Vietnam’s Forestry Reforms

By the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, vast tracts of the country’s forest had been destroyed by Agent Orange and other herbicides. In the following decades, as a rapidly growing population and a strong push for economic development drove overexploitation, forest losses continued under state management. By 1990, total forest cover had declined to around 9 million hectares, or 30% of the total land area.

Nearly all of the remaining forest was either degraded natural forest or plantation. Only 384,000 hectares of untouched forest was left, covering barely over 1% of the land area.

In the early 1990s, Vietnam started decentralizing its forest sector in an attempt to improve efficiency and sustainability and to expand economic opportunities for forest-dependent people. State forest enterprises, which had controlled 70% of the country’s forests in 1989, were dissolved, and the forests were allocated to various state, private, and local interests. Allocation to local interests has been largely to individuals, households, and household groups. Only a small number of communities have received forest management rights thus far.

Positive Results

Currently, it is estimated that forests support the livelihoods of 24 million to 30 million rural people in Vietnam, nearly all of whom are farmers. In highland areas, where ethnic minorities dominate and poverty rates are highest, people are most dependant on forests, which often provide up to 50% of their livelihoods.

Today, 25% of the country’s forestland is in the hands of local people via long-term tenure rights — mainly to households, but also including a small amount parceled out to community management. Around 2.5 million hectares of forest (20% of the country’s forest area) remains to be allocated, potentially for community forestry.

Complementing the institutional forestry reforms, some major forestry initiatives have been undertaken on both forest production and protection. These include the Five Million Hectare Reforestation Program, a national Payment for Environmental Service (PES) scheme, and the promotion of trade initiatives for both agroforestry and local government-led forest production. More recently, REDD+ and forest certification have become increasingly important for Vietnam’s national forest strategy.

Mainly through its national reforestation program, which subsidized plantation development, Vietnam has successfully increased its overall forest cover during the past 15 years. By 2010, total forest cover sat at nearly 14 million hectares, nearly 4.5 million hectares more than in 1990, and meaning today around 43% of the land area is forested.

Meanwhile, thanks to a booming economy, national poverty rates have declined sharply; those in poverty dropped from 58% of the population in 1993 to 14.5% by 2008. Social indicators are also consistently improving.

Room for Improvement

From a quick glance, it seems all is going well with Vietnam’s forest reforms, but these impressive gains mask some disturbing trends.

Increased forest cover has largely been the result of plantation development, but while this happened, the country’s few remaining pristine forest areas were damaged or destroyed. From 384,000 hectares of untouched primary forest in 1990, today only 80,000 hectares remain, covering just 0.25% of the total land area. Mostly under control of the government’s Protected Areas Management Boards and state companies, these pristine forests suffered through mismanagement, illegal logging, and conversion to plantations. The biodiversity and environmental costs of this forest degradation are immense.

Another issue is that the benefits of Vietnam’s rapid economic growth are largely bypassing ethnic minorities, most of whom live in the highlands and are forest-dependent. More than 60% of ethnic minority households remain below the poverty line.

Thus far, the contribution of forest reforms to poverty reduction has been less than expected, especially in rural areas. Forest allocation has been slow and ad hoc, hampered by confusing, complicated guidelines and poor coordination. As in many other countries in the region, the forests that have made it into local hands are often severely degraded and sometimes barren. Outside the forestry sector, rural people face problems of poor infrastructure, the difficulties of market access, and a lack of modern farming practices.

While today many households and individuals have forest land rights, community management has been far slower to emerge. Until 2003, allocation of rights to communities was only on a project basis. The new forest law in 2004 changed this by recognizing the legality of villages to manage forests. Soon after, a government-led pilot program tested approaches for a national system of Community Forest Management.

Community Forest Management is still clearly in its infancy in Vietnam. If the country is to genuinely achieve sustainable forest management and provide a more secure future for its forest-dependant communities, then improving and scaling up this program will be vital.