Environmental effects of tourism on cuc phuong national park

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT VIETNAM FORESTRY UNIVERSITY STUDENT THESIS ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF TOURISM ON CUC PHUONG NATIONAL PARK Major: Natural Resources Management (Advanced Curriculum) Code: D850101 Faculty: Forest Resources and Environmental Management Student: Tran Van Duy Class: K55 Natural Resources Management Student ID:1054060948 Course: 2010 – 2014 Advanced Education Program Developed in collaboration with Colorado State University, USA Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Hoang Van Sam Hanoi, November 2014 Abstract Cuc Phuong National Park is one of Ninh Binh's leading tourist destinations because of the rich biodiversity it sustains and its scenic beauty Tourism is one of the biggest challenges in National Park, as tourists have both positive and negative impacts on the landscape and local communities Tourism has stimulated the development of a variety of facilities and infrastructure, such as roads, hotels, restaurants and shops in the park Despite its positive socio-economic impacts, the industry is also associated with negative environmental impacts in the area such as the destruction of the area's ecology through noise pollution, over carrying capacity and poor waste management The negative impacts of tourism development can gradually destroy natural resources on which it depends This paper described the research progress in tourism impacts on the environment in the context of Cuc Phuong National Park through a review of the literature in this field Specifically, research on tourism impacts on environmental quality assessment, tourism carrying capacity, and other issues are addressed by basing on the concept of sustainability Acknowledgements This journey would not have been possible without the support of my family, professors and friends I am extremely thankful to my supervisors, Associate Professor Dr Hoang Van Sam and Professor Dr Lee MacDonald, for their supports and excellent supervision I also thank all of the Vietnam Forestry University and Colorado States University professors Each professor brought a piece of their knowledge and experience, and I am very grateful to them and promise to use this knowledge in daily work Thanks to my family for their understanding and patience during my study I am especially grateful to my mother and my brother, who supported me emotionally and financially I know that you always believe in me and want the best for me in my future endeavors Table of Contents Abstract Acknowledgements INTRODUCTION GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 3 METHODS 3.1 Selection of case Study 3.2 Data Collection 3.3 Analysis RESULTS 4.1 Tourist attraction 4.2 Resource consumption 10 4.3 Visitor impacts of tourism on Cuc Phuong National Park 12 4.4 Visit characteristics 18 RECOMMENDATION 20 CONCLUSION 21 REFERENCES 22 INTRODUCTION Tourism is now an economic pillar for a large number of developing economies and Vietnam is no exception Vietnam has advantages as an international tourism destination through its central geographical location in Southeast Asia and its appeal to tourists throughout entire year The number of international tourist arrivals to Vietnam increased from 2,330,800 in 2001 to 6,847,678 in 2012 (Minister of Culture and Tourism Vietnam, 2012).The tourism industry has great potential to generate foreign exchange earnings and employment, promote societal development, improve local economy and reduce poverty (Source: Cuc Phuong National Park) Established in 1962, Cuc Phuong National Park is the first and the largest national park of Vietnam It lies along the borders of three provinces of North Vietnam including Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh and Thanh Hoa, with 140 kilometers South of Hanoi (Figure1) Cuc Phuong National Park is surrounded by several limestone cliffs, the highest being May Bac, meaning "silver cloud," about 656m high Ninh Binh people claim that Cuc Phuong National Park one of the most important biodiversity sites in Vietnam There are an estimated 2,000 different species of flora and the 450 species fauna account for 38% of the national fauna The vegetation cover is classified into three types The flora is quite a treasure with a wide variety of 1,944 species, 908 genuses and 229 families Especially it is enjoyable to touch the thousand-year-old Terminalia myriocarpa and Dracontomelum Duperranum or Dancorra Edulis trees, 50-70m high This natural reserve contains 2,000 vegetative species Orchid flowers are particularly abundant with 50 species, some of which blossom and have aroma all year around The fauna is diversified represented by 71 animal species, 319 bird species, 33 reptile species, and 16 amphibian species A large area, for half-natural breeding, is reserved for research and raising wild animals which include the deer, golden monkey, langur, flying squirrel, draco Cuc Phuong National Park is also the home to hundreds of beautiful and strange birds and butterflies Cuc Phuong National Park has a multitude of grottoes, including Thang Khuyet, Con Moong, Pho Ma, and Nguoi Xua, etc, thanks to the limestone terrain Besides visiting the park, visitors joining tours in Vietnam also pay a visit to the caves, waterfalls and streams in the forest or stop over at a Muong ethnic's village Because Cuc Phuong National Park is one of the most visited National Parks in northern Vietnam, investigating tourism management within the park provides insight into potential development of ecotourism activity in the park Managed in an appropriate way, tourism can be an important driver for local and regional development, as well as an incentive for nature conservation Well implemented tourism management