Local knowledge drives conservation success of Hue City

Amid growing challenges to biodiversity, the Media Forum: Mobilizing Community and Stakeholder Participation in Sustainable Biodiversity Conservation (under the framework of the MiB-GBF project), co-organized by the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Hue City in coordination with WWF-Vietnam and VAN News, was held in Hue City on January 30.

Communities at heart of conservation initiatives

According to Mr. Hoang Xuan Huy, External Relations Manager at WWF-Viet Nam, Viet Nam’s NBSAP identifies communities especially those living near forests, coastal areas, and natural ecosystems are key partners in conservation, resource monitoring, and sustainable livelihood development. When communities are involved from the early stages of design, decision-making, and monitoring, conservation solutions are more likely to align with local contexts and be sustained over the long term. 

WWF-Vietnam identifies local communities as the core of conservation initiatives. In working alongside localities, we have found that the most successful conservation models are those that draw on the community’s internal strengths, harmoniously combining indigenous knowledge with scientific approaches, and aligning conservation goals with livelihood benefits.

Looking ahead, WWF-Vietnam will continue to accompany Hue and provinces in the Central Truong Son region in promoting community-based conservation initiatives, strengthening policy dialogue, sharing international experience, and providing technical support tailored to local contexts. We believe that through close cooperation and the proactive participation of all stakeholders, biodiversity conservation will increasingly gain depth and deliver long-term, sustainable value for both people and nature, Mr. Huy emphasized.

Mr. Nguyen Dai Anh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Hue City, noted that the Central Truong Son ecological region is home to some of the most biodiverse tropical forests in Southeast Asia. It is not only a shared habitat for thousands of rare and precious plant and animal species, but also a living space and a reservoir of culture for millions of people from ethnic communities across the Central Region. However, this rich biodiversity is currently facing numerous pressures that could lead to degradation or even the permanent loss of natural species.

To ensure that biodiversity conservation is not the concern of any single actor, but a shared endeavor, it is essential to build strong and close linkages among local authorities, protected areas, social organizations, and above all local communities. They live with the forest, depend on it, and protect it every day. All of us must become agents of awareness-building, inspiring a love for nature, promoting behavior change, and nurturing a sense of responsibility in every citizen toward the surrounding natural ecosystems.

According to Mr. Tuan, biodiversity conservation is not only a task of the present, but a commitment to the future: a commitment to preserve forests for water resources, climate regulation, and livelihoods; to safeguard wildlife for the integrity of natural ecosystems; and to pass on to future generations a Central Truong Son ecological region that is vibrant and rich in biodiversity. Protecting nature and conserving wildlife ultimately means safeguarding humankind's very survival. 

Communication as a key tool in conservation

Mr. Le Ngoc Tuan, Director of the Hue City Forest Protection Department stated that biodiversity conservation in Hue faces not only traditional challenges such as resource exploitation, wildlife hunting, and land-use conversion, but also increasingly evident impacts from climate change, infrastructure development, and the growing livelihood needs of local communities. This reality calls for continued innovation in approaches, shifting from a "closed" conservation mindset (relying mainly on state forces) to an open, co-managed conservation model, in which local communities are recognized as central actors.

The head of Hue’s forest protection sector emphasized that in biodiversity conservation activities, communication is identified as an important supporting tool for law enforcement and forest resource management. Through communication, legal regulations on forest protection, wildlife conservation, and biodiversity are conveyed to the public in an accessible and understandable way, contributing to the early and proactive prevention of violations.

Practical experience in Hue City shows that in areas where communication efforts are implemented effectively, the number of violations gradually decreases, public cooperation increases, and many community-based forest protection models are formed and maintained sustainably. This confirms that communication is not merely a publicity activity, but an integral part of the state management process in forestry and conservation.

"The general orientation of the Hue City Forest Protection Department in recent years has been to carry out communication in a positive, action-oriented manner. Communication should not only reflect problems or violations, but should prioritize spreading good stories, effective models, and the positive efforts of communities and forest rangers. On that basis, communication messages focus on three main groups of content: improving legal awareness; fostering love for nature and responsibility toward the environment; and encouraging biodiversity-friendly behaviors such as not hunting, not trading, and not consuming wildlife, participating in forest patrols, and proactively reporting violations," Mr. Tuan said.

According to the Director of the Hue City Forest Protection Department, a guiding principle throughout the agency’s communication strategy is placing the community at the center. Local people are not only recipients of information but also active contributors, participating in content creation and telling conservation stories from their own communities. Communication that is closely linked to livelihoods and daily life makes messages more relatable and persuasive.