Báo cáo khoa học nông nghiệp " Achievements and lesson learnt from implementation of the project "Sustainable community-based forest development and management in some high-poverty areas in Bac Kan Province" " pot

Management of the forest has also exacerbated the situation through many problems: i low productivity due to forest degradation after excessive use and little investment; ii perceptions

Achievements and lesson learnt from implementation of the project

"Sustainable community-based forest development and management in some

high-poverty areas in Bac Kan Province"

Khongsak Pinyopusarerk, Tran Van Dien

Implementing Agencies: CSIRO - Australia; Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry

1 INTRODUCTION

Ethnic minority communities in the remote mountainous northern provinces of Vietnam are among the poorest in the country, with limited access to agricultural land, health facilities, markets and infrastructure Van Minh and Lang San communes of Na Ri district in Bac Kan province have poverty rates of 63-68% [1] Forested land comprises 84% and 90% respectively of the total land area and is of paramount importance for community livelihoods, including collection of firewood, harvesting food and herbal medicinal plants However, lack

of access to utilise forest land and unequal allocation of forest areas to the poorer families have led to serious poverty Management of the forest has also exacerbated the situation through many problems: (i) low productivity due to forest degradation after excessive use and little investment; (ii) perceptions of forests as common lands with free access, with unclear boundaries and poorly defined ownership obligations; (iii) few incentives to reinvest in the forest (no security) and reluctance to take direct responsibility for the land; (iv) poor awareness of user rights, forest laws and regulations, and rights of participation in official processes such as forest land allocation; and (v) very limited support from government agencies in approaches to effectively use the forest land and earn income [2]

The Land Law which came into effect on 1st July 2004 allows communities (villages) to receive land and forest land [3] However, there is no mechanism to realise this option This project will therefore develop mechanisms under Community Forestry Management including participatory land use planning and land allocation to facilitate land distribution and address the sustainable management of the forest

The project Goal is

Sustainable improvement in livelihood security of disadvantaged forest-dependent people in northern mountainous areas, through empowerment of access to forest and forest land, influence over forest land management, conservation of the natural resources and development of relevant skills

2 METHODOLOGY

Four villages: Na Muc and Khuoi Lieng in Van Minh commune and To Dooc and Ban Sang

in Lang San commune in Na Ri district - Bac Kan province which have community forest lands were selected to be the research site for the project The community forest lands are target area for project interventions, that includes land use planning, forest land allocation, forest enrichment, nursery, plantation and agro-forestry development The quality of community forest was assessed through forest survey to identify the productivity as well as biodiversity The social economic condition of local community and the dependency of livelihood of local community on the forest were identified by socio-economic survey The data relating to land use planning, forest land allocation, forest enrichment, nursery, plantation and agro-forestry models were also recorded in the field based the samples The processes of land allocation, management of community forest development fund, implementation of community forest management plan were also recorded The outcomes and impacts of training activities were assessed at the phase out period Cost benefit for each community forest management models was analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of each activity

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

3.1 Allocation of community forest lands to communities

Allocation of communication forest lands to communities was firstly implemented in Bac Kan province The allocation process met many difficulties both paper works as well as field works The most difficult work is solving conflicts on the border of community forest Before community forest was considered as common property which was exploited and used by local people from many villages So it is extremely difficult to allocate the community forest to only 01 village However, by participatory approach in solving the problems, the consensus have been made among neighbor villages Therefore, the borders of community forest in four villages were defined and the field maps were also constructed The formal processes of community forest land allocation have been completed for four project villages with “Red Book” for long-term use rights (Table 1)

Table 1: Results of community forest land allocation in four target villages

# Villages Community forest

land allocated (ha)

% of Community forest land allocated

This would give local communities the confidence to contribute and invest labor and other inputs to the protection and development of community forest lands for overall local benefit;

Lessons learnt:

- The border of community forest have to clear defined by participatory approach before processing the paper works

- Strong cooperation between district and commune authorities, especially between Forest Protection Department and Department of Natural Resources and Environment

in conducting the filed works as well as the paper work play a key role for the success

of the community forest land allocation

- Certain budget is needed for field work of the commune and district cadastral staff

3.2 Establishment community forest management (CFM) plan

After receiving the official rights of using the CF lands, the CFM plan have been established

in each village The CFM within each village consists of two elements: (1) regulations which provide a legal framework for village members to implement the CFM plan at the village level, and (2) a CFM plan which describes and lists the activities that will be undertaken Both the regulations and plans are a result of separate village meetings and discussion Therefore while the general scope is maintained across the four villages, the contents differ depending on the land use preferences and enforcement level of each village

General contents of CFM regulations

- Rights and responsibilities of all community members in forest protection and development

- Rules to protect forests and mobilize human resources to protect and develop forests

- Logging, buy and sell, timber and non-timber transport

- Grazing animals in the community forest

- Prevention of forest fire

- Checking and preventing outsiders from shifting cultivation, illegal logging or hunting, and illegal buying, selling and transporting timber/non-timber/animals within the village

- Cooperation among community members in forest protection/development, production services and sale of products

- Collaboration with other villages to protect and effectively develop the forests

- Regulations on penalty for infringement of the forest protection rules

- Regulations on sharing benefits among community members

- The regulations should be presented to all community members and submit for approval by Commune People's Committee

General contents of CMF Plan

- New plantation plan such as what kinds of species? how large the area?, where? when? how much of labor costs? how many seedlings? sources of seedlings?

