Sa Pa district of Lao Cai province is one of the most famous tourist towns situated in northern Vietnam bordering with China. It is home for many ethnic communities (e.g. Dao, H’mong and Tay) and the area is rich in bio-diversity. Each ethnic group has its own tradition and habit of using local plants and animals for livelihood and health care. These wild bio-resources have also been collected and sold in the market through the middle men. Upland communities, however, receive very little income from exporting of these products.

The Center for Research and Development of Ethnomedicinal plants (CREDEP), Hanoi has received a grant to conduct a feasibility study aiming to:

1. Identify potential indigenous products, which have high market value for the local people.
2. To study distribution channel of these potential products from local communities to wholesale and final market.
3. To find out barriers that hamper the performance of distribution channel of the potential products.
4. To suggest a feasible model for sustainable development of these potential products.