Cuc Phuong National Park was established on July 7, 1962. It is the first national park and also the first nature reserve in Viet Nam. Cuc Phuong has long been famous both at home and abroad for the diversity of species in its forest ecosystem, its beautiful natural scenery, its cultural value, and its local Muong ethnic community. Due to the large number of visitors that come to this popular tourist destination every year, it has great potential for raising awareness of environmental issues among the public.

The limited financial resources available do not, however, currently allow the park’s museum to adequately perform its assigned information and awareness-raising duties to the public. Collections and facilities need updating and maintenance, and the museum has limited experience with offering or outsourcing alternative services to visitors, as well as a lack of applicable knowledge on global best practices in museum service offerings and income generation.

The refurbishment of the Cuc Phuong Nature Museum is a pilot activity under the cooperation of UNDP’s BIOFIN team in Viet Nam with the Ministry of Finance and the Viet Nam Administration of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. It is intended to operationalize a strengthened financial scheme and legal framework for charging and collecting fees for visitor services in nature museums under national management, as well as a government circular based on the scheme that addresses the collection and use of fees and services.