The Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park was established on December 12, 2001 under Prime Ministerial Decision 189/2001/QD-TTg as a way of upgrading the Phong Nha Reserve. At the July 2003 session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in France, attended by representatives of 160 countries, the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park was recognized as a world natural heritage site.
Standing on 85,754 ha, the park is divided into three areas - the reserve area itself on 64,894 ha, an ecological rehabilitation area on 17,449 ha and an administrative service area on 3,411 ha. There are 80,443 ha of natural forest in the park, of which 75,712 ha have not been degraded by humans.
Located on the Central Heritage Road, the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park in Quang Binh province is home to rare and precious fauna and flora. The province now wants to preserve natural resources but at the same time develop tourism in the province, and this is a challenge. Recently Germany, through the German Development Bank (KFW) and the German Technical Cooperation Organization (GTZ), pledged to provide 12.6 million euro to manage and preserve national resources in the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park. This is good news for the park. The province want to preserve local heritage, develop forestry and tourism and it is concerned that many people live inside the park and more than 64 percent live under the poverty line. Like most other national parks and reserves in Vietnam, the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park is located in a remote area, and a local management board manages the park. Profits from tourism have not gone to the people that live there and people that live in and around the reserve make use of the park's natural resources. Preserving the park has been of no benefit to them. It is expected that the German-funded project will improve their living standard and create a local economy. The project will take place in 13 communes in 3 districts - Minh Hoa (5 communes), Bo Trach (7 communes) and Quang Ninh (1 commune) - 146 villages with 56,000 people from 11,550 households in all. The aim will be to reduce people's need to exploit the natural resources of Phong Nha - Ke Bang and help people in the buffer zone stabilize their lives and improve forest management.
The project will run for eight years. There will be a pre-project period of about one year; the project will run for 5-6 years and then there will be a post-project period for 1-2 years. During the project, local people will be trained and forest protection activities will take place in order to develop a means of subsistence in the buffer and core areas, develop tourism in a sustainable manner, increase law enforcement and build infrastructure. Particularly, local people will be given forest land and a certificate of forest planting and re-planting right.
For years, tourism companies in Quang Binh province have been interested in sending tourists to the park, and they would like the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park to be a tourist highlight and a means to boost development in the region. The APEX Tourist Company (Japan) has taken on Vietnamese partners to provide tours to the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park for Japanese tourists. In addition, the company has created tours that include Phong Nha - Ke Bang, Hue, Hoi An and My Son under a tour called the Central Heritage Road Tour.