- Nursery plan, seedling production

- Maintenance and protection

- Harvesting plans

- Human resource (labor input) plan

- Other activities such as agro-forestry

Lesson learnt in establishment of CFM plan:

- It is necessary to modify the Guidelines of MARD on Community Forest Management (Figure 1) which issued on November 27th 2006 (Decision 106/2006/BNN-PTNT) for more simple and practical in local condition [4]

- Participatory approach to develop the CFM is crucial factor for establishment an feasible and practical CFM plan

- Staff of district Forest Protection Department and commune extension workers are main technical sources to provide supports for community in developing the CFM plan

3.3 Implementation of CFM plan

3.3.1 The involvement of community members in CFM

Within each village, a CFM board of 5 persons has been elected by open votes to oversee overall implementation All four villages have places a strong emphasis on plantation forest for protection of watershed areas and for commercial wood production During meetings and discussion which were attended by at least one member of every household, all household representatives have expressed their commitment to contribute labor inputs in the implementation of the plan Another common agreement across all four villages is an attempt

to reduce and stop shifting cultivation and free grazing in community forest areas Number of households involved in CFM is presented in Table 2

Table 2: Current involvement of community members participating CFM [5]

Villages Total village

households involved with CFM

Total males aged >15 involved in CFM

Total females aged >15 involved in CFM

Quantity % Quantity % Quantity %

3.3.2 Capacity building for local people

Based on the training needs of local community, various trainings were conducted as presented in the Table 3 Most of the trainings were conducted as Farmer Field School (FFS) approach The trainings help all local community members to be aware of laws on forest protection and development and be more knowledgeable and skillful in technical issues relating to forest management

Table 3: Training courses conducted in the project area [6]

beneficiaries

2 Planning and implementation of community forest management 25

7 Sustainable harvest of non-timber forest products 82

3.3.2 Establishment of village-based nurseries

The radical constraint of forest development in both community forest lands and household allocated lands is lacking of forest seedlings Some projects have provided the seedlings to area, but it wasn't successful The survival rate was very low due to the long distant transportation Therefore, the establishment of village nursery garden to produce the seedling

at plantation site is not only to ensure the high survival rate of seedlings, but also create a more income generation for local people The project facilitated the establishment of village-based community nurseries for raising quality tree seedlings for sale or distribution to land owners Key inputs provided by the project included training in nursery management and

methods and provision of access to quality genetic seed sources of Acacia mangium (from CSIRO and RCFTI) and Manglietia During three years of project implementation, a huge

number of forest seedlings have been produced for replantation of both community forest lands and household allocated lands as presented in the Table 4

Table 4: Number of seedlings produced annually in four target villages

Table 5 reveals that a community requires at least 5 million VND to establish a nursery and more than 16.5 million VND a year for operating expenses The cost for a seedling is only

309 VND, while the market price is 700 - 1000 VND

Table 5: Costs for a village-based nursery producing 70,000 seedlings/year [7]

Construction of nursery garden (capital cost) 5,120,000

3.3.3 Agro-forestry models in community forest lands

The design of the agro-forestry model takes into account the need for income generation for communities Expanding market opportunities exist for planted trees of a number of species reflecting the transition from dependency on a natural forest to a planted resource By selecting appropriate species well adapted to the local environment, which are fast growing and meet a market need, communities can benefit financially from tree planting projects either

on community land or other land surplus to agricultural requirement Crops on the other hand will provide opportunities for added food security with surplus crops providing additional income The areas for the agro-forestry model trials are about one hectare each village

The selection of species is based on the key species recommended in the land use planning surveys which are considered to have potential as either commercial species or for use in alley

cropping systems For timber production, Acacia hybrid (Keo lai), Manglietia conifera (Mo) and Melia azedarach (Xoan) are preferred by villagers, and these are the tree species for this model In addition, one fast-growing, multi purpose species, Cassia (cot khi) has been

selected for planting on the contours for soil erosion control Agricultural crops planted between tree rows was chosen by villagers based on local experience Hybrid corn, improved

soybean, taro and cassava have been selected for growing in agro-forestry models Table 6

shows the yields of the agriculture crops in the agro-forestry models in the target villages

