A study to assess the potential impact of voluntary partnership agreement vpa to the livelihood of local people in dong xa commune na ri district bac kan province

So, the main objective of the study was to assess the impacts of VPA the livelihood of two groups of vulnerable communes in Dong Xa, which is: 1 small- scale woodworking households; 2 ho

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY

DUONG THI NHUNG

ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF VOLUNTARY PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (VPA) TO THE LIVELIHOOD OF LOCAL PEOPLE IN DONG

XA COMMUNE, NA RI DISTRICT, BAC KAN PROVINCE

BACHELOR THESIS

Study Mode : Full-time

Major : Environmental Science and Management

Faculty : International Training and Development Center

Thai Nguyen, September 2015

Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forest

Degree Program Bachelor of Environmental Science and Management

Thesis Title

A study to assess the potential impact of Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) to the livelihood of local people in Dong Xa commune, Na Ri district, Bac Kan province

Supervisor (s) Assoc Prof Tran Thi Thu Ha

Abstract:

VPA / FLEGT are bilateral trade agreement signed by the EU with partner countries exporting wood and wood products Accordingly, national partners committed only exports to the EU wood and wood products illegal National partners establish an assurance system to verify the legality of timber and FLEGT licenses for wood and wood products will export to the EU For a mountainous commune like Dong Xa Commune, Na Ri District, the economic life of people is more difficult, low educational levels, infrastructure such as roads, schools, electricity from the national grid, and commune health stations, although the State has done investment interest, but it remains difficult The application of regulations on forest and wood of the VPA will affect greatly to the life of people in here So, the main objective of the study was to assess the impacts of VPA the livelihood of two groups of vulnerable communes in Dong Xa, which is: (1) small- scale woodworking households; (2) households having life dependent on the forest, forest plantations in forest area due to the commune People's Committee of Management but no legal papers, no forest land, or have very little forest land and forest Using interviewing people in ten villages of Dong Xa commune, surveys,

collect data on their income, the afforestation of households, analysis of interviewing data, secondary data of Dong Xa, Na Ri district, found that: The vulnerability that

from the price increase legal timber; increased transaction costs to achieve the legal requirements for business registration and operation of enterprises; and vulnerable because of changes in the market lead to changes in hiring (especially, the households hire labor in outside) For households having life dependent on the forest, forest plantations in forest area due to the commune People's Committee of Management but

no legal papers, no forest land, or have very little forest land and forest, they are minorities and has a long tradition of sticking with their forests and livelihood depend

on forests So, they are very vulnerable to changes in forestry regulations and access to forest resources (including wood and non-wood products) Their source of income will

be reduced, due to difficulty selling timber to the outside with many regulations and procedures

Key words: VPA, FLEGT, livelihood, forest, EU, illegal logging,

Date of Submission: September 30th, 2015

Supervisor (Sign)

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my research supervisor, Assoc Prof Tran Thi Thu Ha, Director of Institute of Research and Development of Forestry, Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry, for supporting me all the way through this thesis Her invaluable encouragement interesting viewpoints and constructive comments on this thesis have been highly appreciated Therefore, I have completed the project on time

Further, I would like to sincerely thank the school administrator, ITC along with teachers, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Bac Kan province, Forestry Department in Bac Kan province, the relevant authorities of Na Ri and Dong Xa Commune People's Committee with the enthusiastic help, were enthusiastically supported and created favorable conditions, provided with full and correct data for me to finish my duties

Finally, I would like to thank all my friends, my classmates, especially my family for their great support

During the internship, I tried very hard, but due to lack of experience and knowledge,

my thesis has unavoidably flawed I would like to receive the heartfelt comments of teachers and friends for my thesis were more complete

I sincerely thank you!