can provide an opportunity for tourists to connect with nature, realize the value of conservation and increase supports for preservation of these valuable areas Tourism can increase jobs and incomes for local people, improve their living standards, establish and improve infrastructure around neighboring communities, and provide opportunities for local employees to improve and learn new skills (Eagles et al 2002) Tourism can also increase financial support for conservation (Bushell and Eagles, 2007) If tourism is not appropriately planned, the development of tourism can cause significant problems for national parks due to adverse impacts of visitor activities Although many national parks have implemented various types of visitor management strategies, visitor impacts have remained a critical issue for the ecological sensitivity of the park because of high number of users, diverse use types, concentration of visitor activities at a few locations It is difficult to support the two major goals of a national park, conservation and ecotourism, simultaneously Tourism management in protected areas represents a challenge for protected area managers, as well as for governments, institutions, tourism entrepreneurs and important stakeholders that benefits from and can influence the development of these areas Balancing the growth in tourism demand and at the same time protecting the natural environment is an important issue that national park managers must address GOALS AND OBJECTIVES The main purposes of the research are:  To identify the positive and negative impact of tourism on environment  To determine the direct impact of tourist activities in the respective tourism areas  To examine and raise the perception of environmental impacts of tourism within Cuc Phuong National Park  To gather and disseminate relevant information, as well as identify gaps in that information METHODS 3.1 Selection of case Study Numerous National Parks in Northern Vietnam were taken into consideration as the potential study site for this research Cuc Phuong National Park was selected for three primary reasons:  Cuc Phuong National park is one of the most visited parks in Vietnam and therefore, has high level of visitors per year compare with the rest of parks in the country  It is one of the main attractive national parks in Northern region, and especially in Ninh Binh province  Because it experiences a high volume of visitors and expected to grow, it serves as an opportune case study to investigate tourism management and how impacts of tourism are controlled and monitored 3.2 Data Collection Primary and secondary data were used when gathering information about the case study area The methodology of the research was based on 1) interviews with visitors and tour operators in Cuc Phuong National Park and personal observations 2) For conducting the interviews, several questionnaires were developed for each one of the actors and adapted according to the information needed in different stages of the research Tourists in Cuc Phuong National Park were selected randomly throughout the summer period to complete the survey As each participant complete the survey, the next visitor approached and asked to participate in the research Only one person per party was surveyed, if they were busy then one person per group of friends or family was interviewed The on-site interview was conducted during 22nd July to 29th July, 2014 during weekdays and weekends Secondary information from different sources has been reviewed to re-write the theoretical background of the research and primary data has been collected using interview method to analyze the current situation of tourism environmental impact in the case study area Overall, the thesis is conducted with a qualitative approach work which includes interview and literature review mainly focused on environmental impacts of tourism and sustainable tourism development in the study area INFORMED CONSENT My name is Duy Tran I am a graduate student at Vietnam Forestry University This survey is part of a study on the environmental impacts of tourism in Cuc Phuong National Park The purpose of this questionnaire is to solicit your impressions of and opinion about visitor related activities in the park This survey consists of questions about your recreation activities during this visit, your observations of environmental impacts in the park, your attitude toward the natural environment, and other relevant questions about visitor and park management issues The questions should take between 15 and 30 minutes Your participation is absolutely voluntary, and you are free to not answer any question(s) you are not comfortable with during the interview We hope that the results of this study will provide important information to develop appropriate strategies for sustainable tourism management in Cuc Phuong National Park Date: Time: Is this trip your first visit to Phuong National Park? Yes/ No How many times have you visited Cuc Phuong National Park before? time (s) How many days total did you spend in the park during those trips? days When will you be leaving this Park? Is Cuc Phuong National Park your primary destination for this trip? Yes/ No If no, what is your primary destination? How many other people, if any, are you currently traveling with? people How many are under 18 years old? children Where are you from? _ What transportation method(s) have you used to come to the park? 10 What activities did you participate in while on this visit to the Park? a boat trip in Van Long nature reserve b cycling through villages, rice fields and forest c nature walk, visit endangered primate rescue center d visit 1000 year old tree e wildlife night-spotting, bird watching f other activities _ 11 Do you believe tourists pose as a threat to the