B2.2.6. Trends in allocation of forest land

B2.2.6. Trends in allocation of forest land

B2.2.6. Trends in allocation of forest land

Forest land allocation, nationally and by province: Viet Nam officially began a policy of forest land allocation (FLA) for organizations, individuals and households in 1994, and since then a large area has been allocated for forestry management and development.[1] According to the 3-year assessment report on the implementation of the Forestry Development Strategy for the period 2021-2030 , although the area managed by Commune People's Committees (CPCs) is relatively large, standing at 2,940,484 hectares in 2020, allocation to individual households and communities from areas managed by CPCs has been slow; as of 2020, 158,046 ha had been allocated to individuals, households and communities out of the 1,086,594 hectares planned for hand-over.[2]

Forest protection contracts:

● In 2020, the Viet Nam Forest Protection and Development Fund (VNFF) had assigned contracts to 43,945 households, 5,878 communities, and 124 organizations under the Payments for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) scheme.[3] National level data on the total area covered by forest protection contracts is available in Table B2.2.6.

● In 2023, the forest area assigned to forest owners including units, organizations, households and communities was 11605,161 hectares (77% of the forested area). Forest area assigned to individual households was 3,115,587 hectares (accounting for 21.52% of the forest area), and the community 1,094,476 hectares was community managed (accounting for 6.75% of the forest area).

  • Forest owners have contracted forest protection of ​approximately 6,200,000 hectares per year to households, individuals and communities[3] (see Table B2.2.6).

Collaborative forest management arrangements: Collaborative forest management refers to situations in which some or all of the relevant stakeholders in a given forest context are involved in management decisions and activities. In Viet Nam context, this can include allocation of forests to communities as “forest owners’’, including forests of religious or spiritual significance managed traditionally (under the Law on Forestry, 2017). See SIS B2.2.3 for information on forests allocated to communities. No data is available on religious/spiritual forests.

 

Table B2.2.6. Forest area nationally under forest protection contracts

Indicator

2021

2022

2023

Forest contracting area (1,000 ha)

6,166

6,120

6,211

Source: MARD, 2024 (now MAE)

[1] Pham TT, Le ND, Vu TP, Nguyen HT and Nguyen VT (2016). Forest land allocation and payments for forest environmental services in four northwestern provinces of Vietnam: From policy to practice. CIFOR Occasional Paper 155. https://www.cifor-icraf.org/publications/pdf_files/OccPapers/OP-155.pdf

[2] Department of Forestry (2024). Report on the Evaluation of the 3-year results (2021-2023) of implementing the Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050.

[3] Viet Nam Forest and Delta Program (2021). Thematic report on summary of 10 years of implementation of the policy on payment for forest environmental services in the period 2011-2020 and orientation for the period 2021-2030. https://fpdf.dienbien.gov.vn/portal/DinhKemTinBai/2021-05/B%C3%A1o%20c%C3%A1o%20chuy%C3%AAn%20%C4%91%E1%BB%81%20%2010%20n%C4%83m%20th%E1%BB%B1c%20hi%E1%BB%87n%20chinh%20s%C3%A1ch%20chi%20tr%E1%BA%A3%20DVMTR%202011_2020_042900.pdf

[4] Decision No. 816/QD-BNN-KL on National forest status in 2023