Forest Land Allocation Policy Research Articles

Decentralization Of Vietnam'S forestlands: The policy process and impact

The decentralization of land is crucial for effective production, welfare improvement, and social development. However, the formulation, outcome, and impact of land decentralization policies are influenced by political regimes, policy processes, geographical areas, and socio-economic settings. This study focuses on Vietnam's forest and forestland allocation program over the past 30 years to investigate its impact on poverty dynamics. Retrospective policy analysis and an extended random effect treatment model with longitudinal panel data collected from 53,568 plots in 12 provinces across Vietnam from 2008 to 2018 were used. The findings suggest that while the forestland allocation policy has a positive effect on poverty alleviation, it has minimal impact on the poorest household groups. Additionally, actual tree planting is more beneficial to the non-poor group, indicating a lack of incentivized policies for tree planting and inadequate consideration of the genuine livelihood needs and investment capacities of land recipients, especially poor households. Policy improvements are recommended to better align with the rationale, aims, and social expectations.

Extent and causes of forest cover changes in Vietnam’s provinces 1993–2013: a review and analysis of official data

Within a region plagued by deforestation, Vietnam has experienced an exceptional turnaround from net forest loss to forest regrowth. This so-called forest transition, starting in the 1990s, resulted from major changes to environmental and economic policy. Investments in agricultural intensification, reforestation programs, and forestland privatization directly or indirectly promoted natural forest regeneration and the setting-up of plantation forests mainly stocked with exotic species. Forest cover changes, however, varied widely among regions due to specific socio-economic and environmental factors. We studied forest cover changes (including natural and planted forests) and associated drivers in Vietnam’s provinces from 1993–2013. An exhaustive literature review was combined with multivariate statistical analyses of official provincial data. Natural forest regrowth was highest in northern mountain provinces, especially in the period 1993–2003, whereas deforestation continued in the Central Highlands and Southeast Region. Forest plantations increased most in mid-elevation provinces. Statistical results largely confirmed case study-based literature, highlighting the importance of forestland allocation policies and agroforestry extension for promoting small-scale tree plantations and allowing natural forest regeneration in previously degraded areas. Results provide evidence for the abandonment of upland swidden agriculture during 1993–2003, and reveal that spatial competition between expanding natural forests, fixed crop fields, and tree plantations increased during 2003–2013. While we identified a literature gap regarding effects of forest management by para-statal forestry organizations, statistical results showed that natural forests increased in areas managed for protection/regeneration. Cover of other natural forests under the organizations’ management, however, tended to decrease or stagnate, especially more recently when the organizations increasingly turned to multi-purpose plantation forestry. Deforestation processes in the Central Highlands and Southeast Region were mainly driven by cash crop expansion (coffee, rubber) and associated immigration and population growth. Recent data trends indicated limits to further forest expansion, and logging within high-quality natural forests reportedly remained a widespread problem. New schemes for payments for forest environmental services should be strengthened to consolidate the gains from the forest transition, whilst improving forest quality (in terms of biodiversity and environmental services) and allowing local people to actively participate in forest management.

Rush for cash crops and forest protection: Neither land sparing nor land sharing

In many countries with large tracts of tropical forests, there is a dual focus on enhancing forest protection and increasing commercial agriculture for economic development. Laos is a case in point for this development as the Government of Laos (GoL) has a strong commitment to economic growth, which rural farmers in part help realize through a rush for cash crop production destined to be sold in neighboring countries. Maize cultivation, for example, is rapidly expanding and grown under a contract-farming system for Vietnamese markets. At the same time, GoL attempts to increase nationwide forest cover and prepares for REDD+ (reducing deforestation and forest degradation). This paper explores how the recent boom in cash crops is impacting land use and livelihoods of local communities, as well as affecting forest conservation in Hua Meuang District of Huaphan Province in northeastern Laos. We also examine how local authorities react to these changes and navigate the contradicting policies. Furthermore, the paper analyzes to what extent the land sparing intention of land- and forest-land allocation policies are fulfilled. We found that the production of maize has rapidly expanded in Hua Meuang District since the mid-2000s as a result of high demands for maize in Vietnam and because local authorities see the crop as a way to reduce rural poverty and reduce traditional subsistence shifting cultivation practices. Communities have increased the areas that they dedicate to maize cultivation and have achieved an increase in both income and household assets. Maize has replaced upland rice cultivation as well as primary and secondary forests. Although the government policies aim to spare land for forest conservation by intensifying agriculture, the result is rapid agricultural expansion and no spared forest. Moreover, the traditional land-sharing landscapes with forest, fallows, and fields are being transformed, creating landscapes that are increasingly dominated by agriculture. This may still be in line with economic development policies, but it is at odds with forest conservation policies, REDD+ policies, and the GoL target of increasing forest cover in the country.

