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UAS Regulations

No recent drone regulations or instructions could be found on the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam website (as of October 2022).

It is possible that the 2008 decree is still valid (unofficial translation: Decree No. 36/2008/ND-CP dated March 28, 2008 on Government ofthe management of unmanned aircraft and ultralight aircraft). Information in English is here: https://flycampro.vn/pages/decree-no-36-2008-nd-cp . This may have been updated by Decree 79/2011/ND-CP

DFDL provides an information sheet here: https://www.dfdl.com/publication/drones-regulatory-framework-in-vietnam-top-5-key-qas/

No-fly zones appear to be governed under Decision number 18 of 2020/QD/TTg. This Decision stipulates the establishment of no-fly zones and restricted-flying areas for unmanned aircraft and ultra-light aircraft in Vietnam's airspace and the responsibilities of relevant organizations and individuals.

[Last updated by David Guerin: October 2022]

Last update / 17.10.2022

Drone Use in Conservation

SVW (Save Vietnam’s Wildlife: non-profit organisation) & Wildlife Drones & Dr Debbie Saunders & USAID Saving Species.

In 2019, Wildlife Drones worked with Thai Nguyen, Executive Director of Save Vietnam’s Wildlife, to increase the tracking capacity of Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) populations. This mainly occurred in re-release circumstances after the animals had been rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. In Cuo Phuong and Pu Mat National Parks, radio GPS trackers were used to monitor post-relocation survival, population mobility, and viability. Tracking pangolins has not been done using drones before, and it was a difficult venture that tested the drone’s tracking signal capabilities, considering the uniquely dense canopy and understory vegetation.

Using Telonics receivers and antennas, the Wildlife Drones and SVW team noticed a 20% increase in geographical range of tracking, as well as increased capacity, meaning multiple individuals could be monitored at once. As of Feb. 2022, this case study was amalgamated into a published academic article evaluating various drone tracking systems throughout 5 projects focussing on 5 different species. The article was published in the Wildlife Research journal, ed. 49.

[Last updated by Macayle Guerin: October 2022]