Thai Nguyen, September 30 th , 2015

The implementation

Duong Thi Nhung

TABLE OF CONTENT

LIST OF FIGURES 1

LIST OF TABLES 2

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 3

PART I INTRODUCTION 4

1.1 Rationale 4

1.2 Research objectives 6

1.3 Research question and hypotheses 6

1.4 The limitations 6

1.5 Research significance 7

PART II LITERATURE REVIEW 8

2.1 The Voluntary Partnership Agreement 8

2.1.1 Definition of voluntary partnership agreement 8

2.1.2 The Voluntary Partnership Agreement includes 9

2.1.3 Construction Voluntary Partnership Agreement 11

2.2.1 Definition of illegal wood 18

2.2.2 Implementation the definition of legality of timber 19

2.3 Forest status in Vietnam 20

2.3.1 Fluctuations in Vietnam forests 20

2.3.2 The status and changes of forest in Bac Kan 22

PART III METHODS 30

3.1 Subject 30

3.2 Research design 30

3.3 Research contents 30

3.4 Research Methodology 31

3.4.1 Data collection methods 31

3.4.2 Fieldwork Methods 31

3.4.3 Data processing methods 32

3.4.4 Experts Consultation 32

PART IV RESULTS 33

4.1 Current status of forest land allocation in Dong Xa Commune 33

4.2 Small-scale woodworking households 35

4.2.1 The main characteristic of small-scale woodworking households 35

4.2.2 Some impacts of VPA to small-scale woodworking households 41

4.3 Households having life dependent on the forest and forest plantations in forest area due to the commune’s People's Committee of Management but no legal papers 43 4.3.1 The main characteristics of the study group 43

4.3.2 The issues that research target group encountered and the impact of the VPA 46 PART V DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 51

5.1 Discussion 51

5.2 Conclusion 52

REFERENCES 54

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Organizational structure of FLEGT/VPA 4negotiation of Vietnam 15Figure 2.2 Forest coverage rate over the years of Bac Kan Province 24Figure 4.1 Bac Kan province map - Na Ri location purple blue 33

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: The variation in forest area Vietnam during 1943-2012 (million

hectares) 20

Table 2.2 Structure of forest types 21

Table 2.3 The area of forest land according three forest types through the years 2011 – 2014 23

Table 2.4 Afforestation area through the years 2011-2014 24

Table 2.5 The percentage of forest cover over the years 2011-2014 24

Table 2.6 The percentage of forest cover in the districts, towns 25

Table 4.1 Data consolidation: Planning of forest land in the district in 2010-2013 34

Table 4.2 Current status of forestland allocation in Dong Xa Commune 35

Table 4.3 Interviewing information of small-scale woodworking households 36

Table 4.4 Production method, income of small-scale woodworking households 37

Table 4.5 The procedure of the production process wood and wood products 38

Table 4.6 Interviewing information of households having life dependent on the forest 44

Table 4.7 The income of households having life dependent on the forest and forest plantations in forest area 45

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Abbreviations The meaning

FLEGT Forest law enforcement, Government and Trade

IFAD International foundation agriculture development

MARD Ministry of Agriculture and rural development

VNGO-FLEGT The Vietnamese Non-government organization’s network on forest law enforcement, government and trade

VNTLAS Vietnam Timber legality assurance system

PART I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

The topography of the country in majority area of hills, but mainly low hillsand mountainous terrains accounts for three quarters of the territory The terrain with elevations below 1000m up 85% of the area is mainly distributed in the North and West territory, on the 2000m high terrain only accounts for 1% The area of forest land

in our country in 2005 was 14.43 million hectares, accounting for 43.6% of the natural land With varied terrain, tropical climate has changed from North to South, it has created a diversity of natural ecosystems and the abundance of the species These ecosystems include many forest types such as many broad-leaved evergreen forests, semi-deciduous forest, deciduous forest, limestone forest, mixed forest of coniferous and broadleaved, coniferous forest, bamboo forest, mangroves, mangrove forests, and freshwater wetland forest However, in recent years due to overexploitation of human, natural disasters and forest fires, resources of Vietnam were severely reduced in both quantity and quality of forests (Thuong, 2005)

From 11/2010, Vietnam and the European Union (EU) have announcednegotiations Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on strengthening forest law enforcement, governance of forests and forest products trade (FLEGT) Currently, both sides are in the final stages of the negotiation process Research

project:“Assessing the potential impact of Voluntary partnership agreement (VPA)

to the livelihood of local people in Dong Xa commune, Na Ri district, Bac Kan

province” to provide a portion of the results and put forecasting situations of two

groups of vulnerable: small-scale woodworking households and households having life

Committee of Management but no legal papers can be affected on how the VPA agreement is signed.

Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs), and the processes through which they are developed, have considerable potential to bring about pro-poor policy reforms and can result in the empowerment of the more vulnerable community groups With the implementation of the VPA, the timber production and processing industry has to adapt to changing market demands and export regulations, and an action plan to ensure timber legality is required by Vietnam This action plan has to focus on raising awareness, amending ad reviewing legislation, encouraging enterprise to import certified timber, developing and implementing a timber legality assurance system, and strengthening international cooperation with export countries such as Laos and Cambodia and with markets in EU countries (FLEGT, 2003).Dong Xa Commune, Na Ri district is a mountainous commune, located in the northeast province of Bac Kan The economic life of people is more difficult, low educational levels, infrastructure such as roads, schools, electricity from the national grid, and commune health stations, although the State has done investment interest remains difficult

To learn about the issues in the framework of a thesis, the consent of International Training and Development Center, under the guidance of teacher Assoc

Prof Dr Tran Thi Thu Ha, I conducted research topic: “Assessing the potential impact of Voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) to the livelihood of local people

in Dong Xa commune, Na Ri district, Bac Kan province”.

1.2 Research objectives

+) General objectives

This study aims to assess and investigate the situation prediction about the effect

of VPA on the livelihood of people, these groups are vulnerable: small-scale woodworking households, and households having life dependent on the forest, forest plantations in forest area due to the commune People's Committee of Management but

no legal papers in Dong Xa Commune, Na Ri district, Bac Kan province

+) Specific objectives

- Survey the understanding / awareness of the people / communities on the legality of timber and timber products

- Analysis forestry law enforcement and its impact on benefits and obligations

of the people / communities

- Synthesis of aspirations / suggestions of the people related to ensuring the legality of timber and timber products associated with improved livelihood Then, find the negatives that people can be affected when VPA was signed

1.3 Research question and hypotheses

 What are the current states of management of the exploitation and protection of forests in the Na Ri district, Bac Kan province?

 What are the characteristics of the livelihood of households?

 What are the effects of VPA to the livelihood of local people?

1.4 The limitations

The restrictions during the research process include distance, the mountain roads are craggy, the local people were not cooperating in the interview process, lack of

1.5 Research significance

+) The significance of the study and scientific research:

- Applying the knowledge gained from school into reality;

- Improving practical skill;

- Accumulation work experience after graduation;

- Advanced knowledge of study and get to reference materials to achieve the effect

Raising the awareness of local people about environmental issues and the legal logging.

PART II LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 The Voluntary Partnership Agreement

2.1.1 Definition of voluntary partnership agreement

FLEGT Action Plan of the EU recognizes that as a consumer market valued wood products, the EU must share the responsibility with the producing nations of woodworking to combat illegal logging and the related commercial activities However, at present there is no real mechanism to detect and eliminate illegal timber from the EU market (EU FLEGT, 2009)

+ What is FLEGT?

FLEGT is "Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade in timber forests" FLEGT Action Plan of the European Commission to include a program of activities of the EU to deal with the problem of illegal logging and trading activities of timber products related to illegal timber (EU FLEGT, 2009)

Therefore, the Action Plan FLEGT of the EU launched an initiative to build the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between the EU and timber producing countries (FLEGT partner countries) The Agreement is designed to eliminate essentially illegal timber production from domestic commercial activities as well as a country's international partners

The Voluntary Partnership Agreement is a binding agreement between the EU and the partner countries in which the two sides committed to working closely together

to support the objectives of the FLEGT Action Plan and enforce licensing mechanisms To create conditions for this cooperation, a new EU regulation for the

2.1.2 The Voluntary Partnership Agreement includes

VPA aims to support the commitment of the timber producing nations (partner countries) to promote sustainable forest management through support to these countries to improve forest law enforcement and governance forest

One factor common to all the VPA is the partner country committed or will commit to building mechanisms law and administrative reliable as well as technical systems to verify that timber products made according to the provisions of national law partner (FLEGT, 2003) That include:

- A commitment to ensure that forestry laws concerning consistent, understandable, enforceable and effective promotion of sustainable forest management

- The development of administrative systems and techniques to monitor the exploitation activities, identification and traceability of wood from the place of extraction to the market or export assembly point

- Commitment to improve transparency and the accountability in forest governance

- Establishing control and counterbalance in the system traceability of timber and timber license, including the implementation of a system of independent monitoring

- Develop processes for export licenses were legally harvested timber

- Construction licensing processes for export legally harvested timber

VPA was applied to forestry and forest governance in each partner country is different Therefore, in each partner country, Voluntary Partnership Agreement to take into account factors such as: The issues of national forest governance; building work

of forest laws; the nature of land use rights and forest; the nature of the timber trade; current initiatives of the forestry sector as well as the capacity to implement the agreement to be signed (FLEGT, 2003).

