IUCN Vietnam

Strengthening Voices for Better Choices Project

REPORT

ON

COMMUNITY FOREST MANAGEMENT IN VIETNAM: STATUS, PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Nguyen Ba Ngai

Hanoi – June 2009

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1. Introduction

The project “Strengthening Voices for Better Choices” (SVBC) is designed to promote the development of improved forest governance arrangements in Vietnam and five other tropical forest countries in Africa, Asia and South America. The project has implemented a study to identify the policy, legal, institutional and economic obstacles to improved forest governance, as well as build capacity of relevant stakeholders in forest governance reform. The case study is implemented to evaluate the community forest management in Vietnam, which the findings will contribute to the revision of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development/MARD’s Community Forestry guidelines.

Based on the actual needs of the community forest management and the requirements to improve policies for this mangement process, a case study was conducted in 3 provinces to evaluate the current status of community forest management in Vietnam and provide the recommendations for improving the CFM guidelines in Vietnam.

The research team comprised by a goup of national and local consutants with more that ten years experiences in community forestry researching and training. Local consultants including experts from Bac Kan, Thua Thien Hue and Dak Lack provinces.

First stage, a desk-study was conducted to gather data and information regarding the community forest management which have been implemeted in Vietnam from 2000, including the UNDP’s small grants for sustainable forest management (SGP_PTE) that were implemered in 23 communes, Helvetas project for agriculture and forestry extension training support programme (ETSP) in Hoa Binh, Thua Thien Hue and Dak Nong provinces, Dak Lak provincial rural development program, MARD’s piloting on community forest for upland people in the Northen mountainous provinces of Vietnam.

A 2-week field survey on community forest management. was conducted in Van Minh commnue, Na Ri disrtict, Bac Kan province. Focus group discussion was oraganized with group os men, groups of wemen amd mix group to analyse the situation of community forest managemnt. Interviews were done with 12 households participated in CFM, in village, 12 staff working on forest management argencies of commune, disctrict and provincial levels were interviewed and two meetings with vilagers were conducted at 2 pilot villages.

Another field survey at T’ly hamlet and Cham hamlet in Dak Lak province was conducted with participation of the expert from Tay Nguyen University and staff from Dak Lak province, where the trading pilot is being tested within the community forest management models. The field observations and farmer group discussion were conducted to analyse the advantages and disadvantages in the piloting, the recommendations were also directly received from farmers.

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The results of the study were presented at the national workshop on Policies and Practices of Community Forest Management in Vietnam on 5 June 2009 in Hanoi, the results of the sudy were the main topics for discussion at the workshop.

The report including three main topics: The current status of community forest management in Vietnam, in which it decribes the typical features of CFM and the related policies development in Vietnam as well as the best practice experiencs from other projects.

- The issues in CFM including legal status of the community when they participate in the community forest management, the insufficience of the supportive policies and legislations, and the CFM planning.

- The solutions to promote the CFM in Vietnam are the recommendatios to revise and improve the CFM guidlines in Vietnam

2. Current status of the community forest management (CFM) in Vietnam

2.1. Key features of current status of community forest management

In Vietnam, community based forest management or so-called community forest management is a reality that has been existed for a long time ago and is becoming an effective forest management approach concerned to and encouraged for development by the state. This management approach of forest is very dynamic and varied, which is very effective for adaptation for forest management and community development to the mountainous areas.

Up to 31 December 20071 there were 10,006 local communities through out the country, mainly ethnic communities who are managing and using 2,792,946.3 ha of forest and bare land and denuded hill (in short: forest land) to establish and develop forest, including: 1,916,169.2 ha forested land (accounting for 68,6%) and 876,777.1 ha of bare land and denuded hill (accounting for 31.4%). Such forest land area being managed by the local communities accounts for 17.20% of the total area planned for forestry purposes through out the country (16.24 million ha); the forested land managed by local community accounts for 15% of the total forest area national wide (12,873,815 ha). Within such forested land that is being managed and used by the local community, natural forest is the majority which accounts for 96%, while remaining 4% is plantation forest area. Forest that is being managed by the local community is mainly protection forest and special use forest (account for 71%) and 29% of production forest (see annex 01 for details). Local community manages and uses such forest land area through the following kinds

- Firstly, forest and forest land area that is used for forestry purpose and allocated by the competent authority for long term and stable use and management to the local community (with decision or land use certificate, hereinafter referred to as allocation) is 1,643,251.2 ha accounting for 58.8% of the total forest land area allocated to local community for management and use.

1 Data source: Department of Forestry – consolidation of report on community forest of 37 provinces and municipals – March 2008; Phạm Xuân Phương- overview of forest and land allocation policy in Vietnam, status and orientation to future – Proceedings of National Forum on forest and land allocation in Vietnam, Hanoi – 29 May 2008.

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- Secondly, forest and forest land area that is self recognized and managed by the local community for a long time ago without official allocation decision from the state (without any legal paper, hereinafter referred to as without allocation) is 247,029.5 ha accounting for 8.9%, including spiritual forests and forests providing traditional products supplying to the local community.

- Thirdly, forest and forest land area that is used for forestry purposes by the state agencies (state forest enterprise, management board of special use forest and protection forest, etc. ) and contracted by the state to the local community for protection, zoning for rehabilitation and new plantation under long term contract (50 year period, in short: forest contract) is 902,662.7 ha accounting for 32.3%

In terms of geographical aspect, the North West region has the highest community forest rate with 1,893,300.9 ha accounting for 67.8% of the total forest land area being managed by the local community nationwide. The next is the North East region with 760,131.1 ha, the Central Highland with 62,422.3 ha and the North Central region with 58,541.7 ha. While other regions, the percentage of forest land allocated to local community is very little. Particularly, some provinces the forest and forest land area allocated to local community for management and protection have never been done so far (see details in annex 02).

Community forests that have been established in different ways are managed by 3 target groups, including: local community, family (including those have blood relatives) and household group or group of the same interest. Forests that are managed by local community and family are normally located in rural and remote areas where traditional management practices are adaptable and production and market conditions are backward as well as backward management approach. Forests that are jointly managed by household group or group of the same interest are mostly located in developed production and marketing areas where market production modality is being approached with improved production standards of the local households together with high potential of investment. On this basis, the community forest management in Vietnam is being developed into two trends that are adaptive to the local conditions of respective regions, including: community forest management responding to livelihood demands and community forest management for market products production.

Community forest management trend responding to livelihood demands of the ethnic people in rural and remote areas is more relevant to the traditional practices, under-developed production and market conditions as well as backward management. Forest products are mostly for local use such as timber for housing, fuel, non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Forests are managed traditionally under the village regulation. The state and local authority need to develop respective policy on harvesting and using forest products as well as supply technical, organizational and financial services to community for management of forest.

Community forest management modalities will be varied and plentiful at higher level if economic organization for community forest is established with legal status such as co-operative of community, community enterprise for forest management and forest product processing, etc. operating under enterprise law. In this case, local community is, indeed, approaching to be a real entity in forest management and use.

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2.2. Basic principles of legal framework and policy regarding to community forest management

Currently, community based forest management trend is realistic. This reality is demonstrating different forms and approaches that allow community to participate in forest management, while legal aspect and policy on beneficiary mechanism applicable to local community managing forest should be improved step by step but lots of issues have not yet been clearly defined. The legal framework and policy of the Government are being developed and creating legal basis that is important to the development. Progress of community forest management policy is described in table 01.

The concept “local community” that is defined in the Land law 2003 is considered as one of the land users (Article 9). The Land law 2003 does not refer to the allocation of production forest land to local community (Article 75), coastal protection forest land (Article 76) and special use forest (Article 77).

The Forest protection and development law 2004 specifies that local community is one

of the entities that have the right to be allocated forest. With such legal basis, the local community is allocated forest or recognized the forest use right by the state. The forest protection and development law 2004 also provides definition of forest use right and ownership of plantation production forest as well as recognition of such rights to the forest owners. The forest protection and development law, forest allocation is defined as the way that the state makes decision on allocation forest use right to the forest owner. Forest owner as local community is also allocated production and protection forests by the state without collecting fees.

Table 01: Progress of community forest policy development in Vietnam2 Period Explanations for policy development

Before 1954 – French Colony Period

+ recognize the existence of community forest Colonial and feudal forestry recognized the existence of traditional forest community. The community forest management was based on village regulations and traditional practices.

1954-1975

+ Without attention to community forest but respect community managing forests through traditional way The North: conducted farm land renovation and organization into co-operative policy with focus on developing state forest enterprise and co-operative forestry (agro-forestry cooperative). With not much attention to household forestry and community forestry, but in principle, the state still respected mountainous communities managing forests through traditional way; household forestry was identified as sub-economic income. While in the South the policy was similar to those applied before 1954.

2 Referring to Nguyen Ba Ngai, Nguyen Hong Quan and Ernst Kuester. Vietnam Community Forestry 2005. Proceedings of a First Regional Community Forestry Forum held in Bangkok, Thailand – August 24-25, 2005. RECOFTC, 2005.

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1976-1985 + High centralized and planned state and collective forestry. Community forest area was narrowed. After the liberation in the South and one unity was set up, the Government paid attention to develop state and collective (cooperative) economic entities only. The state and cooperative forestry modalities were developed into large scale under high planning and centralization mechanism. Community forestry and household forestry were not encouraged for development. However, in some mountainous and ethnic areas, these management modalities were still existed but the self management possibility was lost in oblivion not strictly as ever. Decision 184 issued by Council of Ministers in 1982 and Instruction no 29 issued by the Secretariat in 1983 on allocating forest to state and cooperative economic entities started to pay attention to forest contract for management and protection to the households.

1986-1992 + The first time the village was referred to as legally recognized forest owner to the traditional forests of village. In 1986, the Government started the renovation process by recognizing the existence of the 5 economic sectors In 1988 and 1991 the Forest protection and development law was firstly developed, which allowed allocation of forest and forest land to organizations, individuals and households. And household forestry was also recognized. On 17 Jan. 1992 Chairman of the Council of Ministers (currently Prime Minister) issued Decree no 17/HTBT on implementation of the forest protection and development law and villages managing forests before the issuance of the forest protection and development law are legally recognized as forest owners.

1993-2002 + Strengthen decentralization in forest management, pay attention to socialization of forest work, but policy on community forestry was not defined. Community forest management modalities were adapted in many localities but they were unprompted and pilot. A national working group on community forestry was established in MARD to carry out studies and organizing national workshops on community forestry. Many international projects, programmes referred to community forestry issues. However, in principle, community forestry was not clearly institutionalized. The Land law (revised) in 1993, Decree no 02/CP in 1994 and Decree no 163/ CP in 1999 on forest land allocation all do not specify clearly community as the target group. The civil law 1995 does not refer to local community as an economic entity with legal status. In this period of time, many localities adapted state and sectoral regulations and laws to develop the community forestry such as Decree no 01/CP in 1995 on contracting forest land, Decree no 29/CP in 1998 on Regulation on enforcement of democracy at commune level, Decision 245/1998/QĐ-TTg on executing state obligations at different levels of forest and forest land, Circular 56/TT in 1999 issued by MARD on guiding to develop the forest protection and development regulation for commune, Decision 08/2001/QĐ-TTg in 2001 on regulation on management of 3 forest categories, Decision no 178/2001/QĐ-TTg in 2001 on beneficial rights and obligations to participate in forest management.

From 2003 till now

+ Formulate legal basic framework for community forestry Regarding the land law 2003, local community is allocated land or recognized agriculture land use right as land user by the state. The forest protection and development law 2004 has a separate provision to regulate the allocation of

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forest to local community, rights and obligations of local community allocated forest. Decree no 181/2004/NĐ-CP dated 29 October 2004 issued by the Prime Minister on the enforcement of the Land law (decree 181) stipulates that local community who are allocated protection forest land has the equal rights with households and individuals allocated forest land. However, local community is not allowed to convert the use purpose, transfer, lease, and offer as a gift the land use right; to mortgage, use the land use right as guarantee and as capital contribution. The civil law 2005 recognized the common ownership concept of community. Therefore, local community has the ownership rights over properties and assets formulated upon traditional practices; assets contributed by community members, which are jointly used and managed under agreed principles that support for benefits of the community.

Rights and obligations of the local community are also regulated in the forest protection and development law, which shows the clarity that: except for the common rights and obligations as stipulated above: is not allowed to allocate forest to individuals in the community; is not allowed to convert, transfer, offer, mortgage, contribute the plantation production forest ownership right and the allocated forest use right as business capital.

Till now, Vietnam has already developed the basic legal and policy framework for community forest management, which is reflected in the Land law 2003 and the Forest protection and development law 2004 as well as other legal documents. This legal and policy framework demonstrates the following principles: - Firstly, community is a legally recognized forest owner, forest user with full or

partly legal status upon conditions of respective communities and forests allocated or contracted.

- Secondly, community is allocated land, forest and contracted forest for management and protection on long term basis upon satisfaction of regulation requirements of the state laws and policies such as: the forest is being managed and used effectively by community; forest area provides water source that benefits directly to the community; forest area that is located in the border line of villages, communes, districts is not possible to allocate to organizations, households and individuals but to the local community for joint benefit of the local people.

