The allocation of household-based forest protection contracts in Tarn Dao National Park, Vietnam: Elite capture as a bureaucratic impulse against community capture

摘要

This article examines the characteristics of households that were allocated paid forest protection contracts in Tarn Dao National Park situated in northern Vietnam. Its research indicates that the national park management board systematically favoredhouseholds with weaker community ties in their contract allocations. Furthermore, the article argues that the national park management board took a defensive stance against buffer zone communes resisting park policy and that they also attempted to manageforest conservation by centralizing the allocation and management of forest protection contracts. These circumstances led to an inequitable distribution of rights and continued land use inside the park, as contract holders were powerless to enforce parkregulations.