These factors should be considered when designing and implementing the Voluntary Partnership Agreement:

- Social Security: Voluntary Partnership Agreement should seek to minimize the negative impact on local communities and the poor on the basis of adequate attention to the livelihood of forest-related communities local and indigenous people The partner countries are encouraged to link FLEGT issues with poverty reduction strategies and monitoring the impact of the VPA on poverty

- The involvement of the components: There should be provisions must regularly consult the stakeholders in the process of designing and implementing the Agreement VPA This should include also the way to create conditions for the private sector participation in efforts to combat illegal logging, but also have to ensure that these requirements are incorporated into the Agreement does not create additional burdens excessively heavy for small producers

In some partner countries, satisfy the above requirements will require tremendous efforts for capacity building and institutional strengthening VPA must clearly identify fields to be supported financially as well as engineering Any assistance will be geared towards the strengthening of legality in the forestry field That is the fundamental step towards achieving the sustainable management of forest resources Fields that need attention include:

- Supporting timber production nationally;

- Encouraging enforcement policies and purchase legal timber products from legal timber processing;

- Supporting the initiatives of the private sector;

- Ensuring safety for financial operations and investments;

- Using existing law instruments or enact new legal tools to support the action plan;

- Dealing with the problem of timber but also controversy (DFID, 2013)

2.1.3 Construction Voluntary Partnership Agreement

2.1.3.1 Negotiation and Validity of Agreement

The Voluntary Partnership Agreement is launched from the unofficial discussions between the EU and partner countries in the future, usually by the European Commission or one or more member states of the EU implementation That will ensure that all stakeholders in partner countries understand the goals of the VPA

as well as mechanisms for implementation of the Agreement; it also helps the EU to understand the internal problems in the forestry sector of partner countries that should

be addressed in the design process of the Agreement Future partner countries will notify the European Commission when they are ready for the formal negotiations.(Journal of Wood Vietnam, 2014)

The negotiation will focus on important issues that affect the enforcement of forestry laws and forest governments of partner countries The negotiating process may take several months

VPA will take effect when the negotiation process ended and the administrative procedures of each side are completed (e.g: the agreement ratifies)

2.1.3.2 Joint Implementation Committee

Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) will be established with representatives from partner countries, the European Commission and the EU Member States, the Committee are responsible for ensuring that discussions between the EU and partner countries take place regularly and have effected The Commission will facilitate, monitor and supervise the implementation of the Agreement at the same time arrangements and settle all disputes or conflicts arise (VNGO-FLEGT, 2014) The tasks of the Committee include:

- Decision effective time of the licensing mechanism

- Monitoring and assessment overall progress of the implementation of Voluntary Partnership Agreement

- Review the reports of the independent monitoring bodies as well as complaints about the operation of the licensing mechanism

- Making the mediator and resolve conflicts / disputes relating to the Agreement and licensing mechanism

2.1.3.3 Planning and implementation

Each VPA contains a detailed plan that clearly states activities, the time taken

to improve governance in the forestry sector and implementation of the licensing mechanism

Depending on the degree of readiness of each partner country, also after VPA effective for some time, the new licensing mechanism operated by the possible need to build or strengthen the Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS) As a partner country for that the Timber Legality Assurance System of their country has satisfied all the requirements, national partners will inform the EU through the JIC (Thuy, 2008)

After confirming that information, the European Commission will take the name of the partner country and any additional products that will be controlled by a licensing mechanism in the Appendices of the Regulation FLEGT of the EU From this time onwards, all the product relevant partner countries exporting to the EU will

be forced to have a FLEGT license (Thuy, 2008)

2.1.3.4 Assessment and Reporting

They will have to prepare an annual report on the situation development and implementation of the VPA These reports will be presented in detail to complete the objectives and actions agreed the scheduled of implementation, as well as the progress

in eliminating the situation of illegal timber being exported to markets outside the EU

or domestic markets When licensing mechanism comes into operation, the report will give details of how many licenses have been issued and how much is the volume of timber exported to the EU market (Andy Roby, 2013)

The VPA contains provisions to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the agreement First evaluation will be carried out immediately after the start of implementation of the agreement is two years However, during the two years that if any problems arise in the process implementation of the Agreement, it could still organize unscheduled evaluation

2.1.3.5 The benefits that partner countries receive from the VPA

Those that would like to make the VPA and licensing mechanism, they need to build capacity and investments in order to ensure credit-worthiness In return, the partner countries will also receive the following benefits:

- Be strengthened political and financial resources to implement the reforms of the Government in field strengthening forest governance

- Improving access condition the EU market for private procurement policies and the EU public is increasingly encourage only purchase and sales and use legal timber and exclude the wood of unknown origin or illegal Thus, all kinds of products allowed to be imported into the EU market are considered legitimate origin.

