Wildlife resource use between migrant ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples in Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam

Ethnic minorities in Cat Tien National Park (CTNP) have depended much on the wildlife resources and threatened its ecosystem. Also, the real status in the wildlife use between the indigenous ethnic minorities (IEMs) and the migrant ethnic minorities (MEMs) has been poorly understood. Thus, the field surveys combining the participatory rural appraisal (PRA) with the “walk-in-the-wood” method were used to analyze the wildlife resource use between the IEMs and the MEMs. The findings revealed that both of the groups had a high or a relatively high dependency on the wildlife resources and had a tendency of shifting from self-consumption to income generation purpose (p = 0.000). Besides, the IEMs had a better and greater knowledge of edible wild plants than the MEMs, whereas many more MEMs made and used wild animals for medicinal purposes. The MEMs extracted and used the resources more intensively, but the IEMs used them for more subsistence related to their indigenous culture (χ2 = 26.683, p = 0.000). Based on the findings, wildlife management strategies should emphasize the resource use pattern, the cultural differences and capacity building programs. Likewise, origin-based arrangements would contribute to sustainable wildlife management in CTNP. published by the Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences | JBES