The Glass Bottom Basket Boat

Mr Xay and his boat

Basket boats are a traditional coracle used by the poorer fishing communities in central and southern Vietnam, they are also a cultural icon and of intrinsic appeal to visitors.  So why not combine this with a little modern technology and build one out of plastic and install a glass bottom? - perfect for viewing coral in shallow water (they have a very shallow draught), are quiet, suitable for non-swimmers to view coral, and they don't risk spilling petrochemicals over sensitive habitat.  They also have tourism appeal and are relatively cheap and could be purchased using a micro-credit scheme.

The objective of the project was alternative income generation and livelihood support, combined with a little ecotourism, environmental education, guide training and interpretation.  Working with poorer fishers previously involved in squid fishing the project set out to provide comprehensive livelihood support to participants - changing their livelihood from a primary exploitative sector to the tertiary tourism service sector: less people fishing in the marine protected area.

Traditional basket boats

Key components of the project included:

• Finding willing participants in the target group
• Working with the fisheries university to make a prototype boat or less than 6 million VND
• Provided access to micro-credit scheme so participants could purchase their boat
• Developing training programme that included coral reef identification, basic environmental protection, marketing, financial management and basic English
• Developed simple interpretive guide and phonetic language guide
• Developed trials 
• Developed regulations permitting activity and limiting maximum number of operators, linked to wider tourism management plan
• Developed system of cooperation with local operators to provide guests
• Provided on-going start up support to operators 
  
  

Mr Hien

Successes included participants paying off loans in the first season and earning a better income than from fishing..  Five years later participants are still earning a decent livelihood through their basket boats, being joined by others.  The project featured on the BBC Really Wild Show! in the UK.

The most significant challenge was provincial departments took much convincing of the feasibility of the project and the suitability of poor fishers being involved in the tourism industry, which took considerable perseverance to achieve.  Click here for pictures.