-May 2019). The Bach Ma National Park demarcates the border between north and south Vietnam ranging from lowland to high mountains, with Bach Ma being considered as a biodiversity hotspot ( Adler et al 2016 , Kunich 2003 , Ngoc et al 2016 , Tobias 2014 ). The Cuc Phuong National Park in northern Vietnam is located at the junction between the temperate tropical and the subtropical regions.…”

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“…Perubahan penutupan lahan pada daerah penyangga dan juga di dalam kawasan Taman Nasional Way Kambas perlu untuk selalu dipantau agar lingkungan dapat selalu lestari melalui strategi yang dijalankan oleh pengelola taman nasional. Agar pengelola dapat merumuskan strategi lahan, tekanan jumlah penduduk, eksesibilitas, dan keberadaan padang gembalaan (Bailey et al, 2015;Figueroa et al, 2009;Matusch, 2014;Putiksari et al, 2014;Wassenaar et al, 2007) serta faktor biofisik seperti iklim lokal, cuaca, air, dan kebakaran (Achmad et al, 2016;Chowdhury, 2006;Sreenivasulu et al, 2014).…”