Forest
Degradation and Rehabilitation in Vietnam |
|
A
history of degradation
Vietnam has a landmass of 330,000 km2, administratively divided in 61
provinces. Three quarter of the country is mountain and hillside terrain.
Until the 1920 the uplands still mostly held forests. Since then accelerated
forest landscape transformation has taken place (table 1). Several wars,
high population pressure and an aggressive economic development policy
since the 1960s in the north and since the late 1970s in the South are
the main factors that lead to this changing landscape pattern.
Forest land
and forested land
Vietnam has a total of 19 M ha as designated forest land, allocated to
protection forests, production forests and special use forests (forest
reserves). Only about half of the forest land is under some kind of tree
cover (table 2). The forest land without forest is partially under bush
and secondary forest cover, partially under grass cover (table 3). In
some provinces in the north less than 10% forest cover remains
Table 1: Forest landscape in uplands1
Year |
Natural forest |
Degraded lands |
Planted forest |
| 1935 |
14.0 M ha |
? |
0 |
| 1990 |
8.4 M ha |
? |
0.9 M ha |
| 1995 |
9.1 M ha |
10.0 M ha2 |
1.4 M ha |
| 1999 |
9.4 M ha |
9.4 M ha |
1.4 M ha3 |
1 From various sources. 2 Estimates vary; this figures is a low
estimate.3 This figure is from 1997, see ALSO table 4.
Table 2: Condition of forest land, 1995
Forest land allocation |
Total area designated |
Actual forest
cover |
| Protection |
5.7 M ha |
2.4 M ha |
| Production |
12.4 M ha |
6.2 M ha |
| Special use |
0.9 M ha |
0.7 M ha |
|
Table 3: Condition of non-forest
lands, 19954
| Total designated forest land |
19.0 M ha |
| Degraded forest land |
9.7 M ha |
|
Bush cover |
3.5 M ha |
|
Grass cover |
3.5 M ha |
|
Poor grass cover |
2.5 M ha |
4 Gilmour et al. 2000.
Table 4: Chronology of
Rehabilitation5
Period |
Area replanted |
Survival rate |
| Until 1975 |
210 K ha |
40 % |
| 1975-1986 |
1.0 M ha |
40 – 50% |
| 1986-1993 |
0.9 M ha |
70 % |
5 Gilmour et al. 2000.
Reference: Gilmour, D., San, N.V., Xiong, T. 2000. Rehabilitation of degraded
forest ecosystems in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. |
A
history of rehabilitation
Rehabilitation started since the 1950s, but was intensified since mid
1980s. Initially rehabilitation was pursued under the World Food Program
(PAM) and through State Forest Enterprises. Only since the 1990s local
communities have participated actively (See table 4.) In 1993 the Government
of Vietnam launched Programme 327 for re-greening uplands. As part of
this program forestland was leased for 50 years or given under management
contracts. Much of this land was planted with trees or left to regenerate
naturally. In 1998 Decision 661 allocated funds to the successive 5 M
ha Reforestation Programme. Loans and ODA funded projects contributed
to the objectives of programs 327 and 661 (Table 5).
National 5
M Ha Reforestation Programme
The 5MHRP aims to establish 5 million ha of forest between 1998 and 2010
to restore forest cover of the country back again to 43%, the same percentage
that was under forest in 1943. The stated objectives of this effort are
to reverse environmental degradation. At the same time the project means
to boost the productivity of the national forestry sector. 2 M ha of “degraded”
lands are to be converted to industrial wood plantations, 1 M ha to cash
crops, and 2 M ha to conservation forest. 1 M ha is to be grown through
natural regeneration. |
Table 5: Types of rehabilitation initiatives
in Vietnam
| Type
of funding |
Key
Features |
Programs
& Actors |
State sponsored |
State and private actors implemented, also households |
661, 747, 327 |
Credits/ Loans |
Focus on fast wood. Technical assistance provided.
Focus on poverty alleviation & conservation. |
ADB, WB, SBV, JBIC, KfW |
Grants/ODA |
Involvement of NGOs and civil society. Projects more donor driven
which increases the risks of failure. |
JICA, KfW |
Self investment |
Limited extension services. Small banks or private loan financed.
Land as collateral. Mostly short rotation. Limited access to markets.
|
Private households |
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