environment in national parks? And why? 12 What are some things that could be done to preserve National Park? 13 Please rate your overall level of satisfaction with your visit to the Park according to the following scale: a) Very Unsatisfied b) Unsatisfied c) Satisfied d) Very Satisfied 14 Would you visit the Park again in the future? Yes / No 15 What year were you born in? _ 16 What is the highest level of education you have completed? a) Less than elementary school b) Elementary School c) Secondary School d) College Degree e) Graduate or Professional Degree Gender of respondent: Male / Female That is all Thank you for your time Have a good stay Table 1: Historical series of different types of visitor to CPN from 2003 to 2013 (Cuc Phuong National Park, 2014) Tourist Years DOMESTIC INTERNATIONAL TOTAL 2003 55,002 4,227 59,229 2004 65,770 5,129 70,899 2005 57,466 5,792 63,258 2006 69,763 6,976 76,739 2007 74,408 9,010 83,418 2008 71,224 10,538 81,762 2009 73,236 9,556 82,792 2010 72,772 10,828 83,600 2011 66,750 11,750 78,500 2012 64,293 11,425 75,718 2013 62,990 11,750 74,740 4.1 Tourist attraction  Trekking in the primary forest: As hiking is one of the main activities done in the NP, it is no surprise that certain hiking routes are very popular Hiking opportunities abound in the park and visitors could spend days trekking though the forest Popular trails will lead visitors to several ancient trees and caves of prehistoric man and Muong villages Overnight treks and camping trips are also possible  Endangered primate rescue center and Turtle Conservation Center: Cuc Phuong’s Endangered Primate Rescue Center was established in 1993 and is a project of Frankfurt Zoological Society The Center currently houses about 150 individuals of 15 species and sub-species in which species are found nowhere else in captivity These include Delacour’s langur (Trachypithecus delacouri), Hatinh (Trachypithecus laotum hatinhensis), Black langur (Trachypithecus laotum ebenus), Lao langur (Trachypithecus laotum laotum), Cat Ba langur (Trachypithecus poliocephalus poliocephalus), and Greyshanked Douc langur (Pygathrix cinerea) In 1998, Fauna and Flora International (FFI) established the Turtle Conservation Center as part of a larger conservation initiative focused on Cuc Phuong National Park In 2001, management of the project was transferred to the national park Today, the TCC remains the flagship for efforts to protect tortoise and freshwater turtles in Vietnam Figure 3: Some tourist attraction places in Cuc Phuong National park  Wildlife Night-spotting: The park organizes night-spotting trips into the primary forest These tours offer opportunities to see the more elusive mammal species of the park including the Black Giant Squirrel, the Indian Flying Squirrel, Samba Deer, Loris and several small carnivores  Bird watching: Cuc Phuong is home to a wealth of beautiful tropical birds, many of them endemic to Vietnam and Indochina Some of the 308 species of rare birds that you might encounter are the Silver Pheasant, Red-collared Woodpecker, Brown Hornbill and Bar-bellied Pitt Cuc Phuong is a destination for scientists and birdwatchers alike  Traditional music performance: Cuc Phuong was a settlement of generations of Muong minority people with their own unique culture While visiting the park, you will have chances to enjoy traditional song and dance of different minorities which will be performed by young Muong girls and boys who live around the national park This activity was set up in order to preserve and bring into play the Muong and other minorities’ cultural character, and through this you will understand more about the minorities of Vietnam 4.2 Resource consumption The majority of respondents consider nature experiences and the scenery of the park are important aspects to their visit For almost half of the visitors, mental well-being and relaxation are important reasons to visit the park For most of foreigners, the aspects get away from noise and pollution and experience excitement are most significant Approximately 90 % of the survey participants came to observe nature and visit recue centers, 21% for bird watching and 3% to study environment Looking at the activities, just walking seems to be the most popular activity Despite the promotion of cycling through villages and forest, only 6% of the visitors so Furthermore, about 10 % pass by the Visitor Centre Table is part of a SWOT analysis and summarizes the strengths and weaknesses concerning sustainable tourism to Cuc Phuong NP based on the current tourism resources as described Strengths and weaknesses are the internal factors that influence the sustainable tourism to NP 10 Strengths Weakness It is near other famous tourist destination Location in Ninh Binh such as Tam Coc, Trang An… it’s convenient for tourist to go to visit CPNP has the diversity of natural Compare to other countries in resources and biodiversity Many plants southeast Asia such as Thailand, the and animal have significant value in biodiversity and species composition Vietnam and the world such as in Cuc Phuong National Park still Delacour’s langur (Trachypithecus remains moderate delacouri), Black langur (Trachypithecus laotum ebenus), Cat Ba langur Ecological (Trachypithecus poliocephalus poliocephalus),… The rocky limestone outcrops of Cuc Phuong form the site of valuable pale ontological and anthropological vestiges, including a fossilized sea reptile dated at 200 - 230 million years old - - The remains of prehistoric people who In the process of innovation, market lived in the forest approximately 7500 economy has penetrated into the years ago are also to be found in the Muong villages that are gradually numerous mountain caves losing the cultural characteristics, not Muong minority people and a few Social- scattered