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Challenges of Forest Governance: the Case of Forest Rehabilitation in Vietnam

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Abstract

Building upon the perspectives of the policy arrangement approach, this article explores the extent to which forest governance has changed under the two national programs on forest rehabilitation in Vietnam. This article then assesses how these changes have impacted people’s participation in forest rehabilitation and the country’s forest cover for the past 25 years. Findings reveal that, despite a significant discursive shift from central state forest management to shared responsibilities among stakeholders in forestry, accompanying rules and regulations as well as actors’ constellations and resource allocations have not sufficiently changed to fully implement the new rehabilitation arrangements. This partial institutionalization of the new forest governance discourse has determined the low local support for forest rehabilitation, which has shaped its rather poor legitimacy and effectiveness.

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Notes

  1. Launched by the Communist Party of Vietnam at the Sixth National Congress.

  2. Forest transition occurs when the net of reforestation exceeds the net of deforestation (Meyfroidt and Lambin 2009).

  3. Models of forest plantations refer to the lay out of forest plantations, including tree species, their density and distribution in the plots.

  4. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (from 1995).

  5. Directive 100 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Do and Iyer 2008).

  6. “Supporting investment rations” under programme 327 were as follows: VND 50,000/ha/year for forest protection up to five years; VND 1 million/ha/year for assisted natural regeneration up to 6 years; VND 2.5 million/ha for reforestation and tending of the new forest in very essential and essential watersheds; and special-use forests.

  7. Planning and Investment; Land Administration, and Finance (The Council of Ministers of Vietnam 1992).

  8. Renamed as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 1995.

  9. VND 2,987 billion.

  10. VND 2,181 billion.

  11. Later became the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, DARD, in 1995.

  12. The design of forest plantations in terms of composition of tree species, tree density and lay out.

  13. The forest plantation model B1 comprised of 200 main trees, funded by the FMBs, and 200 auxiliary trees, invested by contractors. The forest plantation model B2 comprised of 200 main trees, funded by the FMBs, and 400 auxiliary trees, invested by contractors.

  14. Dipterocarpus allatus, Hopea odorata, Tectona grandis.

  15. Acacia auriculiformis, Acacia mangiums, Khaya senegalensis.

  16. Approximately VND 44,199 million This funding consisted of VND 36,329 million from the central government, VND 7,870 million no-interest loans, and VND 274 million from contractors.

  17. The Farmer’s Association, the Women’s Association, the Youth Association, and the Veteran’s Association.

  18. The Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) in 1994, and the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance in 1995.

  19. Transfer, lease, inherit, and mortgage their land-use rights as well as to use them as capital to invest in business.

  20. In Vietnam, the term “forestlands” refers to the forests and lands for planting forests.

  21. Management boards of protection and special-use forests, state forest enterprises, nonstate forest enterprises, forest cooperatives, households allocated production forests, and forest lands for the long term (Nguyen 1998).

  22. Although forest contractors were allowed to harvest forest products from natural forests, in proportion with the growth rates, they still could not enjoy this benefit because most natural forests were exhausted and under a harvesting ban. The forestry sector also claimed that it was nearly impossible for them to measure the growth rates of millions of hectares of forests, which were different types and at different statuses (Do and Le 2001; interviews notes).

  23. The Department of Planning and Investment, the Department of Finance, the Department of Land Administration, the State Treasury and the State Bank (GoV 1998).

  24. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Birdlife International, and the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

  25. Tay Ninh province provided VND 1.6 million per hectare of plantation in the first year, VND 650,000 ha/year for plantations in the three following years, and VND 350,000 per hectare for forest protection.

  26. VND 16,069,591 million.

  27. VND 7,281,117 million.

  28. VND 2,000,520 million.

  29. The new forests included 896,838 ha protection and special-use forest, and 1,503,795 ha production forest.

  30. 8–10 m3/ha/year (MARD 2005).

  31. The provincial average rate of forest plantation loss was 38%.

  32. VND 184,744 million.

  33. VND 99,168 million.

  34. VND 34,381  million.

  35. VND 51,195 million

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief of the PORJ and the anonymous reviewer of this journal for the careful review and constructive suggestions on the revised paper. We are greatly grateful for the funding we received from the Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Thi Kim Phung Dang

  2. KWR Watercycle Research Institute, P.O. Box 1072, 3430, BB, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands

    Mariëlle Van Der Zouwen

  3. Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700, AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Bas Arts

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Dang, T.K.P., Van Der Zouwen, M. & Arts, B. Challenges of Forest Governance: the Case of Forest Rehabilitation in Vietnam. Public Organiz Rev 19, 425–452 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-018-0414-x

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