- Thirdly, community is inherited rights of participating in forest management under the state regulations: be recognized to have stable and long term forest use right consistent with the forest contract duration term; be allowed to harvest, use forest products and other benefits from forest for purposes of the

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community and individual members of the community; be permitted to carry out joint agro-forestry and fishery production activities; be inherited outputs from labour contribution to and capital investment in allocated forest area; be received technical guidelines and financial support from the state to protect and develop forest and be inherited benefits from public construction works supporting for forest protection and improvement; be compensated for labour contribution to and capital investment in forest protection and development once reclaimed by the state.

- Fourthly, community executes their obligations when participating in forest management as stipulated by the state laws: develop village forest protection and development regulation; organize to protect and develop forest, report periodically the forest development status and other forest related activities to the state competent agencies; execute financial obligation and others as regulated by the state laws; give back the allocated forest to the state once reclaimed by the state or forest contract duration termination; be not permitted to allocate forest to individuals of the community; be not permitted to convert, transfer, offer, lease, mortgage, guarantee, contribute the allocated forest use right value for business capital.

The land and forest allocation to local community policy is briefed in the table 02 below.

Till now, legal documents on investment and credit do not stipulate that local community and household group are target groups of investment loans and inherited preferential benefit from the law on promoting national investment when participating in forestry activities.

Table 02: Brief of policy on land and forest allocation to local community3

Criteria Referring to the land law Referring to the forest protection and development law

Allocation modality

The state allocates forest land to household without collecting land use fees

- The state allocates production forest, protection forest without collecting land use fees.

Requirements: - The forest area allocated to the community

must be under the forest allocation plan of the communal people’s committee, which has been approved by the district people’s committee

- Forest allocated to community must be

3 Phạm Xuân Phương-overview of forest and land allocation policy in Vietnam, status and orientation to future –Proceedings of National Forum on forest and land allocation in Vietnam, Hanoi – 29/5/2008.

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located within the commune geographical boundary.

Norm Not stipulated Not stipulated

Duration Stable and long term basis - Production forest: 50 years – fixed term - Protection forest: stable and long term basis

Forest status No difference between forest categories

Rights - Common rights - Be not permitted to allocate forest to

community members; be not permitted to convert, transfer, offer, lease, mortgage, and contribute the plantation production forest ownership value, forest use right for business capital.

Policies on benefit sharing have somehow reflected in the legal documents

related to forest and land allocation so far4 such as the Decree 02/CP dated 15 Jan. 1994, Decree no 01/CP dated 04 Jan. 1995, Decree no 163/1999/NĐ-CP dated 16 November 1999, Decision no 08/2001/QĐ-TTg dated 11 Jan. 2001 ... However, these legal documents do not stipulate the benefit rights of the community managing forests.

Two important legal documents that specifies the rights and obligations of the households, individuals allocated, leased and contracted forest and forest land including Decision no 178/2001/QĐ-TTg dated 12 November 2001 issued by the Prime Minister on the beneficial rights and obligations of households and individuals allocated, leased and contracted forest and forest land (herein after referred to as Decision 178) and the Joint Circular no 80/2003/TTLT/BNN-BTC jointly issued by MARD (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development) and MoFi (Ministry of Finance) dated 3 September 2003 on guiding the implementation of the Decision no 178/2001/QĐ-TTg (herein after referred to as Circular 80). Basic issues relating to the rights and obligations as well as other requirements and conditions are briefed in the Table 02. It is clear that these legal documents only stipulate the rights and obligations of households and individuals allocated, leased and contracted forest and forest land. While the local community [village?], household [household groups?] and community organizations are not under the regulation scope of these two legal documents. 2.3. Practical situation and lessons learnt

4 Currently, these legal documents are expired.

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2.3.1. Regarding form and mode of community participation in forest management

Taking into account outputs from observations and studies carried out in Dien Bien, Hoa Binh and Thanh Hoa provinces, it is visible that there are 4 community forest management modalities that are originated and developed differently, including traditional community forest self recognized by the community for a long time, community forest issued land use right, community forest allocated to household group for management and community forest allocated to individual households who then collaborate together to jointly manage the allocated forests. These community forest management modalities are listed in the Table 03.

Communities living in remote areas where production and market conditions are under-developed and local livelihoods depending on forest resource the community forest model of self recognition and joint management is popular. This model meets the livelihood demands of the local people, which is reflected well through cases of H’Mông ethnic people living in Mùn Chung (Điện Biên province), Thái đen ethnic people living in Mường Lựm (Yên Châu, Sơn La province), Dao ethnic people living in Cao Bằng province. While communities living close to the developed areas where market economic and production are being established and developed adapt different management modalities of forest, such as forest owned by village, households group, blood relatives. These management modalities of community forest are approaching to market production economy, which is reflected well through cases of Mường ethnic people living in Vũ Lâm (Hoà Bình province), Thái ethnic people living in Phú Thanh (Thanh Hóa province).

Table 03: Community forest management modalities of ethnic people in the Northern mountainous region5

No Management modality

Orginiation Status and scope

Management and use purpose

Huổi Cáy village, Mùn Chung commune, Tuần Giáo district of Điện Biên province - H’Mông ethnic people 1 Traditional

management modality

Self recognized by the community for a long time

81 ha of natural forest

Protect water source, harvest timber for housing and other forest products for daily use

Cài village, Vũ Lâm commune, Lạc Sơn district of Hoà Bình province- Mường ethnic people

5 Nguyễn Bá Ngãi. Results from study on community forest management of mountainous ethnic people in Northern Vietnam – Agriculture and Rural development Magazine , May, 1st volume of 2006, pages 78-80

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2 Households group

Forest contracted by commune people’s committee

31 ha of natural and plantation forests

Cover bare land, harvest timber, bamboo for sale

Páng village, Phú Thanh commune, Quan Hóa district of Thanh Hóa province – Thái ethnic people 3 Managed by

community Allocated and contracted for protection by Pù Hu conservation management board

200 ha of natural forest, of which 102 ha for allocation and 98 ha for contracting

Protect water source, harvest timber for housing and other products for daily use and incomes from forest contract incentive

4 Self-jointly managed by households groups

Allocated to households for management and use, households themselves joint to work together

120 ha self-jointly managed by 10 household groups.

Plant production forest for supplying bamboo to market

Research and observation outputs show that community forest management modalities were identified and developed spontaneously and the management form and contents are not consistent, which mostly bases on the understand and self management capacity of the community. However, the existing modalities also demonstrate two important components of the community forest management exercise including establishment of organization system for community to manage forest and development of village regulation that is used for managing forest and sharing benefits.

Legal rights and obligations as specified by the state laws are not widely aware by and applied to community target group. The benefit sharing mechanism as defined in the Decision 178 is not recognized by the local people. Responsibilities and benefits are all regulated and implemented by community themselves. This aspect is reflected well in a case of Mùn Chung commune in Điện Biên province where most local communities have their own regulations and rules on benefiting from community forests. These regulations were developed by the local people, which are based on the benefit of the community as a whole and individuals.

From practical view of community forest management modalities it is visible that forests are managed by community through 3 management tools as follows:

(1) Formulation of management and steering organization of the community: based on the principle of voting by local people and confidence of community in village leader;

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(2) Development of village regulation for community forest management: based on local rules (village regulations), practical demands and be consistent with the state laws;

(3) Establishment of benefit sharing mechanism: based on the consensus among community members and state regulations, initially and immediately to translate the benefit sharing mechanism specified in the Decision 178 into concrete actions.

The community forest management implementation and organization modality is the collaboration in management of the following stakeholders:

- Local community is the core stakeholder, including: village leader and deputy leader, village patriarch, households and individuals, forest management and protection group, unions and mass organizations, households group or group of the same interest, village extension staff;

- Commune forestry organization advocates the state laws and policies on forestry, forest development monitoring, guidance for forest protection and forest fire prevention and fighting, provides advices to and supports for the commune people’s committee forest and land allocation, forest management, and violations prevention and solving;

- Commune, district and provincial authorities execute 8 items of state administration over forestry as stipulated in the Decision 245/1998/QĐ-TTg dated 21 December 1998 issued by the Prime Minister;

- District and provincial forestry expertise agencies support, guide and promote forest management activities of the community;

- State forestry agencies transfer technologies, provide consultation and technical services to and invest capital in construction and forest development.

- Non-state forestry agencies provide supporting services, sign contract for training and techniques transfer.

As such, the lessons learnt are:

- Forest managed by community is the reality, although it has not yet been recognized or institutionalized it is still existed. Therefore, the recognition of community as a legal entity is always benefitable to the forest management;

- Encourage and develop two community forest management modalities that are relevant with the socio-economic and market features of respective regions.

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Such community forest management modalities that address the livelihoods demands and approach to the products production;

- The community forest management modality that is established through different period of time and steps could be adapted to specific conditions of respective communes and communities but ensuring including 3 basic conditions: mechanism to collaborate different involving entities is existed; 3 management tools are used effectively and solutions are developed to support for development of management of community forest.

2.3.2. Experiences of execution of rights and obligations of community managing forest

Outputs of observation and study on execution of obligations and beneficial rights carried out in provinces are synthesized in the annex 3 and the details are as follows:

+ Experience from Son La province

Referring to the outputs of study carried out by Mr. Pham Xuan Phuong , Ngo Dinh Tho, Do Anh Minh in 2003 and outputs of case study carried out in Son La province, it is concluded that:

- Four target groups: Household, household group, community and working groups of the community in some localities have allocated forest and forest land for long term use basis, have issued red book and received beneficial rights. The results also reveal that except for household the above mentioned target groups have executed well their tasks of forest management, protection, harvesting, utilization and development. There was no signal that community and household group did not fulfill their tasks of forest management as being suspicious by many people of the legal status and capability of the community and household group of forest management. Even, forests have been recovered and protected better than those under management of individual households as a case in Nà Ngà village of Chiềng Hặc commune. From this practical case of Son La province, it is required to re-consider the target groups of forest and land allocation, beneficial target groups as specified in a number of state laws and regulations.

- Outputs from forest classification and natural forest resource assessment are important bases to the identification of the obligations and beneficial rights. Taking into account the case of Chiềng Hặc commune, it is clear that regulation on the obligations and beneficial rights was done well but due to the

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inaccurate forest resource monitoring and assessment the beneficial mechanism could not be implemented in the best way. The much detailed regulation of forest status classification, annual forest volume and growth valuation method to identify responsibility and benefit share of forest receiver is difficult to apply in reality. Although Son La province applied the participatory forest resource assessment method that is considered easy enough it was still needed to conduct a study on new method to make sure that the forest resource development monitoring and inventory exercises are more accurate.

- The identification of the benefit share and its calculation as specified in the Decision no 178/2001/QĐ-TTG dated 12 November 2001 issued by the Prime Minister on the beneficial rights and obligations of household, individual allocated, leased, contracted forest as forest land (in short: Decision 178) and the Circular no 80/2003/TTLT/BNN-BTC jointly issued by MARD and MoFi dated 3 September 2003 on guiding to implement the Decision 178 (in short Circular 80) is too detailed in terms of forest categories. The accurate identification of the benefit share is difficult to implement in reality. Therefore, the local people specify the quantity of products extracted from forest and the benefit share or share of contribution based on respective conditions of the local. In some cases, these proportions are not consistent with those specified in Decision 178.

- Local people did not pay due attention to the benefit share of main products from plantation forest, including production and protection forests. Instead, they focused more on the cultivatable areas and plantation investment norm.

- Dealing with timber for housing was difficult. Commune, district and provincial authorities allow local people to harvest certain volume of timber from natural forest including protection forest for housing.

Regarding obligations and beneficial rights of the local community participating in forest management in Son La province, the following experience could be taken into account:

- Household group, village community and organizations within the community should be recognized as entities obtaining the obligations and beneficial rights when participating in forest management.

- Classify forest categories for allocation to the above identified entities upon restricted rights:

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• Forests allocating to village community (with red book) include: forests located far from residential area, watershed forests, spiritual forests and forests supplying timber, fuel wood to the community annually. However, community is received long term use right for common purpose of the community with condition that the forest allocated to community is not re-allocated to individual community members, is not permitted for lease, transfer or mortgage.

• Forests allocating to household group include forests located far from residential area, plantation forests of projects or rehabilitated forests after cultivation. Red book is issued through joint-management approach with restricted conditions such as being not permitted to transfer and lease.

• Forests allocating to organizations include scattered natural forests supporting for common purpose of the community and organizations with restricted conditions as applied to community.

- Planning for a certain area of natural forest for community to deal with demands of timber, particularly timber for housing annually is very important. Community itself identifies timber volume for annual harvesting, average harvestable timber volume per person, which is monitored by the local forest ranger is a good experience.

