F2.1.1. Policies, laws and relations relevant to addressing risks of reversals

Viet Nam’s Country Safeguards Framework (CSF) covers the legal framework, as well as regulations, measures and results related to risks of reversals. The country has policies, laws and regulations in place that support reducing risks of reversals:

• Commitments under Viet Nam's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to increase and maintain forest cover to 42-43% by 2030 through increasing the planted forest area, protecting natural forests, and improving forest quality, with the National REDD+ Action Program (NRAP) (2017) aligned with this objective.
• The Law on Land (2024) provides conditions and criteria for changing land use purposes (Articles 121, 122, 123) that include forest land. Specifically, it sets out requirements for changing special use forest (SUF) land, protected forest land and production forest land to other agricultural land purposes. Criteria, conditions and procedures of changing land use purposes of protective forest land, SUF land, and production forest land are detailed in Decree No 102/2024/ND-CP including that changing the use purpose of SUF and protection forest to other types of agricultural land is subject to the PPCs approval for areas from 2 ha that met criteria and conditions (Article 46 and 48).
• The Law on Forestry (2017) (Articles 11 and 14) requires that forest master plan should be based on a 30- to 50-year vision, and prohibits the conversion of natural forest ‘’use purposes’’ to another use (except in cases of nationally important projects, national defense projects, or other critical projects approved by the Government). Forest owners who are allowed to change the use purpose of natural forests to other purposes must plant replacement forests equal to 3 times the area of natural forests whose use purposes are changed. Viet Nam has also implemented a policy to stop logging in natural forests from 2015 to present. Please refer to SIS E.2.1.1 for further information.
• Projects have environmentally sensitive factors such as land and forest use changes are subject to environmental impact assessments, and require high-level approvals, even in cases of land use change in small areas of forest.^[1]
• Approvals for changes in forest type, forest use purpose or land use purpose must come from different levels, including by the National Assembly, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE), and the Provincial People’s Committees (PPCs).^[2] See SIS F2  for more information.

[1] Article 28 và 32, Law on Environmental Protection (2020)

[2] Law on Land (2024) and Law on Forestry (2017)