villages around the park's culture periphery still house these interesting people and their unique culture - The values of intangible culture are human resources that are likely to serve to promote eco-tourism development, culture and the humanity in the future 11 very attractive to tourists 4.3 Visitor impacts of tourism on Cuc Phuong National Park Cuc Phuong national park is considered a valuable place established with the aim of preserving some significant kind of biodiversity represented by flora, fauna and landscape Interest is increasingly growing as it is attractive place for people interested in experienced environments Big challenges are linked to the development of tourism in sensitive spaces of national park Positive and negative impacts can be generated, and is the responsibility of the park manager to maximizing benefits while minimizing costs Sixty two percent of respondents indicate that, tourism can have positive impacts on Cuc Phuong national park It helps generate funding for maintaining animal preserves and natural resources conservation such as forests through entrance charges and guide fees Tourism also enhances economic benefits for protected areas to finance their activities and increase the possibility of creating more jobs and income in the local area increases as well as the quality of life for local communities because of the improvements to an adequate infrastructure and new leisure amenities that result from tourism, such as roads and telecommunications Tourism also increases the awareness of people and visitors about conservation issues For example, visitors are interested in specific values such as forest or primate conservation; They visit national parks with the purpose of getting a personal benefit from their experience This opportunity can encourage them to support of the conservation of the protected area One of the main challenges is to minimize the negative impacts of tourism development, and maximize the positive impacts of this activity Because of high visitation levels, inappropriate visitor behavior, lack of adequate regulations and practices, the CPNP has faced serious impacts including the depletion of natural resources, physical impacts and pollution Tourism caused air and noise pollution, littering, trampling, ecosystem disturbance and land degradation All of these impacts not only risk the well being of the land but also living organisms With the increasing number of visitors to CPNP in the last 10 years, crowding becomes a significant problem Crowding 12 reduce the ability to enjoy the scenery and the quality of natural resources in the national park Crowding also produce large amounts of stress, annoyance and other attitudes that will lessen the peaceful experience of tourists seek in national parks (Kreag 8, 11) Many negative impacts occur when the level of visitors is greater than the environment’s ability to cope with this use within acceptable limits of change Uncontrolled conventional tourism poses potential threats to national park and puts enormous pressure on the area and disrupts wildlife in drastic ways This occurs as increased pressure on endangered species and heightened vulnerability to forest fires Figure 4: Tourists visit Primate Rescue Center in Cuc Phuong national park Tourists may intrude upon wildlife in a variety of ways, from their visual presence to their movement, noise, and behavior Different species will perceive the consequent disturbance in different ways and for different reasons Wildlife tolerance, response, and the consequence of any impact will vary among different species, settings and times Factors 13 contributing to these variations can include changing in feeding patterns, territoriality, breeding seasons and other behaviors Wildlife habitat is altered by tourists Habitat loss in CPNP is caused by the building and widening of roads, parking lots and the development of tourism facilities in the park such as accommodation, information centers On formal trails, most vegetation is typically removed by construction, maintenance, and visitor use This impact is unavoidable in order to provide a clear route for trail users but these construction and maintenance are impacting the land and reducing some of the natural landscape of the area lead to land degradation, loss of wildlife habitats and degradation of scenery Though many tourist facilities in national park try to keep the theme of nature involved, they are not always in sync with the surrounding areas They can be considered as aesthetic degradation Automobiles and motorbike are the most common way of exploring the park; most visitors will drive to site and then take short walks to view the geologic formations of the park Unfortunately, most tourism-related air pollution comes from automobiles (Andereck, 1993, p 27) Air pollution affects scenery, vegetation, streams, wildlife and soil throughout park Not only does poor air quality affect the natural features of the park, it also affects the visitors who are trying to enjoy the park’s natural beauty Automobiles emit by far the most carbon monoxide of all transportation modes Rising numbers of tourists with cars with no indication of a decrease is not good for the park 14 Figure 5: One of the parking lots in Cuc Phuong National Park Unlike types of pollution that cause physical changes in the environment, noise pollution causes physical changes to the senses Noise pollution is a major distraction that ruins the peaceful identity of the national park In the most general terms, noise pollution can be considered any unwanted sound in an area Many people who visit national parks, for example, go for the sights and sounds of the natural environment Those people consider the sounds of vehicles operating in park boundaries to be a form of noise