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Table 04: Summary of model of community participating in forest management in Chiềng Hặc commune, Yên Châu district of Sơn La6 province

No

Model Time, scope, target group and status of forest for

allocation

Formulation history and

identification process

Village regulation

Investment in forest

management and

protection

Impact, income of target group allocated land

and forest

Beneficial mechanism

being adapted

Assessment and recommendation

Allocation

A

1. Household

- From 2001, allocate plantation production forest to projects - Total area of 18,728 ha plantation forest of tectona grandis + chukrasia tabularis species (planted in 1998) is growing well - Location: near cultivation area of households, village residential area

Formulated upon practical demand and land used for 661 project (5 Million ha Program 1998-2010 with modification of area

Not permitted

Project 661 invested VND 1.7 million/ha/year

- One part is used for cultivation production - Agriculture plants are intercropped; thinning and use products from thinning exercise

- be benefited 100% of products from intercropping - be benefited from thinning products

- Classification of natural forest: + Classification in terms of protection levels: very critical, critical and less critical, etc. is very difficult to local people. Therefore, one common term of protection forest is better. + Classification in terms of forest status: Ia, Ib, Ic, IIa, IIb, IIIa1…is also difficult to understand by local people. Other type of classification

6 Nguyễn Bá Ngãi (2005). Case studies on community forest management models of the mountainous ethnic people in Northern Vietnam. Final report of key project of MARD in 2005

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2. Household group

- Allocated since 2001 - Plantation production forest of project. Plantation forest of tectona grandis + chukrasia tabularis species (in 1998) is being developed well. - recovered forest after shifting cultivation with status Ic (no reserve) - Location: far from village and cultivation land

- Area contracted with project for forest plantation prior to 1998 - jointly used so far by those households

Not permitted

- Forest of tectona grandis + chukrasia tabularis species funded by 661 project with VND 1.7 million/ha/year - Recovered forest of the debt swap project VND 3,6 millions/ha/year (for initial 4 years)

- Forest intercropped agriculture species; thinning and benefit from thinning products. - Recovered forest: clear the vegetable layer by cutting grass, creeper and protection

- intercrop agriculture species - use thinning products, collect fuel wood, bamboo, NTFPs

that is simple and easy to understand by local people is needed. Method of tree counting should be referred. - Dealing with timber for housing: + Procedure is still complicated, which should be simplified: need permission from village, commune people’s committee, local forest ranger only. Timber for housing is very necessary to and a traditional practice of the Thai ethnic people. Tax imposing on natural resource use should therefore be exempted. + timber for housing harvested from village forest is right but relying much on this source, for a long term basis, would not secure for sufficient

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3. village community

- Allocated since 2001 - Natural protection forest with average reserves - Area 150 ha (1,100 trees/ha) - Location: watershed forest and forest far from village residential area

Formulated from forest that has been managed by the village community so far and area reclaimed from shifting cultivation area of households

Be permitted to harvest: 5m3 of timber/household/year, 50 trees of bamboo/household/year; 120 loads of fuel wood/household/year; 20 kg of bamboo shoot/household/year

State budget for forest protection: VND 12,000/ha/year

- Clear the grass layer twice/year - Harvest timber and NTFPs

- Be received VND 12.000/ha/year - Be permitted to carry out selection harvesting from the added volume of forest reserves

4. Other organization of the village community

- Allocated since 2001 - Protection forest is rehabilitated natural forest, forests with average, small reserves, which are located far from village. Total area of 11,144 ha. Dominated species is cratoxylum formosum: 1,100 trees/ha

- depend on the demand for fund raising of the organizations such as Women or Farmer Associations)

- Be permitted to harvest: 5m3 of timber/household/year; 50 trees of bamboo/household/year; 120 of loads of fuel wood/household/year20 kg of bamboo shoot/household/year

State budget for forest protection: VND 12,000/ha/year

- Clear the grass layer twice/year - Harvest timber and NTFPs

- Be received VND 12.000/ha/year - Be permitted to carry out selection harvesting from the added volume of forest reserves

demand. Therefore, encouragement of local people to use other materials such as concrete, etc. instead of timber for housing is needed (taking full use of transportation advantage conditions of the village). - Timber market: Currently at the study site timber source is not available for sale but raising awareness of timber market to the local people would promote local investment in forestry production activities. Thus, concrete policy is needed to raise awareness of the local people.

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+ Experience from Dien Bien province

Dien Bien has allocated protection forest land to household and household group. Household group is allocated forest by the district people’s committee. The decision on forest allocation specifies the rights and obligations of household group. In fact, in many regions, the management of forest by local community, organizations of the local community has been established upon traditional practices or implementation of the Socio-Economic Development in Son La, Lai Chau province project (EU project) . Forests that are being managed by local community, organizations of the local community have not yet been recognized officially by commune, district or province but being accepted by commune, forestry management units of district and at regional level for implementation in communities. Each community has it own way of benefit sharing mechanism according to the forest management regulation of the village. Commune or district issues decision on recognition of the forest management regulation of the village.

Outputs from study in Mùn Chung commune, Tuần Giáo district (see table 05) reflect status of forest land allocation, forest allocation, forest management and utilization and benefit sharing mechanism of community participating in forest management of the province. Three target groups are allocated forest and land or recognized forest use rights are:

- Household: the district people’s committee issues the red book to household for protection forest land basing on legalizing the shifting area cultivated so far. Forest status is mostly 1c (baren land) and IIA (young forests). The benefit sharing mechanism is as follows:

Area that does not belong to the EU project area, the district applies invest norm of the 661 project. In fact, these areas have not yet been invested, which is therefore leaving for fallow or used for cultivation by the local people. Local people observe that the Decision 178 should not include provisions: “be invested by the state budget…..” into provision 1 of Article 6. This provision refers to the expectation of those receiving forest and they think that investment is the responsibility of the state.

Area invested from the EU project: 1ha of zoning for rehabilitation is paid VND 300,000 for two years; 1 ha of zoning and supplement plantation of Bat Do bamboo, Tram provided by the project is paid VND 600,000 for two years.

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- Household group: the district people’s committee allocates forest to household group for joint- use through a decision with a profile of allocated area. Joint use is understood: within a forest area allocated to household group, each household has equal right to manage, use, invest and harvest the forest and be responsible for the forest fire and monitoring household members. Each household has the right to receive an area of the same size for agro-forestry production or collecting fuel wood, sub-forest products and is responsible for forest protection. All harvesting products and those from thinning exercise are divided equally among households. The inheritance, transfer of such rights of each household must get consensus among group. In fact, joint-use household group does not have full legal status to enable them to receive investment or loan. The district people’s committee therefore has issued the red books to individual households. The red book shows the total area allocated to the household with the title joint-use. Area invested by the EU project following investment norm, household group discusses itself and jointly implements and benefits. Area without investment, household group jointly use the forest as mentioned above without any contribution to the local.

- Village community: forests managed by the village community include: firstly: old forest that has been existed for a long time ago (called in native language: Há Dống Lầu forest). Secondly, regenerated forest or young forest that is established from the shifting area cultivated by the local household previously and reclaimed by the community for protection of the water source (called in native language: Há Dống Mo forest). These two forest types are all self recognized by the village community. Till now, no official document issued by the province, district and commune recognizes the management and utilization rights of the village community over these forests. However, for implementation of forest protection and management exercises, these forests are all accepted by the functional agencies of the province, district and commune as community forests. These two types of community forests are all protected well and used for common purpose by the local people. Há Dống Lầu forest is mainly used for supplying timber for housing of the village people. While Há Dống Mo forest is mainly used for water stock and harvesting fuel wood, bamboo shoot and other sub-products. Both are treated as private and immutable property of the village people without any paper for recognition needed. The protection and utilization of these forests are regulated by the village regulation:

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Harvesting timber for housing must be permitted by village through village meeting. Timber for housing is used for 20 years and only after that new harvesting is available. One new house can only consume 9-10m3 of timber. Decision on harvesting permission is made by village, which is then reported to commune and finally submitted to forest ranger unit at district level.

Fuel wood: 4-5m3 of fuel wood/household/year; bamboo shoot for daily use of households. Volume of fuel wood, bamboo shoot and collecting sites are monitored by households themselves.

Such forest land area is not permitted to use for agriculture cultivation.

Those who detect the violation, arrests the person violating the regulation for solving is benefited 50% of compensation value and value of sale of seized products. After deducting the percentage for awarding, the remaining value is collected to the fund of the village for forestry use.

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Table 05: Summary model of community participating in forest management in Huổi Cáy village, Mùn Chung commune, Tuần Giáo district of Điện Biên7 province

Model Time, scope, target

group and allocation status

Formulation history and identification

process

Village regulation

Investment in

management and

protection

Impact, income of land and forest

receiver

Benefit sharing mechanism being

adapted

Assessment and recommendation

Self-recognized forest

- Since 1971-1972 when the village was established - including 3 forest areas: + Pàn Dề: Mít rừng, Ta lam species…with area of 22.6 ha + Há Chấy: Mạy thồ lộ, Dẻ (lithocarpus dealbatus), talauma, etc. species with area of 35.2 ha + Sống Lú: Mạy thồ lộ, Dẻ.., with area of 120.8 ha - Forest status in Huổi Cáy is mainly IIb - density: 1,030 trees/ha - density of regenerated trees: 1,200 trees/ha - Timber reserves 42 m3/ha - forest is developed well

- Pàn Dề is old forest which has been existed for a long time ago and recognized by community. - Sống Lú, Há Chấy: from 1980 backward was shifting cultivation land and then reclaimed by the commune for watershed protection. This is regenerated forest. - Ownership right: forest is located far from village and difficult to visit. Protection requires as more people as possible. Insufficient forest source to distribute to community members easily causes inequality. Therefore

- developed by community members and agreed for implementation. - Village regulation is short and easy to understand. - Village leader is the one who draft the regulation for endorsement at village meeting. - The commune has 16 villages where village regulations are available. Village regulation is implemented following one common format but the violation case is solved

- Huổi Cáy is a mountainous village where the transportaion road is very poor. Investment project therefore has not ever been available in this area. - Currently the EU project is available in the village. – Sơn La selected

- Timber for housing: each year, about 3-4 new houses are demanded. Each house requires 10m3 of timber. - Fuel wood: 4-5m3 fuel/household/year - Bamboo shoot for eating: 2-3 baskets/year - Village forest ranger (local ranger) being responsible for checking, monitoring forest management and protection is received wage accordingly. - village civil defense group consisting of 6

- harvesting timber for housing must have letter of proposal which is approved by competent authority with 9-10m3/house (an average of 20 years of house life) - fuel wood: 4-5m3 fuel wood/household/year - Bamboo shoot: 2-3 baskets/year - Forest land is not permitted to use for agriculture cultivation as most local people’s livelihoods rely on cultivation. - Those who detect the violation, arrests the person violating the regulation for solving is benefited 50% of compensation value and value of sale of seized products. After deducting the percentage

- Forest classification: (1) Old forest (há dống lầu), (2) young forest (há dống mo) (3) regenerated forest after cultivation or forest fire ((há dống mê) (4) Bamboo forest (Xông pù chự) (5) Spiritual forest (Pá heo) (6) watershed forest (Há dống hấu đê) - This classification method is simple and easy to understand. - classification method as specified in the Decision 178 including very critical, critical and less critical forests is complicated and difficult to understand and implement. - method to qualify the forest is to count the standing trees or the felling and cutting trees. - due to difficult transportation conditions, timber for housing and furniture production is therefore harvested from forests only without other option of using other materials for replacement. - cutting insected and winding

7 Nguyễn Bá Ngãi (2005). Case studies on community forest management models of the mountainous ethnic people in Northern Vietnam. Final report of key project of MARD in 2005

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forest is managed jointly by community as a whole. - No official document has been issued to recognize rights of management and utilization of village by province or district.

differently in respective villages.

villages locating nearby for investment, while other far away villages will be invested later.

members often conducts patrols, arrests violation cases and be benefited 50% of arrested products, while other 50% is reclaimed by the village.

for awarding, the remaining value is collected to the fund of the village for forestry use.

trees is permitted providing that cutting exercise is designed and monitored by local ranger

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Lessons learnt from Dien Bien case:

- Community forest which is self recognized for a long time with village regulation for forest protection and benefit sharing developed by community. This management model is recognized by the district and commune for adaptation to forest protection and development.

- The recognition, in spite of without legal approval, community forest used for harvesting timber for housing, furniture production and water protection is appropriate to the mountainous area.

- The management of forest and benefit sharing of forest source of the community are considered satisfactory in terms of addressing demand for forest products of the mountainous communities, well protected and developed forest.

- Joint-use household group is a good experience with regard to the linkage of responsibility and benefit of individual households with group and community as a whole.

- Provisions specified in the Decision 178 and the Circular 80 are difficult to apply to the mountainous, remote and ethnic communities.

+ Lessons learnt from Thừa Thiên Huế case

In 2000, in some areas of Thừa Thiên Huế province the initiative of forest and land allocation to community and adapting the benefit sharing mechanism to community participating in forest management was created. In Phu Loc and Phu Dien districts, 6 villages were allocated 1,570 ha of natural forest from decision issued by the PPC.

