COMMUNITY FOREST MANAGEMENT IN HOA BINH - SOLUTIONS pdf

In some areas the forest management with the participation of local communities living near forests become socio - economic forest management model, in accordance with traditional prod

Trần Duy Rươn g

Senior researcher, Department of Forestry Economic Research

Vietnam Forestry Science Institute

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, as forest management requirements, some other provinces as well as Hoa Binh province has allocated forest lands to communities (villages, households .) for management with stable use and long-term in forestry

purposes Then community become the owner of CF

In addition, the community also participated in a contracted forest protection,

forest regeneration and new plantation of the State organizations In some

areas the forest management with the participation of local communities living near forests become socio - economic forest management model, in

accordance with traditional production of many ethnic groups in Vietnam

How is the role of community in forest

management organization system in Vietnam?

Should government encourage development of community forest?

To assess the community forest management status of Muong ethnic communities in Hoa Binh, and analyze

forest management, and provide recommendations as well as solutions to encourage community participating

in sustainable community forest management

Objectives

- To collect documents related to community forest

management and materials related to the habits of Muong

ethnic in natural resource use

- To interview forestry management staffs at all levels of the

province, district, commune and village, and to interview

members of community at Kim Son commune, Kim Boi district - Hoa Binh based the questionnaires

CONCEPTS OF COMMUNITY FOREST

According to FAO

1978, Community

Forestry and Social

Forestry terms used to

indicate the forest

management is

closely linked with

local people

According to the Arnold 1992, the general definition of community forestry (CF), itis a term

covering a wide range of activities between rural people and forest trees as well as the products and benefits derived from forest trees

Community Forest Management (CFM) is understood as the participation of local people, groups of households or household in the management, protection and use of forests and forest land Community directly manage community forest as well as forest

of other organizations

Socio-economic conditions General socioeconomic status of Hoa

Binh

Population and administration

Hoa Binh Province has ‘10 districts and 1 city, including 195

communes and 11 towns, 8 wards with population distribution and labor in 2006 as follows :

Population, ethnic groups: Hoa Binh

has many ethnic groups living (Muong, Kinh, Thai, Tay, Dao, Hmong, other .) with a population

of 822,545 people including 410,096 males and 412,449

females

Population distribute is unequal, the

highest population density (Hoa Binh city 643 persons/km2), the lowest population density (Da Bac district 64persons/km2)

- Urban Residents: 125,077 people, accounting for 15.2%, rural: 697,468 people, accounting

far OA OQ0/

IVs

- For Economics: The economics of Hoa Binh province has stably growth in recent years, the value of the gross domestic product (GDP) increases an average 8% per year

The economic structure shifted towards positive,

increasing proportion of industry and services, reducing the proportion of agro-forestry and fishery However, the province of the starting point is low; province’s GDP per capita is lower than the national average GDP

- For Society: People living standard is more increasingly and political security, social order has been maintained in over the province

Number of employees was increasingly

addressed jobs, the rate of poverty households

significantly reduced However, according to new poverty criteria, the household poverty rate of the

province remains at high level (31.1%)

income/capita is 4.3 million/ per year ( 83%

higher than it in 2000) However, the income/capita/month at Hoa Binh Province

Forest resource status and forest management of Hoa Binh Province

Currently, Hoa Binh has four nature reserve management boards under the Forest Protection Department, one critical forest

protection board for watershed of Da river, Hoa Binh Forestry

Company of Vietnam Forestry Cooperation has / plantations over Hoa Binh province

Hoa Binh forestry relatively develops, plantation forest area

replants and newly planted forest exploited from 7.000 to 9.000 ha every year

Flora: forests in Hoa Binh province is

quite rich; wood tree has about 995

species, in 180 groups

x Hoa Binh’s natural forest is a semi-

evergreen jungle forest type, half-

raining in tropical season, forest

plants are quite plentiful and various,

divided into the following sub-types:

+ Evergreen forest in plateau:

Distributing at height from 800 -

1000m,

+ Evergreen forest in mountain:

Distributing at altitudes below 800

IC and IB blind area designed for forest regeneration, if it is well protected; after 7-8 years will be restored in young forest without reserves There is a deep soil layer, moisture, land is still forest land form, so the recovery time of natural forests relatively fast in Hoa Binh province

Table 2: Forest area and planed lands for forestry sectors based the ownerships

Forest Other Total State Mangeme | economic Comm Types of forest land s area enterprice | nt Board org households | unity | Other org Army PPC

CURRENT CF MANAGEMENT OF MUONG

ETHNIC GROUP IN HOA BINHF

CFM IN MO VILLAGE — KIM SON COMMUNE — HOA BINH

x Muong ethnic at Mo village - Kim Son commune - Kim Boi district

- Hoa Binh with 246 households and 1281 population The village manages 531.1 hectare community forest, with clear

boundaries, community forest area mostly located in remote places, complicated terrain