pollution Noise pollution has a very large effect on wildlife and may lead to psychological effects on the visitors Two sources of noise pollution in CPNP are the motor vehicles and visitors.The noise of human activities also has an impact on wildlife When considering wildlife habitat: sound, just like the availability of nesting materials or food sources, plays an important role in the ecosystem Activities such as finding desirable habitat and mates, avoiding predators, protecting young, and establishing territories are all dependent on the 15 acoustical environment In order to continue with these activities, animals are being forced to adapt to increasing noise levels Areas with too much noise may become unsuitable for some species because of these effects Most types of vegetation can withstand some disturbance and will recover naturally in time The level of recreational disturbance which an area can tolerate without damage is described as its recreational carrying capacity Trampling is caused by tourists using the same trail over and over again trample Vegetation is trampled and soil is compacted without a resting period and eventually causes damage that can lead to loss of biodiversity and other impacts When the composition of vegetation is compromised, there is a loss of biomass and the species diversity is reduced Trampling can eliminate tree seedlings, which results in the loss of trees in that area, while damage to roots reduced their capacity to capture nutrients Some loss of soil may be considered an unavoidable form of impact on trails As with vegetation loss, much soil disturbance occurs in the initial construction and use of the trails During trail construction, surface organic materials and organic soils are removed When soil is compacted and loses organic matter, there is a decrease in air and water permeability, runoff is increased and erosion is accelerated (Environmental) Compacted soil does not allow infiltration and penetrate plant roots If the off road driving continues then the area completely changes its outlook and looks likes a road Erosion is a chain reaction, leading to surface run off There is a higher chance of landslides, avalanches and damage to natural features Tourists may think that they are not causing damage since it is just them, but if every tourists tramples it adds up causing massive destruction that eventually might not be reversible (Hunter 14) However, hiking, fishing, watching wildlife and photography is still allowed and can still harm these areas Most people not actually enter these wilderness areas, however, and they stay within the developed areas of the park Waste disposal is a serious problem for Cuc Phuong National Parks and improper disposal can be a major despoiler of the natural environment and roadsides On visiting 16 route of thousand year old tree, tourists generate a great deal of waste Tourists on expedition leave behind their garbage, food supplies and other waste materials and even personal equipments which effect environmental aesthetics and the degradation of visitor experiences Figure 6: Waste disposal on the routs in Cuc Phuong National Park The national park has implemented programs in order to educate and prevent litter from building up in national parks There are three principles to “Help protect Cuc Phuong” which really focuses on preserving natural environment from tourist activities This program promotes minimization of the impacts of tourism “leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photographs and kill nothing but your time” which means don’t leave garbage or anything on your route, don’t take or collect anything from nature but your photographs and don’t kill any animal or plants, only your time Table is part of the SWOT analysis and summarizes the opportunities and threats concerning sustainable tourism to CPNP based on the tourism demand and future trends The 17 opportunities and threats are external factors influencing the development of sustainable tourism Opportunities (trends) - Threats Vietnam is really a country with lots of - Tourism may also create the chance of potential tourist and scenic nature, attractive harmful environment area and landscape of for vacationers - Increased interest by tourists in National park of Europe and the USA… - National Park without effective management - Tourism development based on safeguarding Society has more environmental concerns which play a significant role in active intentions - mechanism the environmental atmosphere, preserving the ethnic identity, maintaining order and social safety provinces and national security - The staffs serving in the tourism industry in The awareness and educational level of the park lack qualifications such as fluency visitors is raising on other languages, and management 4.4 Visit characteristics The aim of the second survey was to gain a more in-depth understanding of the visitor impacts on the Cuc Phuong national park’s natural and to be the most important tool to estimate the sustainability and satisfaction of tourists of CPNP The results may not be 100% accurate due to some unanswered questions, confusion about what was being asked Some questions allowed for multiple answers From the participants of the visitor survey, there is not a big difference between the age groups visiting the park The share of visitors in the age classes 17-35, 35-55 and 55+ years old and the average age of respondents was 33 year-old Most visitors were relatively well educated In terms of education level, there was a concentration at completed universitylevel education (51.6%), college graduates constituted 22.6% of the sample and 25.8% at secondary and high school level The sample was relatively balanced by gender with 35.4% of respondent female and 64.5 %male 18 Transport usage: Respondents were asked first, how they had travelled to the area on the day they were interviewed and then what types of transport had or will they use during their visit to travel around the area Multiple answers were permitted The majority of the visitors, about 80%, come by car and motorbike Visitor Experience: most of the sample (96%) was first time visitors Overall, onethirst of respondents (36 %) indicated that visitors are causing negative impacts to the national park Litter, air pollution, crowding, and noise were the most commonly cited impacts According to the respondents, the most significant threat to national parks is littering Thirtythree percent thought littering was the biggest or one of the biggest threats The next biggest threats were air pollution, trampling of vegetation, and noise pollution About percent of respondents were unsure if any negative impacts were occurring Improvements: Respondents were then asked in an open ended question for any suggestions how Cuc Phuong National Park could be improved further Tourists came up with many great ideas that could help preserve the park Some common ideas include i) limiting the number of tourists allowed, ii) adding trash cans, iii) using environmentally friendly transportation, like bike cycles and electric car that won’t spread emissions throughout the park, iv) setting aside areas where tourists cannot go, v) creating new laws to protect the parks and enforce rules more thoroughly, and educating people about why it is necessary to preserve the park A respondent thought that the park should implement a strategy to inform people the necessity to protect the national park The findings suggest satisfaction was high with 56% of respondents having no suggestions to make For those with a suggestion there was no single issue that dominated the responses Satisfaction with visitors who took the survey was asked to rate (on a scale of to 4) how satisfied they were overall with their visit to the CP national park Satisfaction remains high (80%) and has continued to rise, with more visitors giving the high rating 19 RECOMMENDATION  Monitoring impact on flora and fauna and controlling tourism in sensitive locations (e.g 1000 year-old-tree route…) Visitor flows have to be controlled in order to reduce the negative tourism impacts on the environment of the area The park must have measures to channel visitor flow and regulate the activities of people in the area This aspect has to be made taking into consideration the carrying capacity of the national park The park in the moment has no control of visitors, and most likely no carrying capacity measures for the area  Do market research in order to understand their visitor profiles: to improve the quality of the tourism experience, CPNP can apply satisfaction surveys for measuring the expectations before and after the visit by researching the expectation and satisfaction of existing and potential visitors Analyzing visitor needs and expectations better enables park managers to provide satisfying experiences that will meet visitor needs and expectations Through interactions with visitors, park managers can identify components of satisfaction of the experience, what expectations visitors hold, how their expectations can be developed, and whether expectations are realistic  Encouraging visitors and the tourism industry to contribute to conservation Taking advantage of the guided tours program that Cuc Phuong currently provides, can be a suitable opportunity for improving and involving more visitors and tourism operators  Determine which tourism activities are compatible with the protected area; some recreational activities are acceptable whereas others are not Sometimes visitors express a certain desire for a particular experience, luxurious accommodations within the protected area, this demand may not be true to the area’s image Activities have to fit with the goals and objectives of the protected areas, low impact, non-consumptive, promote education and awareness  Promoting use of public transport, cycling and walking as an alternative to private cars because most of the people that visit Cuc Phuong national park use car and motorbike to go to 20 the park One of the recommendations that are given to the park is the use of bikes for transportation  The tourism industry can play a key role in providing environmental information and raising awareness among tourists of the environmental consequences of their actions Tourists will continue to negatively impact national parks unless there is continual education about why it is necessary to save the parks Raising awareness of tourist lead to environmentally conscious behavior and activities to preserve the environment Once educated, being a part of the solution will get more people to care about the problem at hand CONCLUSION As the number of visitors increased, negative environmental impacts of tourism emerged in Cuc Phuong National Park Despite positive benefits that tourism has brought to the Park, wildlife disturbance, habitat destruction, waste disposal and other negative effects have also occurred posing serious threat to the overall natural environment of the Park Unless tourism management can be improved, the economic success generated by tourism will not be sustainable in the long term Managing the future of the tourism in Cuc Phuong National Park requires specific strategies and activities Everybody should be conscious about the negative impact of tourism and take the proper steps to lessen the problem, Park managers and provincial authorities of the tourism industry should consider active public consultation to improve the quality of Vietnam’s national parks in general and Cuc Phuong National Park in particular 21 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