Comparing Law Enforcement Performance of Forest Stations at Pu Hu Nature Reserve, Vietnam

Abstract

In Vietnam, most protected areas are guarded and their natural resources are conserved by forest rangers, who carry out their law enforcement duties from forest stations. Previous research projects have been undertaken on law enforcement performance during traditional patrolling in most protected areas; however, insights into patrolling efforts at the local level, as a part of protection activities, have been significantly missing. The aim of this paper was to compare the law enforcement performance of rangers at two forest stations in the Pu Hu Nature Reserve (NR). These forest rangers face different challenges and illegal activities, depending on local conditions, which means that their law enforcement activities can vary widely. The results provided initial insights into the different variables of law enforcement performance and illegal encounters at the local level. The number of illegal encounters and distance walked were not significantly different between the two forest stations, unlike other variables, such as relative altitude, walking speed, and patrol hours. The ratios of illegal encounters to relative altitude and to speed at the Nam Tien Forest Station were higher than the equivalent findings at the Trung Thanh Forest Station due to differences in terms of the patrolling hours and distance walked between the two forest stations. Action to improve conservation is essentially a matter of implementing conservation planning in parallel with the current situation. Undoubtedly, the successful management of forests by stations in a protected area will be indicated by a positive law enforcement performance.