- Increased budget revenue from tax sources that in some cases this revenue will even bigger operating costs licensing system

- Increased budget revenue to expenses for poverty alleviation and community development programs

- Get EU development aid priority to proceed with the measures relating

to FLEGT

- Having additional enforcement tools to prevent illegal activities

- Facilitating the development of private enterprises towards certified sustainable forest management

- To improve its image in the international arena by the Government's commitment to strive for good governance (Thuy, 2008)

Trade activities with countries choosing not to participate Voluntary Partnership Agreement ahead will not be affected However, as more and more countries adopt policies to encourage procurement wood / wood products were verified as legitimate, the countries have problems of illegal logging and choose not to participate Agreement voluntary partnership will certainly be reduced the market share trade to the EU (EU FLEGT, 2009)

2.2 Organizational structure of FLEGT/VPA negotiation of Vietnam

Figure 2.1 Organizational structure of FLEGT/VPA negotiation of Vietnam

With wood products accounting for 80% of export products of Vietnam, and Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Forest Products (FLEGT), the EU has set requirements for wood legality and timber products imported into the EU

Vietnam and the EU have formal negotiations on FLEGT / VPA since November 2010 Vietnam is expected to complete negotiations in 2015 The agency in charge of negotiating FLEGT / VPA in Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) MARD in collaboration with other ministries including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance, the Association of Woodworking and trade Towards EU, the lead agency is the General Department of Environment,belonging to the EU delegation in Brussels,

Belgium with technical assistance from experts from the European Forest Institute (EFI) (Vũ, 2012).

From May 20 to October 24, 2014 in Hanoi, Vietnam and the EU have conducted sessions 8th about technical grade and high-level negotiations 4th about Voluntary Partnership Agreement on forest Law enforcement, Governance and Trade

of forest products (referred to as the VPA / FLEGT) Vietnam's negotiation delegation led by Mr Cao Chi Cong, Deputy General Director of the General Directorate of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam is the director and members from the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, Industry and Commerce, General Administration of Customs (Ministry of Finance), Foreign Affairs, Justice and the Association of Vietnam timber and Forest Products An EU negotiation team led by Mrs Astrid Schomaker, Head of Global Sustainability, Trade and multilateral agreements, Directorate General Environment, the European Commission is the director and members of the EU Delegation in Vietnam, representative the Embassy of Germany and Finland in Vietnam and the experts of the European Forest Institute (Vũ, 2012)

The government of Vietnam and the European Union (EU) began negotiations towards signing the Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Forest Products (VPA / FLEGT) from last year 2010 with the aim to ensure that timber and timber products exported from Vietnam to the EU member states have legal backgrounds Accordingly, when the agreement takes effect, Vietnam committed to apply a system of timber legality assurance and FLEGT licensing certify the legality of timber and timber products from Vietnam to export to

accountability for the source of the wood under the EU Timber Regulation (Regulation EUTR 995) with effect from March 2013 (VNGO-FLEGT, 2014).

Since the start of negotiation, the two sides have conducted numerous technical meetings to discuss the annexes of the Agreement, including the list of goods brought into the agreement, the scope of the definition of legal timber, system to ensure legal wood, publication of information and functions of the Joint implementation Committee The two sides have conducted seven meetings of the technical expert group and three high-level negotiations to be held in Hanoi and Brussels (EU FLEGT, 2009)

During the three days technical-level meetings and two days of high-level talks, the two sides discussed and achieved many important progress on key issues, including the list of goods brought into agreement, the scope the definition of legal timber and Vietnam Timber legality Assurance system (VNTLAS) and publication of information

In high-level negotiations 4th, the two sides once again confirmed their commitment to the principles set out for the Agreement and will conduct further technical discussions on the issue have not agreed in next time The two sides agreed

on a roadmap for the remaining stages of the negotiation process with the goal of concluding the negotiation in late 2015 (Thuy, 2008)

During the last negotiation session, the two sides held a press conference and meeting with the stakeholders to inform the negotiation results More than 40 organizations representing wood processing the business sector, non-governmental organizations Vietnam and international and the media, attended the press conference

In 2003, the EU through the Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Forest Products (FLEGT) to address the problem logging and

illegal trade October 20th, 2010, the National Assembly and the EU Commission issued Regulation 995/2010 imposes the obligation of the exporter of timber and timber products into the EU market The regulations take effect from March 3, 2013.(EU FLEGT, 2009).

