Biodiversity corridor payments boost household incomes in Vietnam’s Annamite mountains

A study in Conservation Science and Practice examined 120 households in four villages across Quang Nam and Thua Thien provinces, comparing incomes inside and outside two biodiversity corridors set up in 2018 to link protected areas in Vietnam's Annamite mountains. Households inside the corridors earned 25% more relative income than those outside, largely thanks to Payment for Forest Ecosystem Services (PFES) payments funded by hydropower and water companies.

Researchers say PFES accounted for roughly half of corridor households' income, alongside ecotourism and forest patrol contracts, while households outside relied more on Acacia plantations. The corridors span nearly 2,000 square kilometers linking reserves that shelter rare species including the saola ox and large-antlered muntjac, though illegal logging and snare hunting remain persistent threats.

Study authors say the findings show conservation payments can offset income lost from restricted land use, and that maintaining the framework's reliability matters because local support for conservation depends on it.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.