VietNamNet Bridge - Forests are in big danger as local people don’t want to continue protecting them as they see no benefits from doing so. 

Low benefits, high responsibilities

Forland, the network that connects organizations and individuals operating in forestry in Vietnam, and the Centre For Rural Development in Central Vietnam (CRD) have completed a consultation with the community and households about the 2004 Forest Protection and Development Law.

The researchers said the policy has had limitations in the last 10 years of implementation.

In many provinces, locals have been found destroying the forests they are assigned to protect because they could not get any benefits from their work.

In Thua Thien – Hue province, 19,000 hectares of forests have been allocated to people for protection and development. However, in the districts of A Luoi and Nam Dong, many households still have not received forestland-use right certificates, or ‘red book’ as called by people, though they have been allocated the forests for a long time.

As people do not have red books, they do not have legal documents to prove their ownership of the forestland, and cannot prevent the illegal exploitation of forestry products in the allocated area.

Twelve Tay ethnic minority households in Than hamlet of Tan Pheo commune in Da Bac district of Hoa Binh province were allocated 225 hectares of natural forests 15 years ago. But recently, the local authorities without any notice in advance and compensation have taken back the forest. 

Also in the district, people complain that they suddenly have ‘lost forests’ the ones they had protected have suddenly become ‘protective forests’.

People to ‘abandon’ forests

In Huong Loc commune of Thua Thien – Hue province, 58 households were assigned to protect natural forests 10 years ago (every household takes care of 5-20 hectares of forests). But they are no longer continuing their job of protecting and developing the forests. Some households there admitted that they have not visited the forests since 2012.

Meanwhile, wood has been left in the forests because there is no state management agency which grants licenses to people to collect timber in forests. It is also nearly impossible for forest owners to exploit commercial timber because of overlapping regulations.

According to the General Directorate of Forestry, the 2004 Forest Protection and Development Law does not have high transparency and feasibility because many provisions of the law contradict provisions in other laws.

The general directorate has suggested creating a Forestry Law to replace the 2004 Forest Protection Law.

Dat Viet