On 29 December 2000 the province issued Decision 3582/QĐ-UB on approving community natural forest management and protection planning in Thuỷ Yên Thượng village, Lộc Thuỷ commune, Phú Lộc district (in short: Decision 3582). At the same date, the PPC also issued decision 3581/QĐ-UB on allocating natural forest to community in Thuỷ Yên Thượng village, Lộc Thuỷ commune, Phú Lộc district (in short: decision 3581). Thuỷ Yên Thượng village was allocated 404.5 ha of critical protection forest with status IIIa1 and average reserves of 75.5 m3/ha, total reserves of 31,829 m3. The average growth volume is: 1.5 m3/ha/year. Total growth volume of the forest is 606.75 m3/first year. The forest composition is mainly timber of groups IV and V with the lowest regeneration rate of 1600 trees/ha, an average of 3000 trees/ha. The benefit sharing mechanism is developed upon the growth rate as follows:

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- Benefit share:

• If the growth rate of forest is ≥ 2%/year, equivalent to ≥ 1,5m3/ha/year the village is benefited 50% of the added timber volume.

If the growth rate is > 1m3/ha/year, the village is benefited 30%.

If the growth rate is > 0,5 m3/ha/year, the village is benefited 20%.

If the growth rate is ≤ 0,5 m3/ha/year, the village is benefited 10%.

If the growth rate is zero, village is benefited nothing and forest is reclaimed.

- Benefiting timber in advance: during the 10 initial years, the village is advanced an average timber of not more than 50m3 annually through selection cutting approach to address urgent demands.

- Harvesting other products: hunting animals, collecting medical plants, rattans, etc. under the guidance of the local ranger.

- Harvesting other sources: be permitted to harvest other natural resources providing without causing damages to forest and ecological environment of water source, soil, landscape, etc. of the forest

- Other benefits: Those who detect the violation will be awarded a certain percentage of the exhibited value according to the regulation.

Regarding the benefit sharing procedures:

- Timber: Annually, village develops plan for harvesting timber for advance supply together with proposal for signing by the commune. The local forest ranger checks the number, location of harvesting trees, harvesting and transporting measures, and then developing proposal for submission to the PPC for issuing license. Harvesting exercise will be supervised by local ranger who then will stamp on the harvested timber.

- For other products: through guidance of local forest ranger, the village develops proposal for submission to the commune people’s committee for signing and then to DARD for issuing harvesting license. Forest products belong to group IIA the PPC issues license upon proposal submitted by DARD.

- Hunting normal animals: the village submits proposal to the commune people’s committee for certifying and then for submission to local forest ranger unit for issuing license, guidance and supervision.

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- Harvesting other sources: the village takes initiative role in this activity with permission of the commune people’s committee.

After 3 years being allocated natural forest, forest is protected and developed well and as a result Thuỷ Yên Thượng village has been benefited from this natural forest area. Till 2003, the PPC allowed the village to harvest 92 m3 for advance supply. In the following years, the village continued adapting the benefit sharing mechanism based on added growth volume of forest.

Form a case of Thuỷ Yên Thượng village, the following lessons learnt could be observed:

- Firstly, allocating natural protection forest to village community;

- Secondly, the benefit share is based on the added growth volume;

- Thirdly: village people must know well the forest such as forest reserves, growth and finally collaborating to develop the benefit share rate;

- Fourthly: instead of providing annual financial support, “advancing” timber mechanism is established to address urgent and immediate demands for timber and incomes of the local people.

Experiences from Thuỷ Yên Thượng particularly and Thua Thien Hue generally show new initiative of establishment of the benefit sharing mechanism to the community participating in forest management.

+ Experience from Thanh Hoá province

Being similar to Dien Bien, land allocation of Thanh Hoa province is allocated to 2 key target groups: household and household group. These target groups are received land use right certificate. In fact, in many regions, the management of forest by local community and organizations of the community has been existed for a long time ago. The forest management is based on the village regulation. Forests under the management of village community and organizations of the community have not yet been officially recognized by the commune, district and province but accepted by the commune, forestry professional units of district and region. Each community has its own way of sharing benefits from forest, which is based on the village forest management regulation. The village forest management regulation is approved by the commune or district. Given the fact of demanding capital for bamboo plantation, community households being issued forest land use right certificate request to have separated red book to enable them to be accessible to loans. Thanh Hoa province is using its human and capital sources to deal with this problem.

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From a case of Thanh Hoa, it is visible that: Firstly, the benefit sharing mechanism was not implemented well due to the fact that this mechanism was developed by local people themselves, particularly to the forest area managed by village community and organizations of the community; Secondly, with efficiency of bamboo plantation, high demand for land for bamboo plantation and urgent need of loan from the bank, forest area allocated to household group will be divided to individual households and the red book will therefore be separated. These are hot issues that have not yet been taken into account including obligations and beneficial rights of entities being allocated land for plantation of materials for supply.

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Table 06: Summary of model of community participating in forest management in Phú Thanh commune, Quan Hóa district of Thanh Hoá province

Model Time, scope,

status and function

Formulation history and process of identification of ownership

right

State or project investment

Impact of community and

household

Benefit sharing mechanism

A. Land and forest allocation (with redbook or decision) 1. Household 1.1. Production forest

Allocated in 1999. total 58 ha being allocated to households is mainly bamboo forest planted for production purpose

This area is legalized upon previous use. On the other hand, this bamboo forest area is near residential area it is therefore convenient for tending and protection

Without any investment from the state, households invest in plantation and marketing themselves

Households themselves carry out production activities and the annual harvest volume is about 70-100 bamboo trees. This is the main income of the local people from forestry activities.

9,5 ha is used for agriculture cultivation, which is exempted from land use fees. Fuel wood: household harvesting bamboo is benefited 100% without deducting for any costs and fees, even land use fees. + NTFPs: no production model or income from NTFPs is available in the village.

1.2. Household group

Allocated in 1999 with an area of 49.7 ha. Before allocation, some areas were bare land, where have been planted bamboo tree for production purpose

As scattered distribution of land with small pieces, which therefore causes difficulty to divide at field site and consequently be legalized for use by households who used to use this area for cultivation so far.

No project or any investment from the state has been available this forest, households providing investing in and consuming products so far

Production is organized by households themselves with average annual harvest of about 70-100 trees/household. This is the main income of households from forestry production activity

As the same policy applied to the agriculture sector, the use of forest land is exempted from tax and be benefited 100% of value from harvesting bamboo. + NTFP: no production model or income from NTFPs is available in the village

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B. Self regonized model 1. Community

An area of 321 ha, mainly regenerated forest playing protection function

From 1999 backward area for agriculture cultivation and bare land were large and the forested area was small; being shortage of water source for cultivation irrigation and drinking, which resulted to low productivity and consequently causing more difficulties to the local livelihoods. With efforts of self awareness of local community and village forest management board, measure was adapted to step by step restrict agriculture cultivation in the mountain by cutting down number of households participating in cultivation on the bank of the Ma river shifting to agriculture cultivation. At the mean time, land is re-greened, which provides more water source.

Pu Lung natural reserve was established by the state with an area of 98 ha located in Pan village. Annually, this area is still managed and protected by the local people who is paid about VND 20,000 /ha for incentive

Community as a whole as well as other organizations of the community manage and protect this area. One group of 3 persons was established to be responsible for conducting patrolling exercises over forest. Salary of the group is paid by community through labour based cost model (3kg of rice/working day)

+ Such forest area under the management of the community is free from taxation. + as the forest is being in the process of regeneration, the species composition is therefore still poor with low volume and products harvestable from forest are almost none at the meantime. + Timber for housing: through interviews carried out in the village it shows that: rich family bought timber for housing from elsewhere, while the poor submitted proposal to village and commune authorities and finally local ranger for permission to harvest timber from community forest for housing.

2. Organization

From 1999 to 2000 production forest was mainly bamboo forest planted in scattered areas and individual trees could be counted but not accurate area.

Bamboo forest was planted and tended by local people themselves.

100% is benefited for harvesting bamboo.

C. Under contract

Currently the village is managing 98 ha of natural forest of the Pu Lung natural reserve. During site survey mission, no written contract signed between the natural reserve and the village community was found

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2.3.3. Community participating in forest plantation and management in Bac Kan province

The community forest management model in 4 villages of 2 communes of Na Ri, Bac Kan province are Bản Sảng, To Đoóc (Lạng San commune), Nà Mực, Khuổi Liềng (Văn Minh commune).

- Bản Sảng village has 68 households with 314 people. - To Đoóc village has 26 households with 132 people of whom 19 households participating in community forest management activities. - Nà Mực village has 23 households with 105 people of whom 22 households participating in community forest management activities. - Khuổi Liềng village has 36 households with 182 people. + Operations of the community forest model - Establishment of the community forest management board: 2 management boards were established at commune level with 3 people from each commune (including chairman of the commune people’s committee, land administration staff and agriculture extension staff). 4 management boards were established in 4 villages at village level (each management board has 5 people). Regulation for community forest management and regulation for forest development fund were developed for 4 villages. - Forest allocation to community: Currently, all 4 communty forestry project villages have been issued land use certificate for the local people by the district people’s committee of Na Ri, specifically:

Bản Sảng village: allocated 3 forest areas with total are of 1,902,596 m2. To Đoóc village: allocated 2 forest areas with total area of 451,276 m2. Nà Mực village: allocated 2 forest areas with total area of 1,183,463 m2. Khuổi Liềng village: allocated 4 forest areas with total area of 1,211,193

m2. - Nursery operations: Project villages were all trained on nursery establishment at village level in 2007 and one nursery was established in each project village with an area sufficient for nursing 50 thousand seedlings. All materials, seeds, etc. were funded by project with in-kind contribution by local people. During operations, as weather was bad and the local farmers in the village could not manage adequate skills, community forest management board failed to ask people for tending the nursery frequently, rate of dead seedlings in the nursery was high with only 100 thousand seedlings for 4 nurseries.

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- Conducting training courses: The commune conducted training courses on transferring techniques to the local people of each village of the project area. The training courses conducted at the commune people’s committee were participated by 40 to 50 participants, while courses organized in villages were involved by all village people. - Managing forest development fund: Each village was funded VND 13,000,000 by the project to establish the forest development fund. During project life, these money was used for buying tea, drinking water supporting community forest activities, purchasing tools for patrolling, for loans to village households with low interest rate, etc. and collecting contributions from training courses, interest incomes, selling seedlings, etc. through supervision and checking exercises, it was recognized that fund was used effectively and consistent with the forest development fund regulations developed by villages. - Plantation operations: Seedlings from nursery, partly are used for planting community forest, while the remaining is distributed to households for small holder plantation. As tending of nursery is not conducted good enough, seedlings are therefore planted in the field with high death rate. Through observations, it is calculated that: - Lạng San commune planted more than 14 ha, including:

+ Bản Sảng village planted about 9 ha. + To Đoóc village planted more than 5 ha - Văn Minh commune planted more than 15 ha, including:

+ Nà Mực village planted more than 7 ha + Khuổi Liềng village planted more than 8 ha + Effective impact of community forest management activities:

- All un-owned land areas have been allocated to community for management by the Na Ri district people’s committee (with the land use right certificate). Deforestation for cultivation land and illegal harvesting cases were mitigated and deforesters and violators were aware of their behaviors.

- Annual plan for plantation, zoning for rehabilitation, establishment of agro-forestry models have been carried out on the forest land areas allocated to community. This advanced model has been adapted to household and individual plantation scope.

- Local people were transferred techniques on nursery building, agro-forestry model, forest plantation, forest tending and harvesting sustainably. They were also accessible to the state laws and regulations on forest management and protection.

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- Local people was received investment in the village nursery and pro-active in seedling supply for planting community forest and individual plantation.

- Project villages were provided initial fund to carry out project activities and loans for production and breeding with low interest. Additionally, villages were allocated to harvest products from agro-forestry models to contribute to the fund. 2.3.4. Development of fund for community forest management of a Small grant Program for sustainable management of tropical forest (SGP - PTE) in Vietnam

From 2003 to 2006, the SGP – PTE program in Vietnam developed 22 projects in 16 provinces. Projects mainly focuses on management of natural forest, watershed forest, new plantation of production forest, etc. new aspect of this Program is through development of model for village community forest management, each project is potential for further development after project funding is ended. Program SGP - PTF established community funds with fund availability of about VND 100 – 150 millions per commune to maintain project. Capital of the community fund for forest protection is added from 2 main funding sources including contributions of local people from their added value from agriculture extension activities provided by the fund such as supplying seedling, techniques; and production supporting services funded by this community fund. Besides, SGP - PTF program also promoted new working approaches such as land and forest allocation directly to individual households. Local people themselves subsequently developed plan for production development. Local people were also assisted to share and benefit products from this model.

New features of the Program should be paid due attention to8

+ How are the fund establishment and management organization carried out?

In the SGP – PTF program, upon respective forest land for allocation, requirement for community forest protection and development, management capacity of the community in the project area, individual community was initially supported VND 5-30 millions to establish the community forest development fund. The identification of the fund scope depended on the work load to be carried out, capacity of contribution of community and financial management capacity of the community leader. This amount is the initial capital of the community, which provides basis for plan development for them. Role of community is to identify what are the most necessary activities for them to fulfill the protection and

8 Referring to report of the CISDOMA: http://www.cisdoma.org.vn/detail.asp?mnz=0&Languageid=0&id=602

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management of the allocated forest. Cost of these activities is funded from the community forest. While community is also required to identify incomes to add to the fund aiming at maintaining the fund operation for long term basis. This is also the key activity of the community forest development plan being supported by the SGP PTF program aiming at producing lessons learnt for application to wider scope.

