Maintaining the verdant hue of 'the pearl‘ Ta Dung National Park in Central Highlands

Ta Dung National Park (Dak Glong district, Dak Nong) is comprised of seven communes bordering Dak Nong and Lam Dong provinces and comprises 24,500 hectares. In addition to the Ta Dung water surface area, the park's entire forest covers 21,000 hectares.

Ta Dung River, with a water surface of over 3,600 hectares and 60 different scale and undulating islets, is a miniature of Ha Long Bay and is located within Ta Dung National Park. When viewed from the top of the 2,000-meter-tall Ta Dung mountain, the Ta Dung River is a unique and magnificent landscape.

With the characteristics of a lowland subtropical humid evergreen closed forest, Ta Dung National Park possesses a notably diverse ecosystem and a high value of biodiversity. Statistics indicate that Ta Dung has 1,406 species of high-level plants, of which 89 are uncommon and endangered, 69 are listed in the Vietnam Red Book for 2007, and 27 are listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). There are 574 species in the fauna that belong to 38 orders and 124 families. There are 37 uncommon and valuable species that require protection, 34 of which are listed in the Red Book of Vietnam 2007.

Ta Dung National Park has become a popular destination for both domestic and international tourists as a result of the abundant and diverse animal and plant resources made possible by the horizontal river and islet systems.

The management and preservation of forests in Ta Dung National Park have long been a priority. Forest protection and management forces constantly monitor and control the area. Consequently, Ta Dung National Park has not experienced deforestation, illegal exploitation of forest products, or encroachment on forest land for many years.

In contrast, reforestation is a highly efficient investment. According to Mr. Khuong Thanh Long, Director of Ta Dung National Park, the park has planted nearly 1,000 hectares of new forest under the replacement afforestation program between 2014 and the present. In addition to the concentrated afforestation area, the unit has piloted the planting of semi-submerged forests in the bed of the Dong Nai 3 hydropower reservoir.

Mr. Khuong Thanh Long, Director of Ta Dung National Park, stated that the Ta Dung forest has a large area, is bordered by a number of localities from Dak Nong to Lam Dong, has a complex topography, and is populated by people. Communication and mobilization are in turn essential for effective forest protection. In addition to communicating with and advocating for adults, the unit develops a communication plan for schools located adjacent to the park.

We routinely coordinate with local authorities to organize propaganda at the village and commune level, sign contracts for afforestation, forest management, and protection with more than 200 ethnic households residing in the buffer zone on a contracted area of more than 6,000 hectares, and pay nearly 22 billion Vietnamese Dong. 20-25 million VND per household, per year, is the average salary for forest protection workers. In addition, we routinely collaborate with universities and domestic organizations to conduct scientific research projects and create a database on the conservation of biodiversity at the stand, Mr. Long stated.

Similar to other forest proprietors, the forest management and protection force in Ta Dung National Park encounters constant challenges. This is the difficulty of the government's limited mechanisms and policies to support the forest protection force, which are not commensurate with the variety of everyday challenges they face.

According to Mr. Long, Ta Dung National Park requires approximately 80 people, not including the seasonal contract force, in order to best ensure the management and protection work based on the actual situation. However, the park's current staff consists of more than 50 people, meaning that the work of the missing personnel will have to be divided among everyone, resulting in more work. Not to mention the hard work, the lack of leisure to care for one's family, the fact that even during the holidays and Tet Lunar New Year, one must be on duty, confront dangers day and night, and the fact that the income does not increase, as a result, many people only earn over 4 million VND per month. This is why the majority of forest owners are insufficient.

"At this time, the revenue of the forest protection force is extremely low, so the majority of the brothers encounter numerous obstacles. We aim to receive more funding and infrastructure support in order to gradually satisfy the actual requirements. We expect to have specific policies and mechanisms for the forestry industry. Only when sufficient human resources are arranged and policies are in place to pay special attention to employees, particularly the force directly safeguarding forests, can employees feel secure in completing their assigned tasks and perform better. Director of Ta Dung National Park, Mr. Khuong Thanh Long, stated.