Tourism combined with education on natural conservation in Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary in Ky Phu commune, Nho Quan district, is among tourist destinations providing educational programmes or activities to raise public awareness of wild animal protection and environmental conservation. When visiting the sanctuary, travellers can enjoy the experience of preparing food for bears, watching bears and taking photos.

Ngo Mai Huong, Director of Four Paws Viet, said that "With financial and technical support from Four Paws International, we are making great efforts to rescue wild animals that have been directly affected by people or have been bred in conditions unsuitable with their habits."

In addition to rescuing them, a number of activities have been organised to nurture visitors' love for animals and form their thought and positive actions to protect the wild animals and environment.

Money collecting from donations and selling souvenirs at the sanctuary will be used to take care of the bears and serve the sanctuary's operations.

Though the sanctuary has been put into operation for a short time, it has drawn thousands of visitors, most of them are students, and foreign travellers. This proves that young people are paying more attention to environmental matters.

Unlike the Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary, Cuc Phuong National Park has been an ideal place for biological researches for students and specialists for many years. It covers an area of over 22,000 hectares with rich fauna and flora systems.

Scientists have listed more than 2,200 species of plants and mosses, many of which are listed in the Red Book of Vietnam. As for animals, Cuc Phuong has 122 species of reptiles and amphibians, 66 species of fish, nearly 2,000 species of insects, 135 species of mammals and 336 species of birds.

Besides, Cuc Phuong has launched programmes to rescue and protect wild animals like: endangered primate rescue center; carnivore and pangolin conservation programme; and turtle conservation programme that takes care of more than 600 individuals of 19 species out of a total of 25 species of tortoise and freshwater turtles in Vietnam.

With such great values, the national park has always attracted an increasing number of tourists to year by year. In particular, in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic, tourists tend to look for places that are less crowded and closer to the nature like Cuc Phuong.

A representative of the Cuc Phuong National Park said tourism activities organised inside the park target nature-lovers who have high awareness of environmental protection.

Nature-based tourism, especially tours to forests, is one of the important forms of tourism in combination with education. This kind of tourism can significantly contribute to environmental protection and earnings for travel companies. 

Tourism in combination with environmental protection is an inevitable development trend of the tourism industry in many countries worldwide. This model of tourism combined with natural protection education like in the Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary and the Cuc Phuong National Park has showed the sustainable socio-economic values they have offered. 

Translated by Nguyen Thuy