Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Land Use After Forestland Allocation and the Potential for Farm Forestry in a Mountainous Region of Northeast Vietnam

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Small-scale Forestry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

As a response to serious deforestation in Vietnam, the forestland allocation (FLA) policy was introduced in the 1990s. The process still continues, having allocated 80% of the forestland to various management entities, among which individual households are the most important one for production forests. While previous studies focusing on local livelihoods reveal negative impacts of the FLA, particularly in the initial stage, studies on forest cover change as well as government statistics indicate positive changes in the longer term. We focused on micro-scale land use change after the FLA, and selected two upland villages with different accessibility in the Northeast region of Vietnam. Though the FLA was initiated in 1995 in both villages, the government reforestation program first reached Village G with paved road, and they did second planting. However, forestland recipients in Village A, with no paved road, also planted timber species as soon as the program was introduced. Though the mean allocated areas in Village A was larger than that of Village G, the mean of tree plantation areas was comparable, 1.39 ha (SE = 1.09) in Village A and 1.38 ha (SE = 1.01) in Village G. These results suggest that government support is a determinant of the timing and area of tree planting activities. After the FLA, one of the next policy challenges is how to make small-scale farm forestry financially independent.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • A CPC (A Commune People’s Committees) (2015) Annual report 2015, Cho Don, Bac Kan, Vietnam

  • Akram-Lodhi AH (2007) Land markets and rural livelihoods in Vietnam. In: Akram-Lodhi AH, Borras SM Jr, Kay C (eds) Land, poverty and livelihoods in an era of globalization: perspectives from developing and transition countries. Routledge, New York, pp 152–187

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Amat JP, Boi PT, Amelie R, Tran HN (2010) Can fast growing-species form high-quality forests in Vietnam: examples in Thua Thien Hue Province. Bois et Forêts des Tropiques 305(3):67–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bueren M (2004) Acacia hybrids in Vietnam. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • Byron RN (2001) Keys to smallholder forestry in developing countries in the tropics. In: Harrison SR, Herbohn JL (eds) Sustainable farm forestry in the tropics. Socio-economic analysis and policy, chapter 16. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp 211–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Castella JC, Tronche NR, Vu N (2002) Landscape changes in Cho Don District during the doi moi era (1990-2000) and their implications for sustainable natural resource management in Viet Nam’s mountainous provinces. In: Castella JC, Dang DQ (eds) Doi Moi in the mountains. Land use changes and farmers’ livelihood strategies in Bac Kan Province, Vietnam. The Agricultural Publishing House, Hanoi, pp 149–174

    Google Scholar 

  • Castella JC, Boissau S, Nguyen HT, Novosad P (2006) Impact on forestland allocation on land use in a mountainous province of Vietnam. Land Use Policy 23:147–160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2004.07.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cho Don DPC (2012) Natural and socio-economic conditions of Cho Don district. http://chodon.backan.gov.vn/Pages/gioi-thieu-chung-316/dieu-kien-tu-nhien317/C490iE1BB81u20kiE1-a3e19ae19f7ce46c.aspx. Accessed 6 May 2016

  • Cho Don FPU (Cho Don Forest Protection Unit) (2016) Summary report about forest resources and forestland areas of 2015, Cho Don, Backan, Vietnam

  • Clement F, Amezaga JM (2008) Linking reforestation policies with land use change in northern Vietnam: why local factors matter. Geoforum 39(1):265–277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2007.05.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clement F, Amezaga JM (2009) Afforestation and forestry land allocation in northern Vietnam: analysing the gap between policy intentions and outcomes. Land Use Policy 26(2):458–470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2008.06.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Jong W, Do DS, Trieu VH (2006) Forest rehabilitation in Vietnam: histories, realities and future. Central and International Forest Research JI. CIFOR, Situ Gede. ISBN 979-244652-4

    Google Scholar 

  • de Koninck R (1999) Deforestation in Vietnam. International Development Research Centre, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Decision 178/2001/QĐ-TTg (2001) Benefits and obligations of households and individuals allocated or leased or contracted forestland and forest. The Prime Minister, Hanoi

  • Decision 147/2007/QĐ-TTg (2007) Development production forest in 2007–2015 period. The Prime Minister, Hanoi

  • Decision 327/CT (1992) Orientations and policies for the use of bare lands, denuded hills, forests, Alluvial flats, and bodies of water. Council of Ministers, Hanoi

  • Decision 661/QD-TTg (1998) Objectives, tasks, policies and implementations of the five-million-hectare afforestation. The Prime Minister, Hanoi

  • Decree 02/CP (1994) Allocation of forest land to local organizations, households and individuals for long term use. The Central People’s Government, Hanoi

  • Do DS (1994) Shifting cultivation in Vietnam: its social, economic and environmental values relative to alternative land uses. IIED Forestry and Land Use Series No. 3. International Institute for Environment and Development, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Donovan D, Rambo AT, Fox J, Le CT, Tran VD (1997) Development trends in Vietnams northern mountain region: an overview and analysis, vol 1. National Political Publishing House, Hanoi

    Google Scholar 

  • FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) (2009) Vietnam forestry outlook study. Asia-Pacific forestry sector outlook study II. Working Papers No. APFSOSII/WP/2009/, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, pp 1–71

  • FPD (Forest Protection Department) (2016) Summary report about forest resources and forestland areas of Bac Kan Province in 2015, Bac Kan, Vietnam

  • G CPC (G Commune People’s Committees) (2015) Annual report 2015, Cho Don, Bac Kan, Vietnam

  • GSO (General Statistics Office of Vietnam) (2014) Niên giám thống kê 2014 (Statistical yearbook 2014). http://www.gso.gov.vn/default.aspx?tabid=512&idmid=&ItemID=15161. Accessed 20 Aug 2016

