DSpace at VNU: Territorial organization for ecotourism development in Hoang Lien National Park, Sa Pa District, Lao Cai Province

VNU Journal of Science, E arth Sciences 24 (2008) 1-9 Territorial organization for ecotourism development in Hoang Lien National Park, Sapa District, Lao Cai Province N g u y e n T h i H a i, N g u y e n T h i Q u y H o i, T r a n T h i M a i H o a Department o/Geography, College o f Science, VNU R eceived M arch 2008; reccived in revised form 24 Ju n e 2008 A bstract H o a n g Lien N ational Park, vvhat is located in Sa P a D istrict, Lao C P rovince, h as been p lan n cd to d c v c lo p priority in ccological to u rism because th e p a rk is co m p o sed by m an y ecological system s vvith th c m ost d iv ersiío rm biology in V ietnam H ere e x ists m an y c n d e m ic species, b ea u tiíu l landscapes, as vvell as typical cu ltu rcs of local inhabitants A cco rd in g to statistical d ata, th e n u m b e r of tourism a rriv a ls to th e are a grevv u p p id ly Since 2000 to 2006, th c íig u re w a s incrcased by 39.1% T here w a s a c o n tin u a l incrcase in its tourism rcv en u e as vvell as d iv crsity in its effective to u rs H ow cver/ m a n y p rin c ip le s of ccotourism w ere not fully a p p lied L ittle p ro íit w a s sh ared am o n g local co m m u n ity vvhile m ost o f re v cn u e cam e back to o u tsid ers T h e re su lt w as the d c g d a tio n of the national p a r k 's cn v iro n m o n t a n d its natu ral resources in sp ite of th e d ev e lo p m e n t of to u rism M oreover, th c living S tan d ard of ỉocal p eo p le vvas not m u ch im p ro v cd : 21% of h o u seh o ld s livcd in poor co n d itio n w ith o u t a n y b en cíit from tourism activitics To s u sta in a b ly đ ev e lo p to u rism in th c park, sim u ltan e o u sly to s u p p o rt local co m m u n ity in p rcscrv atio n a n d socio-econom ic d ev elo p m en t, th ere is a n e e d of research in g a n d o rganizing tou rism territo ry Hcnco, b ased on analysis and assessm cn t of rc la ted resources, th e p a p c r is focuscd o n s u g g e stin g som e o rien ta tio n s for tourism te rrito ria l o rg a n iz atio n of H o a n g Licn N ational P ark T h e o b tain cd rcsults sh o w th at th e territo ry for cc o to u rism sh o u ld b e d iv id e d into throe su b -re g io n s coinciding w ith its c u rre n t íunctional zo n e s of th e park: p ro h ib ited area, lim itcd area an d area o p en for to u rism d cv elo p m en t O th er rc le v a n t so lu tio n s such as o p e tin g nevv ecotours, re -ed u c atin g local h u m a n íorce, etc arc also s u g g c s tc d to e n h a n c e th c effectiveness of tourism activitics and to upgrade the ỉiving quality of local pcopỉe Keyivords: E cotourism ; T crrito rial org an izatio n ; H oang Licn N a tio n a l P ark Son, the biggest chain of m ountains in the north of V ietnam C om paring to other national parks of Vietnam , H LN P ow ns the m ost a b u n d a n t ílora and íau n a thanks to the d iversity in lemdscapes íorm ed by a w ide range of altitudes O n D ecem ber 18th, 2003, H LN P w as inscribed in the U N E SC Ơ s list as one of the first four Asian H eritage Parks in Introd u ctio n H oang Lien N ational Park (HLNP) is situated in the area of two provinces, Lao Cai and Lai C hau, endovved vvith a signiíicant geographical location, w here lies H oang Lien * Corresponding author Tel.: 84*4-8581420 E-mail: r^uytiithihaidl^yahoo com.vn Nguyen Thi Hai et aỉ / VNƯ Ịournal of Science, ìrth Sciences 24 (2008) 1-9 V ietnam [3] M ore and m ore tourists have been attracted by its typical natural landscapes and unique culture T hough being as a N ational Park (NP) for a long time, H LN P could not avoid a serious degradation of its íorestry d u e to negative activities such as spontaneous and u n planned íield tilling; excessive hunting; fire caused by agricultural activities; cardam om planting, w hich resulted in the reduction of leaí-layers' thickness and, in turn, prevented the reproduction of trees The reasons m ainly com e from the poverty of its com m unity, w hose econom y is highly d ep en d ed on íorest resources Statistics in Sapa D istrict show that 22.9% of households vvho live in the core of the N ational Park have m uch lovver income than the average of national Standard [1] In this case, ecotourism developm ent is claim ed to be a pow erful tool to harm oniously obtain three targets: socio-economic developm ent, resource preservation and tourism developm ent In o rd er to reach the goals, tourism zoning is a íu ndam ental step It is im possible to have an effective tourism m anagem ent vvithout considering its spatial organization/ w hich is even m ore im portant in national parks w here tourism m ust come hand in hand w ith conservation to im prove local living Standard M ethodology for to u rism o rg a n a tio n in N atio n al P arks terrỉtorial Territoriaỉ organization is sim ply deíined as a w ay to m ake best use of territory Thus, territorial organization for tourism (TOT) is the eííective spatial division of tourism based on its natural resources, in írastru ctu re and íacilities, and labor force as vvell as other arising íactors in correspondence w ith those of other Industries in other regions In other w ords, territorial organization for tourism is a system