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COVID-19 (2022 Deadline)
Understanding the importance of ecosystem services and medicinal plants during and after the COVID-19 crisis in Vietnam
PI: Tuyen Nghiem (tuyennghiem_cres@yahoo.com), Vietnam National University—Central Institute for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies
U.S. Partner: Pamela McElwee, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Project Dates: September 2022 - April 2024
Project Overview:
The Covid-19 pandemic has severely affected Vietnam since the beginning of 2020, causing severe impacts on the economy and vulnerable populations. First, disruption of regional supply chains led to stagnant production and business in Vietnam. Second, the disruption of the trade supply chain led to a decrease in production activities of the processing and manufacturing industries. Third, the "supply - demand" source of labor was disrupted, and the unemployment rate increased. That means the source of livelihood of the working people, especially of the vulnerable group of people, was lost. When their main source of income declined, they struggled to survive and began to develop their own coping strategies, including increasing dependence on natural resources.
This project aims to study the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the use of ecosystem services in Vietnam. Before the pandemic, people used ecosystem services widely, of which the use of medicinal plants for production of traditional medicines was most prominent. However, the question is, how has the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic affected ecosystem services and if so, why? The results of this study will provide compelling evidence of how people's use of ecosystem services and medicinal plants has changed since 2020. The findings can be used to design more effective interventions for supporting vulnerable group of people when similar situations occur in the future and maintaining important ecosystem services to the national sustainable socio-economic development.
Officials from the relevant Vietnamese government agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will be encouraged to participate in the project activities to help them improve their knowledge and research capacity. All of this will later influence development decisions on how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and sustain ecosystem services in the long term. The PI and her team will work directly with local communities and government and non-government actors to inform and allow changes in scientific evidence-based policies, which in turn enhance conservation of forests and medicinal plants, improve forest management practices, and strengthen forest governance at the local level. This project will expand access to knowledge and foster collaboration among researchers and students in the United States and Vietnam on the crucially important issue of the impacts of COVID-19 and interventions that aim at protecting biodiversity and developing capacity for policy-relevant, development-oriented research between the two universities partnered in the project.
Summary of Recent Project Activities:
During the first quarter of the project, from October through December 2022, Dr. Nghiem and her team had the opportunity to take part in a capacity building activity on putting research results into action led by USAID’s Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC). They attended five webinar sessions on topics such as identifying and engaging stakeholders, developing communications objectives, and tracking and measuring success. Following the webinars, the Vietnamese researchers worked with an RTAC technical assistant to develop their Research to Action plans, which they will pursue in the course of carrying out their PEER project in the coming year.
During an October 2022 visit to Vietnam by U.S. partner Dr. Pam McElwee from Rutgers University, the PEER team revised their project budget and workplans to reflect a decision to shift to collecting data through in-person interviews instead of the previously planned online surveys. After securing the necessary permissions from the local authorities in Yen Bai Province, the researchers plan to prepare their interview questionnaires and conduct their field work during February through April 2023.
Back to PEER COVID-19 Grant Recipients
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