Promoting Participation in Local Natural Resource Management through Ecological Cultural Tourism: Case Study in Vam Nao Reservoir Area,An Giang Province,Vietnam

Abstract

This paper focuses on local people’s participation in the development of ecological cultural tourism in the Vam Nao reservoir area of An Giang Province, located approximately 180 kilomteres southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Building on experiences of several countries on how to involve local people in natural resource management and ecotourism development, we interviewed 95 in-depth stakeholders related to natural resource management, tourism, environment, and people’s participation; distributed questionnaires to 340 tourists; and synthesised field survey data from 500 online visitor surveys. On the basis of analysis and evaluation of these materials, this paper suggests a new policy on tourism for An Giang provincial leaders involving preservation of local cultural values as support for ecological and cultural tourism in the studied area. In the last section, the paper makes recommendations for increasing community participation in areas similar to the one studied herein.