Livelihoods of Households in the Bufferzone of Xuan Thuy National Park

The study analyzedlivelihood capital sources, livelihood activities and livelihood outcomes of households in the buffer zone of Xuan Thuy National Park, Nam Dinh, thenprovidedsome suggestions to improve their livelihoods and income. The research conducted interviews with 30 households whose livelihoods entirely depend on mangrove forest, 60 households whose livelihoods partly depend and 30 households whose livelihoods are not dependent on the National Park's mangrove forests in Giao An, Giao Thien, Giao Xuan communes and in-depth interviews with 14 managers of relevant agencies and units. The results showed that the sources of livelihood assests of people in the buffer zone were relatively complete. The main livelihood activities were agricultural production, aquaculture and exploitation of aquatic products, trade and service business with 100% of households participating in agricultural production and over 88% of households in aquaculture. The lowest average household income in group was VND 85.19 million/year and the group 3 had the highest of VND 96.91 million. In order to increase outcome for households in the buffer zone, it is necessary to increase and effectively use livelihood capital sources, improve traditional livelihood activities and expand effective livelihood activities.