Local attitudes toward conservation and tourism around Xuan Son national park

Abstract

It is increasingly viewed that the support of local communities is an essential element of biodiversity conservation, and benefits from protected areas are one of the reasons for their support. It is common to make a prediction that protected areas provide benefits, and the development of tourism is a common means that supplies such benefits.  Although some studies exploring the link between the benefits of tourism and support for conservation have been done recently, their results still need to be argued more. This study, therefore, aimed to examine the ecotourism perception of local communities and the influence of ecotourism benefits on local people’s support for the conservation of Xuan Son National Park, Phu Tho Province, Vietnam. Xuan Son National Park is also a tourism destination, that is not far from Hanoi capital, where eco-tourism is increasingly popular and local attitudes toward conservation and protected area tourism have not been researched. This research was based on a primary survey and secondary data collection. There were two methods that were applied for primary-data collection, and they were household surveys and observations. The results revealed positive attitudes toward tourism and conservation (67.8%), and it is also recognized that the park is essential for local tourism (91%). There was a significant difference between those dependent upon tourism and those not, and those dependent upon tourism were likely to have positive attitudes (t_19.348 = -2.425, p<0.05). Overall, this study revealed that benefits from eco-tourism have positive impacts on conservation attitudes.