POLICY COMMUNICATION AND THE IMPACT OF AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES ON KARST LANDSCAPES: AN EXAMPLE FROM PHONG NHA-Kẻ BÀNG NATIONAL PARK, VIETNAM

Interconnectedness between surface activities and subsurface environments make karst landscapes especially susceptible to soil erosion and water contamination. The likelihood of these two phenomena happening increases when agricultural intensification, irrigation, or fertilizer application occurs. In order to mitigate the negative consequences of agriculture on karst landscapes, increased implementation of policy to regulate human activities and increased communication of these policies is needed. This study occurred in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, Vietnam, a UNESCO World Heritage site dominated by karst landscapes and extensive agricultural communities. Semi-structured interviews, observation, and GPS analysis were used to analyze the effectiveness of policy communication about karst in the Park. It was found that karst protection policy in the region is minimally communicated and, when communicated, often delivered ineffectively and to inappropriate individuals. Despite the known harm agriculture causes to karst landscapes, intensification, irrigation, and the use of fertilizers still occurs frequently in the Park buffer zone. Information about the karst landscape is concentrated among park officials, leaving the farmers without any information on the vulnerability of karst terrain to agriculture and the subsequent impacts on human and biological health. In analyzing the situation in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng, general conclusions on policy to protect karst terrain in agricultural regions can be drawn. The communication of karst science and the implementation of policy to protect the landscape must be presented both to governing officials and local representatives and then passed down through informal communication networks to general citizens. Through these means, karst protection in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng and other like karst landscapes can successfully implemented.