Table 6: Agricultural crop yields in 2008 and 2009 in the four project villages

Unit: kg/ha

Taro - 300 - -

2009 Maize 4500 2000 2200 2000

Table 7: Plant height of forest tree in agro-forestry models after two years of planting

Unit: m

3.3.4 Community forest development funds (CFDF)

Community Forest Development Fund is developed by the community through initial seed

money of CARD project The main purpose of this fund is for forest development activities in

community forest areas in the village Activities related to community forest development can

use this fund following the community's regulations This fund will be maintained and grown

for long-term purpose The fund is managed by Community Forest Board Financial issue

should be reported to village meetings to ensure transparency

Sources for CFDF

a) Funding from CARD project:

- CARD project contributes 1,000 AUD (13 million VND) as "seed money" to establish

the fund

- Household who receive seedlings from the village nursery to plant on their own land

must contribute 50 VND per seedling to the fund (following regulations of nursery

management)

b) Income from timber and non-timber forest products from the community forest area:

- Contribute 20% of total income from non-timber forest product harvest such as

mushroom, fruits, and medicinal plants to the fund

- Households within the village community are permitted to use timber from the

community forest areas to build their houses; they have to contribute 20% of the total

value to the fund

c) Interest from loan

- The fund can be used for loan for agricultural and forestry production with low interest

of 0.6% per month based on demand of household members of the community forest

d) Penalty from illegal actions following CFM regulation

- All penalty from illegal actions following the CFM regulations will put into the fund

Management of CFDF

- CFM Board have a responsibility to manage the CFDF

- Use of the fund to follow government's financial regulations (receipts, reports are

required)

- Accountant and head of the Community Forest Management Board has to report to

Commune People’s Committee on financial issues

Status of community forest development funds after two years of implementation (Jan, 2008 -

Jan, 2010) is presented in Table 8

Table 8 Status of community forest development funds in four villages

Unit: Thousands VND Indicators Khuoi Lieng Na Muc To Dooc Ban Sang

The figure in Table 8 indicates that CFDF is well managed by local community The fund size

of all four villages have been increased significantly The poor households in the community

can access to CFDF as microfinance sources for forest development

Lessons learnt from implementation of CFM plan

- Capacity building for local people on the rights to access to the community forest lands,

the rights to harvest and the responsibility to protect the community forest is considered

as the most important activity for the success of the implementation of CFM

- Control free grazing in Bac Kan is a crucial factor for the success of the agro-forestry

models and replantation in community forest lands

- Clear demarcation of the community forest can avoid the conflicts between villages in

harvesting the forest products in the community forest

3.4 The impacts/changes of due to implementation CFM plan

The survey to identify the impacts and the changes due to implementation of CFM plan on the

communities of four villages was conducted in March 2010 Results of the survey shows that

implementation of CFM plan has positive impacts on communities in term of livelihood improvement, environment protection and forest quality (Table 9) 57-100% members of communities agreed that implementation of CFM plan decreased number of illegal cases of

forest exploitation or violence 59-100% members of communities responded that community

forest is well protected so it has been enriched Therefore it creates a better environment such

as having water through a year, less natural disasters happen in local areas In addition, the

implementation of CFM plan creates the equality and solidarity in the communities

Table 09 Impacts and changes due to application of CFM plan [5]

Percentage of local people agreed (%) Indicators

Na Muc Khuoi Lieng To Dooc Ban Sang Decreased illegal forest

exploitation

100 94.1 81.8 86.4

4 Conclusions:

- The allocation of community forest lands can only be implemented with the active participation of local community and local authorities in solving the border conflicts,

field mapping and paper works

- The implementation of Guidelines of MARD on Community Forest Management (Figure 1) which issued on November 27th 2006 (Decision 106/2006/BNN-PTNT) should be flexible for more practical and adapted with in local socioeconomic and culture conditions

- Capacity building for local people on the rights to access to the community forest lands, the rights to harvest and the responsibility to protect the community forest is considered

as the most important activity for the success of the implementation of CFM

- Community Forest Development Fund play an important role to promote the participation of local communities to community forest management

- The implementation of CFM plan has positive impacts on communities in term of livelihood improvement, environment protection and forest quality: decreased number of illegal cases of forest exploitation, community forest is well protected and enriched In addition, the implementation of CFM plan creates the equality and solidarity in the communities

REFFERENCES

1- People's Committee of Van Minh and Lang San (2006); Annual report of socioeconomic 2- Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry (2007) Report of forest survey in Van Minh and Lang San - Na Ri district - Bac Kan

3- Vietnam Government (2004), Decision 181/2004/ND-CP;

4- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (2006) Decision 106/2006/QD-BNN

5- Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry (2010) Report of final baseline survey

in 4 CARD project villages

6- CARD 017-06VIE (2009) Milestone 11 report

7-CARD017-06VIE (2009) Benefit-cost analysis report