+ What did the community do to be able to develop and manage the fund?

Necessary activities carried out by community to develop, manage and maintain the fund include:

- Develop internal regulation

The internal regulation consists of 3 components that require consensus among community in order to secure effective implementation of regulation, including:

Specify specific responsibility of individual community members in terms of forest protection and development of the community.

Regulate the rights of benefiting from forest of individual community members

Stipulate awarding and punishment policy dealing with violation and obligations on labour contribution to forest management and protection of the community.

- Develop participatory plan

Annually, community is required to develop plan for forest development for themselves with participation of the community members, which covers the following issues:

Identify clearly the existing forest resource that is being under management of the community (area, boundary, forest products source, etc.)

Identify key activities and cost norms

Identify incomes source and source of contributions

Identify requirements for recommending to the local authority and relevant agencies for support

- Be transparent in terms of expenditures

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Monthly, it is required to public to the community as a whole the expenditures, contributions of members, and promote democracy over fund expenditures supervision

- Be supported and supervised by local authority, mass organizations, etc.

+ How could community maintain the fund sustainably?

Sustainable maintenance of fund operation is the most vital task and also pre-requisite to the success of implementation of the community forest protection and development plan. To main the fund, project is the SGP - PTF program must focus on the following activities:

- To operate well advocating and training to make local people aware that this fund is of the local people’s assess, which supports for common benefit of the community.

- Provisions on the responsibility to contribute to the fund by the local people must be included in the internal regulation of the community

- Responsibility of contributing to the fund is linked to the rights of benefiting from forest source of the local people.

- Create and manage incoming sources from forest products

- Train on financial management capacity building to community staff

- Create a linkage with the village community credit fund

- Be supported from the state in terms of laws, policies and supporting programmes, etc.

2.3.5. Piloting community forest management to production of forest products for trade

Two piloting models of managing community forest for production of forest products for trade were implemented in Đăk Nông and Đăk Lăk provinces.

+ Model of piloting community forest management and benefit sharing mechanism in Đăk Nông

Since 2005, the provincial people’s committee of Đăk Nông has assigned task to the DARD to carry out piloting the community forest management and timber exploitation to develop the benefit sharing mechanism. DARD proposed to the Extension and Training Support Project (ETSP) funded by Helvetas/ Switzerland for technical and financial support to this process aiming at piloting and sharing benefit to forest area allocated to community in order to make sure

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that community feels secure to manage and protect the allocated area on long term, sustainable and stable basis. The provincial people’s committee of Đăk Nông issued decision no 215/QĐ-CT dated 13 Feb. 2007 on approving and allowing to pilot the community forest management model and establish benefit sharing mechanism with the following key items:

- Allocate land and forest to village communities of the M’Nông ethnic minority.

- Develop plan for community forest management and regulation for forest protection and development. Carry out 2007 plan.

- Develop benefit sharing mechanism for timber source.

- Consolidate and document technical and administrative documents on community forest management.

The piloting model was implemented in Bon Bu Nor (or Thon 6) with an area of 1,016 ha forest, Bon Me Ra 692 ha and Bon Bu Đưng 418 ha of Dăk Rtih commune (or Quảng Tâm commune) of Tuy Đức district.

After 3 years of operation, Thon 6 with 120 households (year 2009) shows that community is a forest owner; forest has been protected and developed well. In 2008, community harvested timber for trade upon approved 5 year forest management plan to get income of VND 600 millions. In 2009, harvesting timber for trade in March benefited VND 432 millions and planed to conduct 2nd harvesting plan by the year end with an estimated turnover of VND 500 millions. This incoming amount is used to cover forest management and protection, plantation costs, and partly shared to households and purchased tools and facilities supporting for forest management and protection. Remarkably, the community purchased a car branded Uaz and valued VND 48 millions.

+ Piloting model of benefit sharing mechanism of trade timber in Đăk Lăk

In 2006 the provincial people’s committee of Đăk Lăk permitted to pilot the benefit sharing mechanism of trade timber for community forest management model in T’Li and Chăm villages, Easol commune of Ea H’Leo district. In 2006, the district people’s committee of Ea H’Leo issued license for harvesting timber from natural forest for trade in piloting model.

In forest plot covering an area of 143 ha, local people of T’ly village harvested legally nearly 370 m3 of timber for trade. This harvesting timber was auctioned and benefited VND 616 millions (equivalent to 31,000 Euro). After deducting harvesting cost and taxes, fees, the remaining of VND 283 millions

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(equivalent to 14,000 Euro) was used for forest development purpose and the village as a whole, and for benefit of 123 households in the village.

In Chăm village, another piloting site, about 63 m3 of timber was harvested for 5-6 households for housing.

With area of 1,127 ha of T’Ly village and 1,804 ha of Chăm village, local people has been no doubts about new potential of forest management and benefiting lots of immediate advantages as well as getting improved capacity of forest protection.

+ New aspects required attention

- Firstly: steps to manage community forest

Steps of community forest management process after allocation include9 :

Allocate forest to village community: participatory approach with participation of village community; identify area for allocation, allocation approach and management organization.

Develop 5 year and annual forest management plans: participatory forest resource assessment; community based forest management planning.

Develop and implement community forest protection and development regulation: based on expectation of community and state law.

Approve implementation organization and monitoring plan: renovate administrative procedures responding well to community forest.

Benefit sharing mechanism: the benefit sharing mechanism of timber based on stable forest model and community forest regulation.

- Secondly: Administrative procedures of community forest management

Administrative procedures of community forest management were proposed right after piloting exercise as mentioned in table 07.

- Thirdly: Basis for benefit sharing mechanism development for timber of community forest management

Referring to Mr. Bảo Huy, natural forest being allocated to community is mostly young and poor forest and only small proportion is medium forest.

9 Referring to Bảo Huy – Forest management and benefit from forest and land allocation – Case study in the Central Highlands – Proceedings of the National Forum on forest and land allocation in Vietnam, Hanoi – 29/5/2008

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According to the state laws harvesting is only permitted to forest that reserves medium level with large enough diameter trees. Taking this regulation into account, forests being under management of community are not matured for harvesting. This is the fact that explains why the Decision 178 has not yet been adapted. While local people residing nearby forest are always demanding for fuel wood; and poor forests are, even, still needed to be intervened to be able to developed steadily with high volume. An important option, for dealing with this factual case, is to develop plan and harvest fuel wood from community forest based on stable forest model. This approach is prerequisite to help local people to be a real owner of forest resource, while reducing work load of forestry agencies.

Table 07: Proposal for administrative procedures on community forest

management10

No Administrative steps of community forest management

Responsibility of implementation

Agencies supporting and consulting community for implementation

Approval

1 Land and forest allocation with red book

Community forest management board

District Forest protection department, Commune Forestry Unit, District Natural Resources and Environment Department

District people’s committee

2 Develop 5 year and annual plans for forest management

Community forest management board

District Finance – Planning Department; district forest protection department; Commune forestry unit

District people’s committee (5 year plan); commune people’s committee (annual plan)

3 Develop and implement forest protection and development regulation

Community forest management board

District Forest protection department, commune forestry unit, district justice department

District people’s committee

4 Implement timber harvesting plan

10 Referring to Bảo Huy and ETSP project and Rural development project in Đăk Lăk (RDDL) 2005-2007

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4.1 Train on silviculture techniques on cutting, selection

Community forest management board

District forest protection department, local forest ranger

DARD approves silviculture technique on community forest management

4.2 Forest stamp (do not use forest stamp for standing trees, use red pain to mark on the tree trunk and stump at 1.3 m height) List stamped trees for each plot: species, quality.

Local forest ranger

4.3 Issue harvesting license (upon number of trees of different diameter levels)

Commune forestry unit, district forest protection department and finance-planning department

District people’s committee

4.4 Harvest (cutting, site clearance, timber transportation) List of tem: species, middle diameter, volume

Community forest management board

Local forest ranger

4.5 Stamp on timber - applicable to timber for trading

Community forest management board

Local forest ranger District forest protection department

4.6 Timber auction and tax payment

Community forest management board; commune people’s committee

District department of finance and planning

Features of the stable forest model:

- Basing on the species composition of downwarding diameter: ensure stable maintenance of forest species of different generations.

- Diameter space is ensured that trees of the same diameter could be grown up to bigger diameter after 5 year period. With an average growth of natural forest tree of 3 – 5 m after 5 years, diameter level therefore needs to be identified within this growth rate in order to establish a stable forest model. However, for easy adaptation by village community, it is required to add up diameters to be

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fewer levels. It is better to use 3-5 diameter levels with amplitude of 10 cm of each.

- A forest composition that achieves productivity at reasonable and stable levels in each ecological region, forest type, forest status is not an optimal productivity forest model as natural forest has low reserve after years of harvesting. Through stable forest model and different forest status, forest is maintained and tended step by step to get higher productivity, which ensures bio-diversity and protection functions while supplying part of fuel wood to local livelihoods. Therefore, it is necessary to establish stable forest model to different forest status in order to manage forest sustainably and identify appropriate harvesting volume.

- Provide basis to identify fuel wood volume for harvesting of different forest status: stable forest model is a tool to modify existing forest status and identify fuel wood volume for harvesting. It is, indeed, not a standard, sample and optimal model but by undertaking modification and tending step by step forest would be in better status gradually. It means that thinning, harvesting exercises at different status are necessary to be undertaken to modify forest composition towarding to a stable status, while utilizing fuel wood source from these exercises for local demands.

3. Some issues on community forest management

3.1. Legal status of village community is still unclear

The Land Law 2003, the Forest Protection and Development Law 2004, and some other legal documents issued by the State regulated that village community is eligible to be allocated with forest and land, and even forest management and utilization rights. The Civil Law 2005 stated that an organization is considered as a legal entity whenever following conditions are met: Be established or recognized by competent authority; together with organizational structure; assets; involving in legal relations in an independent manner. Then village community is not a legal entity as it does not meet completely the above – mentioned conditions. If forest is allocated to village community, legal executing agencies will hardly resovle problems once it occurs civil conflicts with another entity or legal violations.

The problem is that while legal status of the village community is still unclear for forest and land allocation and forest management, there is shortage of additional studies on relevant legal regulations.

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3.2. Missing points in policies and mechanisms

Basically, Viet Nam has a legal framework for implementation of community forest management but there are still shortage of mechanisms and policies relating to forest – related benefit – sharing regulations, i.e. lacking of existing regulations on benefit obtaining, especially benefits from allocation of natural forests to community and community-base management and harvesting of commercial timber 11. Insufficience and shortcomings in existing policies are happenning in practice, specifically as follows:

- Decision 178 and Circular 80 did not mention about benefits for communities and their obligations as involving in forest management. Technical requirements, such as identification of forest harvesting criteria and benefit – sharing rates, are very complicated, thus it is impossible for community in doing so. Administrative procedures on commercial timber harvesting in natural forests managed by community are not yet available.

- Decision 40/2005/QĐ-BNN issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issuing the Regulations on harvesting of timber and other forest products included plenty of shortcomings and inadequacies to community – a forest owner type. Technical indicators, which are identified on the basis of harvesting volume, frequency, and period, were really comlex for community to identify and implement. According to current regulations, harvesting design is carried out by consultancy units, then the community is not familiar with modalities on management of its own forests. Harvesting procedures are very complicated with the involvement of many levels, resulting in accessibility difficulties for the community.

- Decision 106/2006/QĐ-BNN dated 27 November 2006 issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on issuance of guidelines for management of village community forests only limited to the pilot program on community forestry in 40 communes of 10 provinces. This Decision allowed local communities to involve in housing and commercial harvesting based on 2 methods on volume or number of trees following diameter class. The volume-based harvesting method, the harvesting frequency created difficulties that made community hard in accessibility.

11 Bao Huy – Forest management and benefit sharing in forest and land allocation – Case study in Central Highland – Proceedings of National Forum on forest and land allocation in Viet Nam, Ha Noi – 29 May 2008

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- Decision 2324/BNN-LN dated 21 August 2007 on guidelines for community forest harvesting targets and procedures limited the housing – based timber harvesting of the community by volume.

Therefore, current policies do not have separate regulations on forest-based benefit – sharing for the community, which is, in fact, making use of those on benefit-sharing and obligations for target groups of households, individuals and organizations. There is no clear regulations on harvesting of commercial timber when the community have natural forest allocated and managed. Besides regulations on administrative procedures are unclear while those on technical indicators are quite complicated, making the community difficult in accessibility... The above-mentioned shortcomings were restricting the involvement of the community in forest management.