Currently, there are six countries signed a VPA with the EU, includingIndonesia, Ghana, Cameroon, Liberia, Republic of Congo and Central African Republic, and these countries are conducting constructive systems to test, verified, licensing wood and wood products legal The countries above are called "the partner countries of VPA" Nine other countries, including Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia, are conducting negotiations with the EU and 11 other countries in Africa, Asia, Central and South America have expressed concern for VPA (Rights and Resources Initiative, 2014)

2.2.1 Definition of illegal wood

2.2.1.1 The basis

The FLEGT action plan of the EU, identifying measures to resolve the situation exploitation and illegal timber trade is increasing Fundamental to the implementation

of such measures is the ability to differentiate between legal timber and illegal timber

A definition of the legality of the wood will be important factors in the timber legality assurance system is part of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) will be negotiated between the EU and timber producing countries (VNGO – FLEGT, 2014)

2.2.1.2 Construction definition of legality of timber

The process to decide what the law is included in the definition belong the responsibilities of countries that apply the laws If the definition is an element in the timber legality assurance system to support trade agreements, it has to be on the national government to apply the law endorsed However, the nature of this process is the definition for the legality of timber must be the different sectors involved in social recognition

The potential risk due to non-compliance can create different effects on different components in wood-producing countries, such as government, private sector, communities, ethnic or local Therefore, the construction process definition must be consulted all relevant sectors of society In countries where the law is uniform and clearly, then defined building will not complex For asynchronous law countries, overlap and conflict, it will be a very difficult task, to refer multiple times, and to test

in practice defines whether it is suitable or not (Callister, 1992)

The above are some examples of reference process to determine what law is inconsistent with the demand for sustainable forest management, or where there are important rights are not recognized by law In these cases the need to apply a temporary definition, possible to bring the best effect in the law reform process

2.2.2 Implementation the definition of legality of timber

To check the compliance of rules defining and implementing it requires the definition should be clear, be feasible and verifiable objectives The definition must also understand for forestry workers as well as for law enforcement It means:

- The law or regulation should be dropped or not been included in the definition should be clear;

- There should be a clear experimental evidence (criteria and indicators), confirm the relevance of definitions for each individual laws or regulations;

- Must have realistically feasible to conduct suitability tests at the scene.(Callister, 1992)

To apply the definition of legality of timber in fact, should organize training for forestry workers, as well as those who law enforcement in the forest sector (e.g:rangers) Experience gained through the implementation process definition will show

us what do we need to improve or change; or what the law we need to supplement or amend the rules Therefore, there should be a provision in advance for changes expected Example, meaning will be changed if:

- A law or a regulation which makes up part of the definition is changed

or canceled

- A new law related to timber production is issued

- The practical experience shows that the definition is inconsistent with a certain law (Callister, 1992)

2.3 Forest status in Vietnam

2.3.1 Fluctuations in Vietnam forests

Table 2.1: The variation in forest area Vietnam during 1943-2012 (million hectares)

In 1943 the Vietnam forest area estimated 14 million hectares, with coverage percentage was 43% In 1976, decreased to 11 million ha with coverage ratio is 34%

In 1995, the remaining 8 million hectares and coverage percentage were 28% The forest area per capita is 0.13 ha for 1 person (1995), lower than the average in the Southeast Asia (0.42 hectares per person)

In the period 1945 - 1975 the whole country lost about 3 million hectares of forest, average 100,000 ha per year The process of deforestation takes place faster in the period 1975- 1990: loss of 2.8 million hectares, average 140,000 hectares per year For a long time, forest area decreased continuously Vietnam (14.3 million hectares in