Improved land tenure not the driver of economic development in a Vietnamese community

During the restructuring of the Vietnamese economy in 1986, the Communist party of Vietnam (CPV) took the decision to leave central planning and build a market economy in Vietnam. In order to promote rural development and deal with deforestation, poverty and declining agricultural profitability, the government implemented the forestland allocation policies (FLA) and started a process of decentralization. This research note examines the impact of FLA policies on the agricultural practices of an upland community in central Vietnam and discusses the effects of increased tenure security. It is shown that the promotion of a sedentary production system has altered the sustainability of swidden agriculture leading to declining profitability and that a transition towards new crops and specialized crop cultivation has compensated for the loss. Furthermore, it is argued that the FLA policies have increased the villagers’ incentive to invest, their access to credit and the forest area of the village, but that the CPV has been the main driver of these changes rather than the increased tenure security.

DID FOREST LAND ALLOCATION CAUSE THE RISKS TO LIVELIHOOD ACTIVITIES AND INCOME OF THE POOR IN THE UPLAND AREAS OF VIETNAM?

This research aims to explore the effects of forest land allocation policy (FLA) on livelihood activities and income of the poor households in the upland areas of Central Vietnam. The research found that FLA brought many risks to the poor households’ livelihoods. They are seen in i) the transformation from agricultural to forest land leading to a decrease in land for agricultural production; ii) the dependence of a large number of the poor on plantations, which can cause great loss of earnings in the case price fluctuations have a bad impact on plantation products; and iii) landless phenomena now has appeared in a couple of young households. This is likely to make a severe land-use conflict occur between local authorities and people in the coming time. Keywords: Forestland allocation, livelihood activities, poor household, land use, income, shifting cultivation, sedentary cultivation.

Local Power Structures and Their Effect on Forest Land Allocation in the Buffer Zone of Tam Dao National Park, Vietnam

This article examines how household property claims over forest land used for economic production were established in communes bordering Tam Dao National Park in northern Vietnam under the decentralized implementation of forest land allocation policies. Using data from surveys of households living on the edge of Tam Dao National Park, this study examines “who got what” when household access to forest land used for production was established. This demonstrates the community interests that constitute the local power structures affecting distribution of access to forest land. In this case, household access to forest land used for production is determined greatly through entrepreneurial and institutional factors. If decentralized forest land allocation policies have any hope of circumscribing land use so that it corresponds to the uses laid out in land use plans, we must first understand how local power structures affect household access to forest land.

Community Forest Management under the Forest and Forestland Allocation Policy: The Case Study of Ta Vac Village, Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam

In Vietnam, a legal framework for Community Forest Management (CFM) development has been established since 2003. Although the government has paid increasing attention to development, CFM has yet to show notable signs of progress in this area. This paper aims to understand problems and challenges to CFM development. A field survey was conducted through different methods in which information was cross-checked for credibility. In August of 2009, an interview using visual tools was applied to informants with low education and considerable language barriers for reliable information. The results of this study showed that current laws and regulations of the time had been insufficient in supporting CFM development. These interviews indicate that during the process of implementing forest and forestland allocation policy, there was little effort to build people's awareness of the project or to properly develop the skills of those designated to work in a managerial capacity, and overall participation was limited due to the poor approach employed by policy implementers. Outside actors have less support and poor collaboration with the village community, leading to many villagers with poor knowledge of the laws, regulations and policy. Village regulation was less effective, and many households lost a chance to benefit from community forest. The CFM system did not function well and serious conflicts happened. Moreover, it was found that people's lack of arable land put a large pressure on CFM. The village failed to cover certain costs for the CFM operation as expected. Errors in defining forest boundary will make it difficult to stop severe disputes in the allocated forest. Failure to realize forestry production causes a decrease in people's interest and motivation to CFM.

Impacts of land and forestland allocation policy on livelihood in the Lao PDR

Impacts of land and forestland allocation policy on livelihood in the Lao PDR

An adaptation of local communities after the implementation of land and forest land allocation policy in Lao P.D.R

An adaptation of local communities after the implementation of land and forest land allocation policy in Lao P.D.R

The role of NTFPs in a shifting cultivation system in transition: A village case study from the uplands of North Central Vietnam

Geografisk Tidsskrift, Danish Journal of Geography 106(2): 103–114, 2006 Periods characterized by agricultural change and transitions are often associated with insecurity and vulnerability regarding food production and food supplies. Forests and forest products tend to play an important buffer role during the process of change and uncertainty, where forest and fallows provide food products or income that people can temporarily fall back on. In the upland village of Que in North Central Vietnam, several different drivers are currently changing land use and land cover. The Forest Land Allocation policy, implemented in 1998, is one of the major driving forces, allocating farmers a reduced area of land for shifting cultivation in order to prevent any further deforestation and land degradation. However, the reduction in agricultural land set aside for shifting cultivation has lead to a severe decrease in hill rice production. The land use system is in a transition phase—from a conventional shifting cultivation system to a composite swiddening system. The area under shifting cultivation has been reduced, and the system has been intensified via the introduction of paddy rice cultivation, increased livestock rearing and commercial exploitation of non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Yet, the current transformation of the system has resulted in a drastic reduction in overall rice production. Thus, the collection and selling of NTFPs such as bamboo shoots, broom grass and pherynium leaves seem to prevent severe shortage of food since farmers are able to purchase food products with the money generated from the selling of NTFPs.