3.3. Community forest management plan: Issues on techniques, recognition, and institutionalization

During the process of community forest management, development of 5 – year and annual forest management are follow up actions after forest and land are allocated to the community. This is a very important step, which is considered as forest business plan and it needs to be recognized as the community forest management plan for natural forests allocated to the community. The pilot program on community forest management in 40 communes of 10 provinces also piloted community forest management plan development procedures. ETSP project, Rural development project in Dak Lak (RDDL), and the University of Tay Nguyen have developed and piloted contents, procedures, and methods on community forest management plan development in some areas of Dak Nong and Dak Lak provinces. Stable forest model is theoretical basis for 5-year and annual forest management plan development piloted in above areas. However, 5 – year forest management plan development is facing 2 major problems in the following:

+ Firstly, unsuitability of the current silviculture procedures applied in conditions of ethnic minorities for forest management plan development:

There exists differences between traditional silviculture techniques and those applied for community forests. Traditional ones are often applied for state forest enterprises and forestry companies while silviculture techniques used for community forests are usually applied in small scale, such as community. Both ETSP and RDDL have piloted and applied simple silviculture solutions in implementation of community forest management in provinces of Hoa Binh, Thua Thien Hue, Dak Nong and Dak Lak, which then came up with a comparison to

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clarify differences between the two forest management modalities as stated in Table 8.

Table 08: Comparison between the two forest management modalities of traditional forestry and community forestry12

Comparison criteria

Traditional forestry Community forestry (CFM)

Quantity of timber harvested once

Big (Depending on economic efficiency of harvesting)

Small (Mainly for household needs and a few for commercial purpose)

Silviculture technique applied

Selected cutting with high intensity once (cutting fully the 20 – 30 year increment of the forest)

Selected cutting by tree based on diameter class, species, small intensity (Depending on stable 5-year forest model, criteria for selective cutting)

Harvesting frequency and period

Irregular (“cutting” and “waiting”), over 20 – 30 years

Regular on annual basis in different areas and harvesting after 5 - year period

Used technology Chain on harvesting, transportation mainly by machinery vehicles

Using simple tools locally, manual transportation or cattle vehicles

Impacts on environment

Great impact to soil, regenerated trees and other forest trees due to machinery use and high harvesting intensity

Low impact to soil, regenerated trees and other trees due to simple tools used and low harvesting intensity

Post-harvesting tending requirements

Very high (Great impacts to forest resources)

Low (But it depends on techniques in tree selection and cutting)

At present, the application of silviculture techniques has been mainly following the procedures applied for timber and bamboo production forests, which were issued by the Ministry of Forestry in 199313. These procedures used to be developed serving as forest business units at large scale but they are not

12 Bao Huy (2006), Guidelines on simple silviculture techniques for natural forests in Viet Nam, ETSP project, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development - 2006 13 Ministry of Forestry (1993), Procedures on silviculture techniques for timber and bamboo production forests, Agriculture Publishing House, Ha Noi 1993.

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suitable to local resources as being applied into community forest management conditions, resulting in some constraints, including: - High harvesting intensity for long business period of 20 – 30 years will be

unsuitable due to forest areas allocated to the community are not big enough self – sustained space and time arrangements in a rather long period and high harvesting intensity, which will not be feasible to investments of the community.

- Regulations on harvesting diameter are only appropriate to timber business but nothing mentions to community needs for diversity of forest – based products.

- The guidelines focused much on technical issues but lacked specific practices to be applied in the community.

- Nothing mentions to linkage between indigenous knowledge and community conditions so as to select appropriate technical solutions.

- Criteria on identification of forest harvesting objects are very high while poor forests are allocated to the community, resulting in no income was generated for quite long period of time.

Besides, methods on identification of forest situation, forest resource inventory and evaluation, and forest volume calculation are complicated meanwhile many formulas are impossible to be applied in the conditions of local ethnic communities. In fact, forest and land allocation are implemented by forest resources inventory and evaluation technicians themselves and achieved outputs are defined for the community, resulting in the problem that the community does not understand how they could manage the data on resources or it is doubtful to them as they do not believe in the applied methods.

+ Secondly, community forest management plan has not been recognized and institutionalized as forest business or community forest management exercise:

At present, in some areas the 5 – year community forest management plan is approved by the district People’s Committee while annual plan is approved by the commune People’s Committee. These plans have just been recognized as the forest management plan with internal use and non – trade purposes. Harvesting of natural forests by the community for commercial purpose has not been recognized meanwhile the natural forest harvesting plan managed by the community has not been put in annual “quota” of the local authorities. The community forest management plan is not considered as community business or natural forest management plan but the fact stated clearly the necessity to recognize it as a management plan for community forest as explained above.

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4. Some recommendations and solutions on strengthening community forest management in Viet Nam

On the basis of analysis of current status and problems for community forest management in Viet Nam, below are some recommendations and proposed solutions aimed at resolving problems and strengthening community forest management in this country in an effective manner:

4.1. Recommendations on policy for community forest management

4.1.1. Factual needs for policies on community forest management

On the basis of above – mentioned evaluation and analysis reflected clearly the necessity to realize a clear legal status on community forest management as:

- There is no doubt on the involvement of community in forest management and it always happens even it is ether institutionalized or not recognized due to it is a basic feature on community culture and relation in the upland existing for many years. Therefore, recognizing a community as a subject with legal entity always brings substantial benefits to forest management. This issue needs further studying and supplementing into laws so as to affirm gradually the village community with full legal entity in forest management, protection, utilization and business.

- Utilizing a part of forest area for public purposes of the community, e.g. timber for house building, maintenance of water sources, meeting spiritual needs and so on, should be considered as a benefit – sharing modality for the community, which needs to be institutionalized clearly. Forest utilization for such purposes of the community is very essential in present and future contexts with the development of household and farm economies and commodity production, which may be the risks threatening the management, utilization and benefiting of public assets as happening in many places. The realities in many areas showed that the community has no land for public uses together with no forests for preservation of water sources and no public fund for welfare etc.

- There should be sufficient legal basis for the community to be recognized as a legal entity involving in management and utilization of commercial forest products, especially for natural forests allocated to the community for management. However, technical regulations in community forest business plan need also revising to be appropriate to the community conditions.

- Reality showed that forests, which were managed and protected by the community, are often in better conditions as following community regulations,

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obligations and equal benefits for community members. The community members aware of forests with their self-awareness, strict regulations of the community, and there belief or spirit.

4.1.2. Specific recommendations on policy

a) On community-based group division for forest management

Each community has different conditions relating to natural, socio – economic features, which cause certain impacts to the development of community. Results achieved in study places showed the differences in conditions, development level, forest management capabilities as well as benefit sharing ones. In order to reach the development in community forest management, each local authority (province, district, and commune) needs to get the community divided by 2 separate groups on the basis of basic criteria as provided in Table 9 below.

Table 9: Community group division criteria14

Criteria Community group I

Community group II

Ethnic minority proportion Less ethnic minority

More ethnic minority

Forest management qualification of the community (Qualification on technique, organization and management, responsibility of households and village leaders)

High Low

Forest dependence of the community Little Much

Household economic development Much Little

Favorable locations of the community for development opportunities

Favorable Less favorable

Area of markets and consumption of forest products

Near Far

Community classification results (Fill consolidated results in neighboring boxes)

14 Nguyen Ba Ngai.Ministry level classified thematic report in 2005: Study on some community forest management models of ethnic minorities in northern upland of Viet Nam. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development 2005

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b) On planning

It needs to review and adjust forest protection and development planning at commune level, including the planning of each community on the basis of following direction:

- Planning of forest areas to provide timber for house building and other essential forest products for the community on the basis of calculating the minimum requirements of timber and forest products for the community each year. In case, there are existing a few areas of natural forests, planning of forest land area needs to be done for firewood plantation by the community;

- Planning of forests for preservation of water sources and holy forests of the community;

- Planning of community forests for commercial production and business;

- Planning of minimum field cultivation areas for food security.

c) On forest allocation

- Firstly, District People’s Committee needs to make decision on forest allocation to village community. Then it could separate allocation of forest land by issuing land use certificate (“red book”) and allocation of forests via Decision issued by Chairman of District People’s Committee to allow the village community to get forest allocated without land use certificate, which is appropriate to the Land Law and the Forest Protection and Development Law.

- Secondly, allocation of forests to the village community and group of households focus on following subjects:

For the village community under the group II:

Forests are recognized by the community for a long time.

Forests for providing the community with minimum timber needed for house building or essential forest products.

Forests for preservation of water sources for the community.

Holy forests.

Forests far from residential areas are hard to be protected as no household or individual expects to get.

For the village community under the group I:

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In addition to the forests allocated to the village community under group II, those in group I could have natural production forests and production plantation land allocated for community business arrangements and income generation.

- Thirdly, allocation of forests to the village community under Group I needs to be limited with respect to utilization rights, i.e. forests are used only for public purposes or decided by the community, no forest allocation to members, no mortgage, concession, rental or sale.

- Fourthly, allocation of forests to village community is only implemented whenever forest management plan (community forest management plan) is approved by functional agencies. Meanwhile the Commune People’s Committee commits to function state administration roles on forestry in accordance with the Decision 245.

- Fifthly, allocation of forests to the village community for the duration is taken from allocation time until change happened on forest status or business cycle (for production plantations), then on the basis of results and factual needs, decision will be made on whether forests will be allocated continuously or allocated to another subject.

d) On interests and obligations

- For natural forests planned for meeting public purposes of the community such as provision of timber for house construction and essential forest products, protection of water sources and holy forests of the community:

+ Being allowed to utilize the forests following rightly the forest management plan and community conventions for such forest type approved by competent agency.

+ In collaboration with the commune authorities and local forest rangers, the community is responsible for development of forest management and utilization options for each forest category and forest – related conventions specifying type and quantity of forest products allowed for annual harvesting together with no negative impacts to forest growth, development and functions.

+ Products harvested from forests only serve as consumption within the community, which is not permitted for circulation in the market and sales in the community.

+ Harvesting for forest products is implemented in line with the plan developed by the community and reported to the commune People’s Committee and local forest ranger for monitoring.

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+ The State provides no investment to this forest type while the community self invest in planting, management and protection.

- Natural forests having volume are production ones allocated to the community:

In collaboration with commune authorities and local forest rangers, the community is responsible for development of plan for management (Community forest management plan) and utilization of allocated forests, which is approved by competent agency. Chairman of District People’s Committee makes decision on allocation of forest utilization rights.

Benefit – sharing mechanism is implemented in line with annual forest management and harvesting plan.

- The community is allowed to utilize forests, which are young, rehabilitated, and poor ones:

The village community is invested by the State to implement methods of tending, management and protection, prevention of forest destruction impacts, and forest fire prevention and fighting. The investment and benefit-sharing level is based on existing investment norms applied by the State. Investment and benefit – sharing period is started at forest allocation time until it is changed into better status with volume. The benefit – sharing mechanism will then be applied as those for natural forests having volume are production ones allocated to the community.

4.2. Recommendations on community forest management

4.2.1. Contents and steps of community forest management implementation

Community forest management contents are briefly provided in Diagram 1 on community forest management cycle with 5 phases and 13 steps.

+ Phase I: Establishing the forest utilization rights of the community

This phase consists of 2 major steps as following:

- Step 1: Forest protection and development planning in the whole commune

The contents of the step 1 include evaluation of current status; evaluation of implementation arrangements in the previous phase, current needs and projections of forest utilization and benefiting needs in the planning period; identification of areas and distribution of forest categories by use purposes and management subjects in the planning period; identification of management, protection, utilization and development methods over forest categories;

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identification of forest protection and development planning implementation solutions; and projection of forest protection and development efficiency.

The outputs of forest protection and development planning are to identify clear boundary, area and volume of forest categories on maps and in the field within the commune area, including: Natural forests, plantations and plantation land; Protection, production, and special-use forests; Forests are being used by subjects and those will be allocated to the subjects.

- Step 2: Allocation of forests to the community

The contents of the step 2 include identification of forest categories and forest areas allocated to the village community; allocation norms and period; allocation contents, steps, and procedures; development of allocation options and forest allocation in the field.

+ Phase II: Developing 5 – year community forest management plan

This phase consists of following steps:

- Step 3: Evaluation and inventory of forest resources

The contents of the step 3 include zoning of blocks; primary description and classification of forest blocks by soil types, forest categories, utilization purposes and interventions; field - based survey and measurement of forests with no harvesting exercise; field - based survey and measurement of forests with insufficient conditions for harvesting; field - based survey and measurement of forests with sufficient conditions for harvesting; evaluation of current status of forests with sufficient conditions for harvesting.

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Diagram 1: Community forest management cycle15

15 Nguyễn Bá Ngãi. Báo cáo đề tài trọng điểm cấp bộ 2005: Nghiên cứu một số mô hình quản lý rừng cộng đồng của đồng bào dân tộc thiểu số vùng núi phía Bắc Việt Nam. Bộ NN&PTNT 2005

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AT PROVINCIAL, DISTRICT, AND COMMUNE LEVELS C

ÁC

CƠ

QU

AN

CH

UYÊ

NN

GÀ

NH

LÂM

NG

HIỆ

PCẤ

PTỈ

NH

VÀH

UYỆ

N

PHASE I: Establishing forest utilization rights of the community

Step 1: Forest protection and development planning in the whole commune

Step 2: Allocation of forests to the community

PHASE II: Developing 5-year community forest

management plan Step 3:

Evaluation and inventory of

forest resources

Step 4: Identifying

community needs for firewood,

timber, products

Step 5: Developing 5-year and annual forest management plans

Step 6: Identification of forest – based intervention methods

Step 7: Approval & management of forest management plan

PHASE IV: Community forest management

implementation

Step 11: Establishing community forest protection and

Step 10: Developing annual work plan

Step 9: Setting up CFM Management Board and

PHASE III: Developing CFM management, protection and development convention

Step 8: Developing and conducting conventions

Step 12: Community forest management plan

PHASE V: Monitoring & Evaluation

Step 13: M&E of community forest management

Planning

adjustment

Village community

Commune forestry

organization

NON-STATE FORESTRY ORGANIZATIONS

STATE

FOR

ESTRY

OR

GA

NIZA

TION

S

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Step 4: Identification of village needs for timber, firewood, and forest products

The contents of the step 4 include identification of needs for forest products for construction of houses, breeding facilities, dams, schools, and firewood by implementing selective surveys of some households and discussion with group of farmers.