The status of forest is natural mixed forest degradation; there are diversity plant species in forest including many indigenous trees

such as canarium, walnut, styrax and dracontomelum

Most of wood forest is in groups of IIA, IIB, regeneration tree, the average diameter of about 20-25cm, remain some woods of low quality with diameter approximately 40cm in difficult exploited

terrains

Village heads

On behalf of village people builds up village’s

conventions, issues rules to protect forest

and forest land He is considered and

allowed households to exploit appliance

logging;

When forest fire occurs, illegal forest

exploitation of village and household, the

village leader mobilizes village police, militia,

local people to participate in extinguishing

fire, preventing of violations of forest law

lf people in village violated village’s

conventions, the village leader will organize

the meeting and based on village's

convention to penalize For example, if it is

light violation, he/she must pay 30kg rice

fine, then increase 50kg, 100kg and the

heaviest can be reached to a ton of paddy

x Households are the main

beneficiaries from the village

forests When household has

demand for building house, it will

be considered by village for

allowing wood, bamboo

exploitation in the village There

are many families every year

permits village to exploit logging for

household use (build house,

coffin )

Chairman and Secretary of

Party committee of the

commune, mass organizations are determined

to work for village

Community protects and develops community forest It

is always ready to mobilize

other organizations to work for community forest

protection when needed

Benefits from forest

Community forests brings many benefits to

people such as wood, other forestry products,

environmental protection, water resource for

farming activities as well as daily for local people

Advantages

Village community based organization of the Muong people in Hoa Binh is well

organized, village leaders are democratically elected Most Muong communities have an internal convention and highly effective, it was showed that the relationship of village

members closely with social aspect Rewarding and punishing mechanisms by

community convention proved to be effective

Potential labor is abundant, especially in leisure period \f local people are guided to

protect, develop and forest use technique, they will respond positively to the forestry

development programs improving living standard of each Muong family and community

Indigenous knowledge systems related to forest protection and development

Indigenous knowledge is considered the most effective for forest management,

including knowledge of soil classification, forest classification, and animal forest

classification, knowledge of exploitation and use products from forest This is a really

favorable factor for participation of community to manage and protect local forest

Forest plays an important role in community life The interviews showed that forest has

an important role in the production of life or spiritual significance to the community They have existed with the forest as inseparable parts of human ecology

High community of local people Muong people in Hoa Binh as well as most of the local ethnic community are high community This is a favorable factor for the development of

~community rules on resource management including forest resources |

he “I

Disadvantages or difficulties

Economic of local people are facing many difficulties

Market for agro-forestry products has not yet developed:

Agricultural and forestry extension activities have still not developed

State policies on community forest management are still unsuitable

RECOMMENDATIONS AND SOLUTIONS TO PROMOTE

THE INVOLVEMENT IN CPMUNITY FOREST

MANAGEMENT

Investing in infrastructure development

Investing for development of forestry business

Investing in further development on the forest area where has high economic and ecological value in un-used lands

Investing for development inter-activities both ensures to forest conservation goal and economic development goals

Investment in developing forestry products market

When natural forest allocated for community to manage and use There should be authorized the community have the rights to decide of exploiting and using

forestry

+ Propaganding and educating to raise people’s awareness about the

economic value, ecological forest, encouraging people to actively participate

in forest protection and development So far most people awareness that

forest to be considered stock of resources

+ Implementation of agro-forestry land use planning

+ Set up organization for forest management at the commune level It is

necessary to build forestry management system have enough capacity to

implement and monitor protecting activities and business at commune level

under the provisions of the State

5 Set up community organizations relates to protect management and forest development at commune level Social organizations such as the

mobilizing people to implement the Party and State's policies

development and production activities

6 Build up a combine regulations between forest protection department and commune authorities It is thought that one of the causes of effective forest management is not high due to lack of well-cooperated between forest protection department and forest protection and management forces on the same area Therefore, it is needed to well- coordinated to perform effectively common tasks in which encourages people participate in protecting forest and preventing destroys on forest resources

7 Capacity building for community forest management Completing convention of CFM in each local community When establishes convention it must be made publish, democratic and approved by community Then this convention must be recognized by the People's Committees at all levels

community manages and sustainable uses of forest community

To conduct the researches to build up demonstration models with high efficiency in forest business It is needed to study technical measures to improve crop yield, livestock in farming system and to be considered as a factor reducing the pressure of community life on forest resources These technical measures that can be focused on improving farming technique, crop restructuring from food crops to industrial crops, fruit, specialty crops, improving livestock group that first as cattle

To strengthen agricultural and forestry extension activities have not developed Because of low of intensive farming technique level and people breeding techniques results to people economic life is not high

To revise and disseminate indigenous knowledge related to forest protection and development needs to be preserved and deeply disseminated in the community of ethnic groups To establish an effective research plan for fire prevention, forest fire

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!