Bring Phuoc Binh National Park to the tourism map

Promote scientific research

According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Minh, Deputy Director in charge of Phuoc Binh National Park Management Board, this unit was assigned by the People's Committee of Ninh Thuan Province to manage a total natural area of more than 25,000 hectares, Of which special-use forest land is nearly 19,608 hectares; Protective forest land is almost 5,282 hectares; Production forest land is almost 111 hectares.

Recently, the Management Board of Phuoc Binh National Park has carried out several critical tasks such as strengthening forest management and protection, forest development, scientific research, international cooperation and contracting for forest protection for buffer zone village communities, armed forces, and ecotourism development.

In particular, scientific research and international cooperation have received attention from the Management Board of Phuoc Binh National Park, Bi Duop-Nui Ba National Park (Lam Dong province), Chu Yang Sin National Park (Dak Lak province), and Hon Ba Nature Reserve (Khanh Hoa province) forms a continuous area of about 150,000 hectares, contributing to preserving biodiversity and the natural, cultural, and historical values of ethnic minorities in the region.

In 2020, the People's Committee of Ninh Thuan Province approved the Phuoc Binh National Park Management Board for a sustainable forest management plan until 2030, which creates the legal basis to implement activities until 2030. This park has coordinated with departments, branches, institutes, universities, organizations, and individuals to carry out scientific topics and tasks. In 2023, Phuoc Binh National Park is implementing Project "Preserving and developing the warm gene source of Cinnamon lingzhi (Humphreya endertii) originating from Phuoc Binh National Park".

Up to now, Phuoc Binh National Park has implemented genetic resource conservation by deep conservation methods and dispersing mycelium and fungal spores into the wild in coordination with the Research Center Of Ginseng & Material Medical analyze the toxicity and important medicinal substances in mushrooms and is experimenting with modern and environmentally friendly mushroom growing models.

The project "Conservation and sustainable use of F1 hybrid gaur genetic resources between domestic cows and male bull in the period 2021-2025" is also implemented by this unit according to the schedule. The hybrid gaur herd grew well.

In addition, Phuoc Binh National Park also coordinated with the Research Center Of Ginseng & Material Medical to carry out the project "Research on conservation and development of some existing genetic resources of Nervilia spp. in Ninh Thuan province"; Southern Institute of Ecology carried out the project "Building a database and proposing solutions to manage endemic, endangered, precious and rare animal and plant species in Phuoc Binh National Park, etc.

According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Minh, conservation and scientific research still need to work because funding sources are limited and need to meet biodiversity conservation requirements. New research only focuses on investigating and inventorying species composition rather than specializing in ecological behavior, status, distribution, structure, density, and number of individuals and populations to serve as a basis for management and conservation.

"Scientific research cooperation is still limited because resources are not strong enough. Research human resources are limited in quantity and quality, and access to external resource mobilization is not strong enough. Research activities lack continuity and depth; There is no policy mechanism to encourage organizations and individuals to operate in this field," Mr. Minh shared.

Awaken the potential of ecotourism

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Minh supposes that Phuoc Binh National Park has many potentials and advantages for tourism development with types such as Sightseeing and resort tourism, cultural and historical tourism, ecotourism, discovery, experience, adventure, Experimental travel, research, conferences, seminars.

Based on the above advantages, in recent years, Phuoc Binh National Park has built an ecotourism, resort, and entertainment project approved by the People's Committee of Ninh Thuan Province. Currently, this unit is carrying out the necessary procedures to review, adjust, and supplement the project according to the guidance of the Department of Forestry.

In addition, Phuoc Binh National Park also strengthens the work of introducing and promoting local tourism products to travel companies and schools inside and outside the province to exploit tourist routes according to the project. The functional units have effectively controlled the Gia Nong Stream tourist route, and the number of tourists visiting Phuoc Binh National Park has increased steadily.

According to Mr. Minh, besides efforts, Phuoc Binh National Park also faces many obstacles in developing ecotourism because the infrastructure still needs to meet development needs. The existing infrastructure can only meet some of the requirements in the demand section. Besides, resources for tourism development are also limited. The lack of specific regulations and instructions to implement cooperation, tourism business links, or forest environment leasing makes it difficult for the unit to call for investment and collaboration with the private sector.

Another area for improvement in tourism development is that people's awareness of environmental hygiene and community cooperation in tourism activities is limited. Although Phuoc Binh National Park initially established tourist attractions, homestays, and cuisine, it needed to be more professional and meet the needs of tourists.

From now until 2025, Phuoc Binh National Park will focus on reviewing, supplementing, and perfecting tourism products such as Discovering nature, Experiencing the culture, art, cuisine, and customs of the Raglai ethnic group, traveling to the source, visiting historical relics; Visit a hybrid bull farm; entertainment, sports; Accommodation, relaxation, medical tourism, meditation, yoga and field experimental tourism, scientific research, conferences, seminars, etc. to promote development.