- Step 5: Development of 5 – year and annual forest management plans

The contents of 5 – year and annual forest management plans include definition of management objectives over each forest block, such as forest tending, zoning for regeneration, plantation, protection, agro-forestry, harvesting of timber, harvesting of bamboo, rattan…

- Step 6: Identification of forest – based intervention methods

The contents of the step 5 are to identify forest – based intervention methods for each forest category, such as those with no harvesting, insufficient conditions for harvesting, and sufficient conditions for harvesting.

- Step 7: Approval and management of community forest management plans

Community forest management plans are developed by villages and submitted to the District People’s Committee for approval, which will then be implemented by the village community meanwhile commune authorities are responsible for management and monitoring of annual plan implementation. Other relevant agencies are responsible for supervision and monitoring of the plan implementation on the basis of assigned functions and in accordance with legal regulations.

+ Phase III: Development of forest management, protection and development convention

- Step 8: Development and implementation of convention

The contents of community forest protection and development convention need to address clearly: major issues relating to community forest management; regulations on forest development, harvesting and collection of forest products, livestock’s raising, forest fire prevention and fighting, field cultivation, hunting of wildlife animals; benefit-sharing and obligations of forest owners; compensation and rewarding procedures. The convention development and implementation follow a closed process every year, including: preparatory activities, group discussion and meeting with people, participatory convention development and consultation, approval by commune and district authorities, convention

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dissemination, implementation arrangements, annual monitoring and evaluation, and revision of the convention.

+ Phase IV: Implementation arrangements of community forest management

Community forest management implementation contents include major steps as follows:

- Step 9: Establishment of Management Board and Organization for community forest management

Community forest management board is established by the village, including village leader, elders, representatives of village party unit, youth union, farmer association, women union, group of veterans, and reports to Commune People’s Committee for recognition. The tasks of the village community forest management board are to develop community forest management plan; divide groups of households with group leader and his/ her deputy appointed; assign tasks to household groups on implementation of forest management plan; mobilize funding and human resources for forest development; monitor and supervise forest management plan implementation; monitor harvesting of forests and non – timber forest products; monitor benefit – sharing for the community; develop and implement expenditure plans for forest protection and development fund (if any); and make and submit periodical reports on community forest management implementation results to communal authorities.

Establishment of community forest management modalities depends on physical, economic, and social conditions, especially local awareness and manners and customs of each locality so as to select appropriate modality on forest management arrangements, such as cooperatives on forestry or agriculture – forestry, or organization of forestry – related working groups (forest protection group, plantation group, harvesting group, etc.)

- Step 10: Development of annual work plan

Annual work plan addresses clearly activities, quantity of work, implementation sites, expected results, implementation duration, and responsibilities of relevant stakeholders, calculation of costs and funding sources. Annual community forest management plan is approved by commune People’s Committee.

- Step 11: Establishment of community forest protection and development fund

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Establishment and management of community forest protection and development fund include development of fund organization and management mechanism, mobilization of funding contributions, and fund utilization and monitoring.

- Step 12: Implementation of community forest management plan

On the basis of approved annual community forest management plan, the community carries out different silviculture practices for forest protection and development, and harvesting of forest products.

+ Phase V: Monitoring and Evaluation

- Step 13: Monitoring and evaluation of community forest management

The contents of the step 13 include: formulation of Monitoring and evaluation working group, development of indicators, targets, and monitoring and evaluation methods, implementation of monitoring and evaluation exercises, report writing and adjustment of forest management plan, and preparation of community forest management work plan for the coming year.

4.2.2. Recommendations on organization of community forest management models

Collaborative community forest management implementation models focus on major contents as follows:

- Community forest protection and development planning;

- Forest and land allocation to the community;

- Development of community forest protection and development plan;

- Formulation of community forest management modality:

- Development of community forest management convention;

- Implementation of forest protection and development plan;

- Procedures on main harvesting of forest products from community managed forests;

- Procedures on harvesting timber for house construction from community managed forests;

- Development of human resources;

- Establishment of village forest protection and development fund;

- Monitoring and evaluation.

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In order to specify community forest management work, however, attention should be paid to 6 organizations as follows:

- Village community: At present, village is not considered as an administrative unit but it is defined as a social geography unit. Village community is not an organization of the state but it is recognized by the State as having traditional organizational characteristics, including: village leadership (leader of the village); village patriarch; households and individuals, village forest management board; public organization and union; Group of households, group of members with same interests or forest protection group; Village agriculture, forestry extension staff…

- Commune forestry organization: Commune forestry agency is established under the professional operation of the district forest protection division, working out tasks pertaining to community forest management, such as dissemination of legal regulations and policies, monitoring of forest resource development, guiding forest protection and forest fire prevention and fighting, providing commune People’s Committee with advisory ideas and support on forest and land allocation, forest management, and prevention from and settlement of violations.

- Local authorities at provincial, district and commune levels: Local authorities are assigned with the state administration roles on forestry in accordance with the Decision 245/1998/QĐ-TTg dated 21 December 1998 issued by Prime Minister of the Government on implementation of state administration responsibilities at different levels on forests and forest land. According to the Decision 245, it stated clearly 8 forestry – related state administration contents of the commune, including community forest management.

- Forestry agencies at provincial and district level: Provincial agencies, including Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Forest Protection Sub – department, and district agencies with Division of Agriculture and Rural Development and Forest Protection Division take the leading roles in supporting, guiding and enhancing community on forest management.

- State forestry agencies: State Forest Enterprises, Management Boards of protection and special use forests sign contracts with the community on contract – based forest allocation, technical assistance and consultancy, investment in forest formulation and development. State forestry extension and technology transfer organizations, such as Centers for forestry extension,

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research and training organizations, and others with services on support training, forestry extension, and technology transfer.

- Non – state forestry organizations: Overseas and International Non – Governmental Organizations, Associations, Group, domestic consultancy organizations and services, and private sector… are providing support services and signing contracts on training, forestry extension, and transfer of techniques.

4.3. Solutions of the State on supporting community forest management

4.3.1. The role of the State and community forest management supporting principles

In principle, the State’s impacts on community forest management are reflected through 4 major points as follows:

- Firstly, the State only creates a legal lobby [?] and does no deep intervention in specific decisions pertaining to forest protection, development and utilization of the community. This point states clearly through the cases of village forests managed traditionally by the community.

- Secondly, the State allocates land and forest to the community and provides the community with support in terms of funding, techniques… for forest protection, zoning for regeneration, plantation, harvesting and utilization.

- Thirdly, the State, through its organizations, carries out contract – based allocation of forests to the community for protection, zoning for regeneration, and plantation. The community is only hired laborer, obtaining an amount of money from the contract and a part of products on allocated forest land in line with duration and labor paid.

- Fourthly, the State takes the roles in coordination and facilitating other organizations to provide supporting services, sign contracts on training, forestry extension and technology transfer to the community for forest management.

4.3.2. Solutions on institution, policy and organization

+ The State provides clear conditions on how village community have forest and land allocated

Current legal framework and policies on community forest management are already stated in the Land Law (2003) and the Forest Protection and Development Law (2004) that village community is eligible to get forest and land allocated.

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However, the legal status of the community is insufficient and unclear as the Civil Law 2005 stated that an organization is considered as a legal entity whenever following conditions are met: Be established or recognized by competent authority; together with organizational structure; assets; involving in legal relations in an independent manner. The village community is a long standing social organization in rural areas with high sustainability but it can not meet the above mentioned conditions as its own special characteristics. As a result, it was not recognized as a legal entity. If forest and land are allocated to village community, legal executing agencies will hardly resovle problems once it occurs civil conflicts with another entity or legal violations. The State should take this issue into consideration and identify clearly conditions for the village community to be allocated with forest and land.

+ The State should institutionalize roles, functions and tasks of relevant stakeholders in community forest management through issuance of legal documents

Up to now, identification of roles, functions and tasks of stakeholders in implementation of community forest management activities was unclear. Thus, the State should institutionalize through issuance of legal documents on development of institutions on community forest management by regulating roles, functions and tasks of relevant stakeholders in line with following directions:

- Organizations outside village community, including:

• Provincial and district People’s Committees: play the roles on state management and administration on land and forest allocated to the community and implement those roles for forests and forest land managed by the community.

• Commune People’s Committee provides direct management and instructions, such as: instructing establishment and operations of village community forest management boards; guiding the village in development of community forest management plan; supervising and monitoring the implementation of village community forest management plan; instructing villages in development and implementation of forest protection conventions; reviewing applications and submitting letters to district People’s Committee to permit village community to harvest timber in its own forests for the community members or public benefits of the whole community; instructing community forest management, protection and utilization and guiding exploitation, distribution and utilization of forest

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products in forests managed by village community; reporting periodically results achieved in community forest management to the District People’s Committee.

• Professional agencies, including Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Forest protection department at different levels, forest management boards, state forest enterprises, forestry and agriculture extension units… locating in the local area provide technical support, professional knowledge and scientific services.

- Organizations inside village community, including:

The State institutionalizes functions and tasks of the organizational system of village communities serving as forest management, as follows:

• Establishing forest management boards of village communities;

• Dividing villages into groups of households, including leader and deputy leader of the group;

• Developing community forest management plan together with participation of village community members;

• Assigning tasks and monitoring groups of households in implementation of forest management plan, including forest plantation, harvesting, distribution of forest products and other benefits from community forests;

• Mobilizing funding and human resources for implementation of forest management plan;

• Developing and implementing expenditure plan of village forest protection and development fund;

• Developing and implementing participatory forest protection convention of the village; and

• Making and supporting periodical report on results achieved in community forest management implementation to Commune People’s Committee.

+ The State reviews, adjusts and issues some legal documents and policies relating to community forest management

- At first, It needs to evaluate, review and supplement policies regulating tasks and benefit sharing rights of the community as involving in forest management, following the directions:

50

• The Government provides regulation framework on tasks and benefit – sharing rights towards forests managed by the community;

• Provincial government specifies those to each location and object; and

• Attention is paid to traditional manners and customs of each ethnic minority.

- At second, it needs to develop guidelines on organization, implementation arrangements and management of community forests, which can be used as models for implementation by other locations.

+ The State supports provinces in establishing 2 community forestry types, which are aimed to meet the needs of livelihoods and community forestry for commodity production

The reality showed that due to the diversity of communities, it is impossible to have one common community forestry model and it needs to have different models, appropriate to certain condition. At present in Viet Nam, it gradually appears 2 community forestry models, which include community forestry firstly for meeting the needs of livelihoods and secondly for commodity production.

The community forestry meets livelihood needs in remote and mountainous areas with ethnic minorities, appropriate to traditional customs where production and market conditions are under development together with low management capacity. Forest – based products are mainly used for consumption and utilization in the community itself, such as timber for house construction, firewood, harvesting non – timber forest products. Traditionally – managed forests are regulated in the convention of the community. Both the State and local government need to have separate policy on protective tariff, regulations on harvesting and utilization of forest products as well as provision of technical services, organization and funding so that local community can work well with forest management. This community forestry model is appropriate to the community group No. II as mentioned above.

Community forestry model for commodity production is existing in developed production areas and markets, gradually approaching commodity production together with high qualification of farmer households and high investment capacity. Community forest management modalities will be diversified at higher level, such as establishment of community forest economic organization with legal entity, community cooperatives, community enterprises for forest management and processing of forest products…, operating under the

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Law of Enterprise. In this case, the village community is completely a subject in forest management and utilization. This community forestry model is appropriate to the community group I as proposed above.

+ The State supports provinces on methods of forest statistics

Forest resources statistics method is really a major difficulty in community forest management. As forest statistics is the basis for forest and land allocation and forest utilization contracts (contract-based allocation of forests) to the community. In many places, some methods have been piloted on evaluation of forest resources by the community but they were generally inappropriate with low application capability. Thus, the State should further study and consolidate different methods in order to come up with appropriate ones for local application.

+ The State and local governments focus on supporting development of community human resources and organization

Lessons learnt in many areas showed clearly 2 important conditions for successfully implemented community forest management, including: firstly necessary condition is strong community leadership, forests compulsorily protected for prevention of encroachment, and willingness and expectations of village people; and secondly sufficient condition is that getting forests allocated is considered as opportunities for resolving job issues and income generation for village people together with strong village and commune political system and high awareness on forest protection. The two above conditions are lessons learnt pertaining to development of community human resources and organization.

