Survey of the Xuan Son National Park’s water resource conservation project

On November 27, a group from the US Embassy in Vietnam led by Deputy Ambassador Melissa Bishop visited the water resources conservation project managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with the WWF Nature Conservation Fund in Xuan Son National Park.

The delegation worked with the Xuan Son National Park’s manager board.

The representative of Xuan Son National Park welcomed and worked with the delegation, providing an overview of the park’s characteristics and natural landscape; diversity of flora, fauna, climate, and efforts in nature conservation; and support and encouragement of the economic development of indigenous ethnic communities in Phu Tho province.

A representative from the WWF Nature Conservation Fund presented on the Project “Managing and Restoring Water Resources for the Red and Tien River Basins” implementation content at Xuan Son National Park. This is a project funded by HEINEKEN Vietnam Brewery Company Limited, managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with the WWF organization, and will be implemented between 2023 and 2025.

The project is being carried out with the objective of restoring and protecting critical watershed forest ecosystems in Xuan Son National Park by early 2025. Local populations in Xuan Son National Park’s core and buffer zones adopt new lifestyle and activity habits to help conserve, restore, and save a total of 1,647 billion liters of water each year. The entire cost of project execution is close to VND3.37 billion. To date, more than VND1 billion has been disbursed.

The management and restoration of forest ecosystems with the zoning and natural regeneration of 400 hectares and the planting of 10 hectares of new forest are outstanding outcomes in executing the project’s contents in 2023. In Xuan Son commune, four water source protection groups were established, as well as five training courses and four garbage cleanup sessions for rural residents. Completed water quality evaluation and testing in four villages and hamlets in Xuan Son commune; A plan to establish a systematic organic Shan Tuyet tea production model was approved, and a seminar was held at Xuan Son National Park.

Speaking during the survey, Deputy Ambassador Melissa Bishop praised the efforts of Xuan Son National Park in particular and Phu Tho province in general to protect the natural scenery and wildlife. In the next months, the US Embassy in Vietnam will continue to assess and help the province with programs to further increase water resource preservation, combat deforestation, and wildlife trafficking.

In Coi hamlet, Xuan Son commune, the delegation did a field survey of various project contents.

The working group performed a field survey of the water resources conservation project in Coi hamlet, Xuan Son commune, as part of the working program.

Thuy Trang