Applying the SLIQ approach for the integrated management of Nature and Culture in Cù Lao Chàm-Hôi An Biosphere Reserve, Vietnam

The CBR Management Board coordinates all activities that are related to the cultural and natural values of the Biosphere Reserve. In the development procedure, the CBR tries to create a safe place for stakeholders to work together and find out integrated solutions. One of the main tasks of the CBR Management Board is to coordinate the different international and national designations which include the Biosphere Reserve, the World Heritage site, the intangible cultural heritage, and the marine protected area. The master plan and implementation program of the CBR is always in the making, being updated and coordinated with stakeholders including the four main entities: government, scientists, private sector and local people. The majority of the leaders in the city were invited to be members of the management board of the CBR. This is an important characteristic of the system that serves to facilitate the collection of information and data, to discuss and to reflect at workshops and meetings, to analyze problems, and to find out solutions thereon. All of the CBR coordinators are responding to the balance between conservation and development, focusing on sustainable development and resilience to climate change.

System thinking is a scientific approach that starts with the whole. It is used for the design of individual biosphere reserves but also for connecting it to the whole international network. It takes into account complex relationships as well as “soft” variables that underpin human emotions, motivation and behavior thus providing a holistic approach to complex policy and social issues. From this perspective, biosphere reserves consist of various components which reflect complex relationships between natural and socio-economic factors, between physical structures and human values, between cultural space and natural landscape, political ecology and creative ecology. The application of system thinking is carried out from the preparation stage of nomination of a biosphere reserve to design, management planning and implementation. Applying system thinking to the design of a biosphere reserve allows to identify all elements of the larger ecosystem. In the case of CBR, this approach enables the connection between the ancient town, influential to the development of the whole ecosystem as a historic port and its cultural heritage in relation to the marine protected area.

In order to set-up a functional zoning, the connection between the different components of land-use is vital. Landscape planning is a tool for integration and creates a feasible condition for implementing management based on system thinking. The use of the patch-corridor-matrix model from landscape ecology enables habitat connectivity and biodiversity conservation.
The CBR's zoning clearly identifies that the core zone is the MPA, which is responsible for protecting primary forests on the islands and the seascape. The transition zone is the ancient town, and these two conservation centers are connecting through the buffer zone of rivers, mangrove, estuary and sea. Each zone will have its own development plan based on the main CBR zoning. Specifically, in the core zone, the government does not allow the construction of large hotels, giving priority to develop homestays; the constructions are restricted in height, materials and operating procedures to ensure that  do not disrupt forest and marine ecological landscape. In the transition zone, the old town is preserved through construction regulations. All socio-economic activities taking place in the buffer zone are planned based on the protection and promotion of the values of river, mangrove and beach ecosystems.

CBR management consists of the coordination and use of locally available instruments, human resources and financial resources. It requires to consider shared benefits and responsibilities in natural resource management of agriculture, forestry, fishery, science, involving local and national authorities and the international community. The intersectoral coordination consists of bringing actors from the state and civil society together to achieve a mutual understanding on an issue and negotiate and implement mutually agreeable plans for tackling the issue once it is identified. For this, top-down and bottom-up approaches can be combined. The management board is composed by provincial departments of agriculture and rural development, natural resources and environment, culture and tourism, and science and technology. These departments are under guidelines from Central Government, especially regulations applied for core zones, i.e. top-down approach. Besides, there are associations including farmers, women, youth, business enterprises, private sector participating in the management board and decision-making process, i.e. bottom-up approach. The leader is the provincial authority chaired by the vice-chairman of the People's Committee.

Quality economy is based on successful conservation or conservation-based economy set up in the guidelines of Vietnam MAB in 2009. Labeling and branding goods and services from CBR could help promote the development of quality economies in the CBR and its sustainable development. In the context of economic development in CBR, quality includes value creation and increased economic benefits for local people consumptions; production in line with sustainable development; fair distribution, solidarity; awareness of conservation of nature and culture and networking among Bisophere Reserves. Successful conservation creates a prestige value. Labeling under this concept brings added value to local products creating a contribution and recognition to local communities and their efforts in conservation.