 |
 |
| National Program Support- Viet Nam |
IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS
• ORGUT
• FREC-FIPI
• NWG
Orgut Consulting AB
Case Studies Of Local Management Of Natural Forest In Viet Nam
Local management of natural forests in Viet Nam encounters both theoretical and practical problems. The laws are not conducive to management of such forests by local communities and government attempts to find a functioning legal framework has so far achieved very limited success.
Still, however, local communities in many parts of the country do manage forests close to where they live. In one way or another, they have been able to circumvent the formal rules and set up a functioning system for local management. Those existing systems are very poorly documented but could provide valuable lessons for the authorities at different levels in seeking to improve the present regulatory framework.
A selection of these cases conducted by ORGUT describes how local communities, on their own or with very little outside support, have established functioning management of nearby natural forests. Analysis and presentation of these cases will show how regulatory frameworks can and must adapt to specific local needs and support rather than hamper already successful efforts at these levels.
(In 2002, a working paper was published by ORGUT with findings from the project. The report is entitled "Issues in Management of Natural Forests by Households and Local Communities of Three Provinces in Viet Nam: Hoa Binh, Nghe An, and Thua Thien-Hue" [pdf 1447Kb] and was made available as a hardcopy version.)
back to top
Forest Resources and Environment Center - Forest Inventory and Planning Institute (FREC-FIPI)
Sharing The Success Of Community Forest Management Through Networking In Cao Bang Province, Viet Nam
Cao Bang has a unique landscape characterized by massive lime deposits dating from the Paleozoic age raised by powerful geologic uplifts. Three protected areas are designated in this province: the Trung Khanh Nature Reserve, the Nui Pia Oac Nature Reserve, and Pac Bo which is a declared cultural and historic site. These areas cover some 22,000 hectares of the 122,486 hectares of total natural forest area. Nine major ethnic groups including the Tay, Nung, Dao, and H'mong inhabit the province.
Community forestry management has been established in Cao Bang since the 1960s, with farmers, patriarch headmen and village heads intuitively practicing it. Viet Nam's doi moi or economic liberalization saw dramatic shift in the country's policy from being strictly state-controlled to increased private sector involvement. Government's recognition on the contribution of CFM to forest defense and community development, however, has still to be translated into concrete policy measures. Communities have yet to be awarded certificate of land use rights in community forests. Due to extensive logging and land conversion, only 18% of the total land area is covered in natural forest.
In the Quang Hoa District of Cao Bang Province, FREC-FIPI is supporting communities and local government at the district level in building and strengthening a network for sharing and supporting the development of community forest management systems. Aside from expanding the practice of community forestry within the district, the network will contribute to the development of implementation options for existing and forthcoming participatory forest stewardship policies, and examine how they affect district government and local communities. It will also serve as a forum to allow villages and communes to present their issues and needs to district agencies and administrators.
One the network has been well established, the next phase will attempt to expand it by bringing in officials from the province level plus members from other communes in other districts. This will hopefully broaden the impact of its successes to the whole province while ensuring that sharing continues among the different district communes and government units. FREC-FIPI will also provide technical assistance, specifically in land use planning, documentation, and dissemination.
back to top
National Working Group on Community Forest Management - Viet Nam (NWG)
Workshop Proceedings 14-15 Nov. 2001: National Workshop On A Policy Framework To Support Community Forest Management In Viet Nam
The forestry sector of Viet Nam is shifting from state forestry to people's forestry. In the period of this strategic shift, a lot of new factors appear in forest resources management, among which, community-based forest management is becoming more and more important in the system of forest management in Viet Nam. Reviews by the NWG indicate that local communities manage and protect forests more effectively with less state intervention. But CFM development is constrained by the lack of legal recognition of the role of communities in management. The concept of CFM is not yet well understood by government authorities. To address these concerns, the NWG organizes meetings and national workshops to document, analyze, and communicate information regarding CFM experiences and policy and programmatic support requirements.
The NWG also recognizes the need to clarify issues such as the legal framework of community forest management, the implementation of forestry policies at provincial level, as well as to identify limitations of policies to support community forest management. The workshop proceedings are then venues by which results of the analytical processes related to CFM are presented. They also provide an overview on the policy framework and recommended solutions to expand community forest management in Viet Nam. Documentation, therefore, of these proceedings becomes extremely valuable to the understanding and implementation of CFM which is why the NWG has undertaken the task of compiling, fleshing-out, and analyzing the outputs of these workshops to be shared with relevant and interested organizations.
back to top |
 |
|
|