+ Consolidating experience and developing new knowledge on community forestry development

In each province, it should carry out statistics and evaluation of community forest management performance to be used as the basis for community forest planning, rationalizing forest areas managed and utilized by the communities in line with new policies on land and forest.

Some researches and experiences consolidated on community forest management in recent years are really encouraging ones but it is just initial step. There are plenty of related issues without solutions mean while past researched results have not been tested. Thus, researches and development of community forest management models need to be paid with substantial attention and further implemented.

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Annex 1: Area of forests and forest land managed by the communities until 31 December 200716 Unit: ha

Protection and special – use forest Production forest Forest land area managed

by community Total Natural

forest

Plantation Bareland Total Natural forest Plantation Bareland

2,792,946,3

Total

1,968,500.4 1,404,829.4 40,953.7 522,710.0 824,445.9 426,802.9 43,583.2 354,059.8

1,643,254,1

Allocated

1,164,515.0 803,191.6 18,546.6 342,776.8 478,739.1 134,735.5 30,566.5 313,437.1

247,029,5

Unallocated

146,338.7 107,093.0 5,786.3 33,459.4 100,690.8 55,142.1 7,373.8 38,174.9

902,662,7

Contracted

657,646.7 494,544.8 16,620.8 146,473.8 245,016.0 236,952.3 5,642.9 2,447.8

16 Nguồn số liệu: Cục Lâm nghiệp -Tổng hợp báo cáo rừng cộng đồng của 37 tỉnh, thành phố-Tháng 3 năm 2008

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Annex 2: Statistics of community forest areas by economic – ecological area17 Unit: ha

Community forest land area formulated originally and % of

the whole country

Area Community forest

land in areas and %

of the whole

country Allocated Unallocated Contracted

Country 2.792.946,3 100 1.643.254,1 100 247.029,5 100 902.662,7 100

Northwest 1.893.300,9 67,8 1.263.675,6 66,7 45.248,4 2,4 584.376,9 30,9

Northeast 760.131,1 27,2 319.859,9 42.0 181.932,9 24,0 258.338,3 34,0

North

central

58.541,7 2,1 40.489,1 69,2 18.052,6 30,8 0 0

South

central

5.373,3 0,2 0 0 1.124,4 19,6 4.612,9 80,4

Central

Highland

62.422,3 2,2 19.229,6 30,8 671,2 1,1 42.521,5 68,1

Southeast 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Mekong

delta

12813,1 0,5 0 0 0 0 12.813,1 0

17 Source of data: Department of Forestry –Consolidating community forest reports from 37 provinces and cities – March 2008

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Annex 3: Consolidation of the benefit – sharing mechanism following the Decision 178/2001/QĐ-TTg and Joint Circular 80/2003/TTLT/BNN-BC

and practical situation in some provinces18

Practical situation in some research areas

No. Forest category

Beneficiary rights Condition

Mun Chung commune, Tuan Giao, Dien Bien

(Representative of Mong ethnic minority in specially difficult

area)

Phu Thanh commune, Quan Hoa, Thanh Hoa

(Representative of Thai ethnic minority in

specially difficult area)

Chieng Hac commune, Yen Chau, Son La (Representative of

Mong ethnic minority in difficult area)

Thuy Yen Thuong commune, Phu Loc district, Thua Thien Hue province (Representative of Kinh

community in difficult area)

1 Forest allocation 1.1 Special –

use forest - Get budgetary support by investment project - Implementing activities on scientific research, social culture and ecotourism

Local people did not understat what is special – use forest but conservation and protection forests

In local people understanding, there are 3 forest types: Limestone forest, forest and land for bamboo plantation, and conservation forest of Pu Luong)

Local people clearly classified production and protection forests with 4 objects of household, group of households, community and organization

Local people well understood about 3 forest types and was able to evaluation forest resources and good understanding on forest growth and productivity

1.2 Protection forest 1.2.1 Natural

forests in critical and very critical areas under zoning for protection and regeneratio

- Be supported with budget from the State. - Collecting non – timber forest products - Harvesting dead timber, fallen trees in line with the design and be circulated freely. - Harvesting bamboo and rattan: ≤ 30% as 80% of the coverage. - Main harvesting by selective cutting is ≤ 20% and getting benefits of 85-

Department of Agriculture and Rural Development design and issue license Following regulations on harvesting of forest products Excluding the lists of precious and rare

Commune authorities allocate forest to villages without necessary documents. No investment done. Harvesting timber for house construction: 10m3/ household/year for 3-4 household/ village/year approved by ditrict Division of

Communities recognized themselves, accepted by district and commune authorities without documents needed. Harvesting timber for house construction: 30m3/village/year

District People’s Committee issued land use certificate to village and organization. Getting 12,000 VND/ha/year for protection services. Harvesting 30m3 timber/village/year for house construction. Village meeting decide

Provincial People’s Committee allocated to villages. Getting benefits followed forest increment. Increment of ≥ 2%/year, equivalent to ≥ 1.5m3/ ha/ year, taking 50% of increment. Increment > 1m3: 30%. Increment >0.5m3: 20%. Increment ≤ 0.5m3: 10%. No increment:

18 Nguyễn Bá Ngãi, Nguyễn Ngọc Lung (2004). Nghĩa vụ và quyền hưởng lợi của cộng đồng quản lý rừng - Báo cáo nghiên cứu của Tổ công tác Quốc gia về quản lý rừng cộng đồng 2004.

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n 90% after tax.

fauna and flora species regulated by the Government and CITES.

Agriculture and Rural Development. Collecting firewood and bamboo sprout approved and supervised by village, commune authorities, and local forest rangers. No % contributed after harvesting

proposed by village, approved by commune authorities, and supervised by local forest rangers

which household is allowed to harvest timber, proposal submitted to commune authorities, approved by Agriculture Division, monitored by local forest rangers. Households pay tax themselves. Firewood 12 loads/ household/ year. Bamboo shood for family use. No harvesting in holy forest of the village.

0% and reclaiming forests. Advance of timber paid in 10 initial years on annual basis: 50m3 following selective cutting method.

1.2.2 Unforested land under the planning of protection forest

- Be provided with costs - Planting perennial agriculture trees, Planting mainly or mixed with indigenous trees. - Using 20% of area for agricultural production - Benefiting 100% of products from mixed-plantation trees. - Main harvesting by selective cutting ≤ 20% and benefiting 90-95% of products after tax. - In case of self investment: main harvesting ≤ 10% of area and benefiting 100% of products after tax.

Department of Agriculture and Rural Development designs and issues licence

Allocating to households and group of households following EU project. Investments available. Unclear detailed regulations on investment. No beneficiary norms available but general ones: Benefiting from labouring results

District People’s Committee issues license to group of households (red book). Household invest 100% in planting bamboo, and benefiting 100% of products. Harvesting activities are monitored by commune authorities and local forest rangers in line with procedures applied for protection forests. Commune authorities collect fee of 100VND/tree but in fact it is impossible to collect that fee due to harvesting quantity is hardly controlled

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1.3 Production forest 1.3.1 Natural

forests with household investment

- Be allowed for mixed plantation of agriculture trees - Making full of products - Harvesting timber for house construction ≤ 10m3/ household - Main harvesting: • Secondary poor forests: getting

100% • Forests restored after field

cultivation with diameter ≤ 20cm: getting 70-80% of benefits

• Rich and medium forests (volume > 100 m3): getting benefits of 2%/1 ha of contracted area

• Bamboo forest: getting 95% of benefits

Following silviculture procedures and process Following commune’s instructions and monitoring Department of Agriculture and Rural Development designs and issues licence Excluding lists of precious and rare fauna and flora species following regulations of Government and CITES.

1.3.2 Production forests planted by state budget

- Be allowed for mixed plantation of agriculture trees - Making full used of products after thinning - Harvesting timber for house construction ≤ 10m3/ household Main harvesting: benefiting 75-85% of products depending on the age of forests at allocation time

District People’s Committee issues land use certificate for group of households. Being allowed for mixed plantations, harvesting firewood, and getting products after thinning.

1.3.3 Unforested land under the planning of production forest

- Being provided with financial support for plantation. - Beign allowed to utilize 20% of area for agriculture production. - Self financing plantation: be authorized to make decision on plantation purpose and modality, forest products harvesting and utilization modalities (benefiting

Allocating to households and group of households following EU project. Investments available. Unclear detailed regulations on investment. No beneficiary norms available but general

District People’s Committee issues land use certificate (red book) to household and group of households. Good quality land is used for agriculture production (20-30%

District People’s Committee issues land use certificate for group of households. The 661 project invests 1.7 million VND each hectare, shifting debts into investment of 3.6 million VND per hectare. Planting teak

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100% of products) ones: Benefiting from labouring results

of the area). Self investment. Getting 100% products of benefits. Commune authorities collect fee of 100VND/tree but in fact it is impossible to collect that fee due to harvesting quantity is hardly controlled Village allocates forests to organizations with no documents. Organizations plant bamboo to get benefits for fund raising.

species. Getting benefits from main harvesting following Decision 311 has not been applied yet, people are still unclear about this.

2 Forest rental 2.1 Rental of

special – use and protection forest land for tourism and landscape business under the forest canopy

- Being allowed to use the forest landscape for business activities on eco – tourism, entertainment, construction of tourism services under the forest canopy

2.2 Rental of unforested land under the planning of production forest for

- Being allowed to make decision on plantation purpose and modality, selection of trees species, techniques, forest products harvesting and utilization - Support received from the project so benefits also received on the basis of project regulations

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plantation - Utilizing ≤ 20% of unforested land for agriculture and fishery production - Products harvested from forests are free circulation.

3 Protection – based contract, zoning for regeneration and plantation

3.1 Special – use forest

- Receiving contract – based payments for plantation, protection, zoning for regeneration with 5 year maximum. - Being allowed to participate in tourism activities and services

Village (representatives of some households) signs contract on forest protection with Nature Reserve of Pu Lung: 20,000VND/ ha/ year in 5 years

3.2 Protection forest 3.2.1 Protection

– based contracting, zoning for regeneration of natural forests

- Receiving payments for contracting in maximum of 5 years - Collecting non – timber forest products - Harvesting dead timber, fallen trees, and products after thinning. - Bamboo and rattan: Harvesting ≤ 30% as the forest coverage > 80% and getting benefits of 80-90%. - Main harvesting by selective cutting ≤ 20%. • Secondary poor forest: benefiting

of 95%. • Restored forest (Diameter < 20

cm): benefiting of 75 - 85% • Medium and rich forests (volume

> 100m3/ ha): benefiting of 2% /contracted year

- In case of self investment: getting 100% of products from main harvesting - Self investing in forest rehabilitation after 1 year from harvesting - Be allowed to use 200 m2 for house

Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reviews and issues the license Provincial People’s Committee reviews and issues the license

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contruction for protection purpose 3.2.2 Forest

plantation, tending, and protection

- Being provided with financial support - Planting perennial agriculture trees, Planting mainly or mixed with indigenous trees - Getting 100% of products harvested from supporting trees, mixed plantation tree, thinning but ensuring the canopy > 0.6 - Collecting non timber forest products - Utilizing ≤ 20% of unforested land for agriculture production - Main harvesting by selective cutting ≤ 20%:

• State investment: getting 80 - 90% of benefits

• Self investment: getting benefits of 100%

- Self investing in forest rehabilitation after 1 year from harvesting - Được sử dụng 200 m2 để làm nhà bảo vệ

Department of Agriculture adn Rural Development is responsible for approval Following the guidelines of the contracting Provincial People’s Committee reviews and issues the license

3.3 Production forest 3.3.1 Contractin

g natural produciton forest for protection

- Making full use of forest products during the process of implementation of silviculture techniques - Being allowed for mixed plantation of forest specialty species, agriculturue trees and livestock raising under the forest canopy - Main harvesting: getting 1.5 - 2% for each contracted year - Being allowed to use 200 m2 for house construction for protection purpose

Following current procedures and regulations Provincial People’s Committee reviews and issues the license

3.3.2 Contractin - Being provided with financial

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g and zoning for regeneration with additional plantation

support - Agro – forestry production under the forest canopy - Making full use of forest products during the process of implementation of silviculture techniques - Main harvesting: • State investment: 1.5 - 2% /

contracting year • Self investment: 2.5 - 3% /

contracting year - Being allowed to use 200 m2 for house construction for protection purpose

Following the guidelines of the contracting Provincial People’s Committee reviews and issues the license

3.3.3 Contracting, plantation, tending and protection of production forests

- Being provided with financial support - Planting agriculture trees mixed with forest trees as forest canopy not yet closed, and carry out agro – forestry production - Making full use of forest products during the process of implementation of silviculture techniques - Main harvesting:

• State investment: getting 2 - 2,5% / contracting year

• Self investment: getting 95% of harvesting products after tax

• Investment together: benefiting on the basis of contribution rate

- Being allowed to use 200 m2 for house construction for protection purpose

Following technical procedures

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Reference materials 1. Bao Huy (2005). Technical guidelines on community forest management. ETSP-

Project on supporting training and education for upland forestry and agriculture - Helvetas Viet Nam, December 2005. http://www.etsp.org.vn

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