  • GSO (General Statistics Office of Vietnam) (2016) Result announcement about the socio-economic status of fifty-three ethnic minorities in 2015. General Statistics Office of Vietnam, Hanoi. https://www.gso.gov.vn/Default.aspx?tabid=382&ItemID=16069. Accessed 23 Oct 2017

  • Hoang LS (2012) Evaluation of FLA impacts in the North Central region, presented at the workshop “Forest Land Allocation: Policy and Practice”, organized by Tropenbos International Vietnam and the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute, 10 April 2012 in Hanoi

  • Jakobsen J, Rasmussen K, Leisz S, Folving R, Nguyen VQ (2007) The effects of land tenure policy on rural livelihoods and food sufficiency in the upland village of Que, North Central Vietnam. Agric Syst 94(2):209–319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2006.09.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jamieson N, Le CT, Rambo AT (1998) The development crisis in Vietnams mountains. East-West Centre, Honolulu

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozei V (2014) Reducing poverty among ethnic minorities. In: Kozei V (ed) Well begun but not yet done: progress and emerging challenges for poverty reduction in Vietnam, chapter 5. World Bank Group, Washington, pp 169–193

    Google Scholar 

  • Lang C (2002) The pulp invasion: the international pulp and paper industry in the Mekong Region. Technical report, World Rainforest Movement, Uruguay

  • MARD (2016) Decision 3158/QD-BNN-TCLN by MARD, dated 27 July 2016 on declaring the status of forest nationwide 2015

  • MARD (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) (2011) Summary report on the 5 million ha reforestation program and the plan for forest protection and development 2011–2015. Report No. 243 dated 26 October 2011

  • Meyfroidt P, Lambin EF (2008) The causes of the reforestation in Vietnam. Land Use Policy 25(2):182–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2007.06.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MONRE (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Decision) (2014) Decision 1467/QĐ-BTNMT. The statistics of land area in 2013. Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Hanoi

  • Nguyen QT (2006a) Forest devolution in Dak Lak, Vietnam: improving forest management or livelihoods of the poor? In: Mahanty S, Fox J, Nurse M, Stephen P, McLees L (eds) Hanging in the balance: equity in community-based natural resource management in Asia. Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the South Pacific (RECOFTC) and East-West Center, Bangkok, pp 200–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen QT (2006b) Trends in forest ownership, forest resources tenure and institutional arrangements: are they contributing to better forest management and poverty reduction? Case study from Vietnam. In: Understanding forest tenure in south and southeast Asia—Forestry policy and institutions working paper no. 14, vol 14. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Rome, pp 355–407

  • Nguyen VQ, Sato N (2008) Forest allocation policy and level of forest dependency of economic household groups: a case study in Northern Central Vietnam. Small Scale For 7:49–66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-008-9040-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen QT, Nguyen BN, Tran NT, Sunderlin WD, Yurdi Y (2008) Forest tenure reform in Viet Nam: case studies from the Northern Upland and Central Highlands regions. Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen TTP, Masuda M, Iwanaga S (2016) The effect of forestland allocation to the livelihoods of local people in the North Central Coast of Vietnam: a case in Nam Dong district. Tropics 24(4):169–180. https://doi.org/10.3759/tropics.24.169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sadoulet D, Castella JC, Vu HN, Dang DQ (2002) A short history of land use changes and farming system differentiation in Xuat Hoa Commune, Bac Kan Province, Vietnam. In: Castella JC, Dang DQ (eds) Doi Moi in the mountains. Land use changes and farmers’ livelihood strategies in Bac Kan Province, Vietnam. The Agricultural Publishing House, Hanoi, pp 21–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandewall M, Ohlsson B, Sandewall RK, Le SV (2010) The expansion of farm-based plantation forestry in Vietnam. Ambio 39(8):567–579. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-010-0089-1

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sikor T (2001) The allocation of forestry land in Vietnam: did it cause the expansion in the northwest? For Policy Econ 2(1):1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1389-9341(00)00041-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sikor T, Nguyen TQ (2007) Why may forest devolution not benefit the rural poor? Forest entitlements in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. World Dev 35(11):2010–2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2006.11.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sikor T, Tran NT (2007) Excusive versus inclusive devolution in forest management: insights from forest land allocation in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Land Use Policy 24(4):644–653. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2006.04.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sunderlin WD (2006) Poverty alleviation through community forestry in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam: an assessment of the potential. For Policy Econ 8(4):386–396

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sunderlin WD, Huynh TB (2005) Poverty alleviation and forests in Vietnam. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor

  • To XP (2007) Forest property in the Vietnamese uplands: an ethnography forest relations in three Dao villages. Lit Verlag Publisher, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Tran DV (2007) Indigenous fallow management with Melia azedarach Linn in Northern Vietnam. In: Cairns M (ed) Voices from the forest: integrating indigenous knowledge into sustainable upland farming, chapter 36, resources for the future. RFF Press, Washington, pp 435–443

    Google Scholar 

  • Tran XD (2012) Evaluation of forest land allocation/lease in Dien Bien province. Assessment report on the implementation of FLA in Dien Bien. Presented at the workshop “Forest Land Allocation: Policy and Practice” organized by Tropenbos International Vietnam and Forest Inventory and Planning Institute, 10 April 2012, Hanoi

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Thu Thuy Nguyen

  2. Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Misa Masuda

Authors
  1. Thu Thuy Nguyen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Misa Masuda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Misa Masuda.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nguyen, T.T., Masuda, M. Land Use After Forestland Allocation and the Potential for Farm Forestry in a Mountainous Region of Northeast Vietnam. Small-scale Forestry 17, 485–503 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-018-9399-0

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-018-9399-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation