The Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (NP) is located in Bo Trach and Minh Hoa districts, Quang Binh province. The NP?s area is about 85,754ha and it is the largest area of primary forests on limestone (karst) mountains in Viet Nam (about 65,000ha). With the very high forest coverage (96.2%) the NP has abundant biodiversity resources. Thanks to its endemic value, the NP was designated as a UNESCO Nature World Heritage in 2003.

As in other protected areas of the country, the NP faces the following challenges in management and protection.

? Inadequate awareness and knowledge, and limited participation of the local authorities and people in the NP conservation management;
? Poverty of the local people and their dependence on forest resources, for example, the backward practices: forest clearing for crops and hunting wildlife;
? Inadequate regulations on the forest and NP conservation and particularly the ineffective implementation of regulations due to poor and incomprehensive coordination among the relevant authorities namely the NP management board, the protection section and the police office;
? Lack of promotion of the roles and the participation of the local government and people [ in the NP conservation management ];
? Limited capacity for NP conservation management of the relevant authorities, local government and people.

The project key objectives are:

? to contribute to the environmental protection and resources conservation of the Phong Nha ? Ke Bang NP by (a) increasing effectiveness of the enforcement of the laws on forestry and protected areas; (b) developing demonstration models with community participation in the sustainable forest management, harvest and use, and
? to eradicate hunger and reduce poverty.

One of the main project activities is to promote coordination among relevant agencies in the enforcement of the laws. . The focus would be put in promotion of role and participation of the local government and people in preventing, discovering and dealing with violations of laws ; and reinforcement of coordination among the relevant authorities, such as the police office, the forest protection section and the NP management board. Based on lessons learned from the demonstration models, the project will identify and suggest legislative framework for participation of the local authorities and people in preventing, discovering and dealing with violations of law, delegating authority and clarifying, responsibilities, jurisdiction and benefits from these activities.