1943 and in 1993 only remaining 9.3 million hectares) However, in recent years, forests have a clear upward trend By the end of 1999, total forest area of the whole country with 10.9 million hectares (33.2% of total national natural area), in which natural forests was 9.4 million hectares and 1.5 million hectares of plant forest (Nang, Dung Vu 2009) Currently, the forest land in Vietnam is planning 19 million hectares,

of which 9.3 million hectares are covered by forest, others are shrubs, woodlands and lawns, vacant land is not used Structure of forest types as follows:

Table 2.2 Structure of forest types

Forest types

Million ha % Million ha % Million ha %

By 1999, the country has 10.88 million hectare forest, natural forest which is 9.49 million hectares (87.2% of total forest area) Coverage of the national forest is 33% North and Northeast regions of the 13 provinces of Cao Bang, Lang Son, Ha Giang, Yen Bai, Quang Ninh, Bac Ninh with a coverage of 27% Red River delta has 7.8% coverage North Central Region has 39% coverage The mid - Central region has 47.1% coverage The South Central region has 34.2% coverage Central Highlands region, including 4 provinces (Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Lam Dong) has 55% coverage The Southeast region has 27.7% coverage Southwest Region has 7.2% coverage.

2.3.2 The status and changes of forest in Bac Kan

Currently, Bac Kan province has the largest forest areas in the country Forest land area of the province is 379,415.59 hectares, accounting for 78.08% of the natural area of the province, an increase of 3,288.44 hectares compared to 2010 (Forestprotection department in Bac Kan Province, 2011)

In which: 334,037 hectares of forest land (289,039 hectares of natural forests, plantations 44,998 hectares), 89,555 hectares of land without forest According to the results planning review of 3 types of forest in Bac Kan province, currently the forest is divided into the following categories:

- Special use forest: 25,547.38 hectares land area is accounted for 5.26% of the forest land

- Protection forest: The area is 98,260.76 hectares, accounting for 20.22% of the forest land

- Production forests: The land area is 255,607.35 hectares; accounting for

Table 2.3 The area of forest land according three forest types through the years 2011 – 2014.

Implementing Resolution Bac Kan Provincial Party the Tenth, the term 2010

-2015, striving to achieve afforestation targets of 12,000 hectares per year Forestry production, while not at the plan, but there is developing, a new total plantation area in the period 2011-2015 is estimated at 55,830 hectares, averaging 11,167 hectares / year,

an increase of 6,000 hectares over the period 2006-2010 (planned: 12,000 hectares per year) During the first 3 years of the 5 year plan, new forest plantings peaked, over 12,500 hectares / year However, in the last 2 years (2014, 2015) only 8,000-10,000 hectares / year The reason is that in the early years of plantation land fund much remaining; final year the area to be narrowed, mainly in the area of small and far away make it difficult for reforestation Highlights in the forestation stages 2011 - 2015 as people have realized the benefits from afforestation and reforestation funds invested, income from forest of people is increasing (Forest Protection Department of Bac Kan province, 2014)

Table 2.4 Afforestation area through the years 2011-2014

Table 2.5 The percentage of forest cover over the years 2011-2014

The estimated implementation in 2015

Implement ation Plan 2011-2015

The percentage

(Source: Forest Protection Department of Bac Kan province)

Figure 2.2 Forest coverage rate over the years of Bac Kan Province

Through our chart shows the percentage of forest cover through the years in the province has increased The average growth rate of 3.68%, compared with the rate of forest coverage increased in regions in the country, the average growth rate of the province is relatively high Since 2013 the forest coverage rate 70.6% increase compared to 2012 was 11.7%, increasing forest coverage has been improved in both quantity and quality

Table 2.6 The percentage of forest cover in the districts, towns

No Districts, towns

The percentage of forest cover (%)

(Source: Forest Protection Department of Bac Kan province)

According to the statistics above table shows, the percentage of forest cover in the districts and towns have increased over the years Specifically, the highest forest cover in the area of the Cho Don district with a forest coverage reached 78.7%, up 18.7% compared with 2012, in Bach Thong district reaching 76.8% increased by 7.9% compared to 2012 The rate of forest cover is the lowest in the province reached 52.3%

in Pac Nam district,as districts has the forest coverage rate reached its lowest level in

the province, but compared to 2012, the rate of cover district forest cover has increased more than 16.1%.

The forest area although there are increased, while plantations increased rapidly bring high economic value, but the value of biodiversity is low Natural forest area decreased despite recovery plant Forest covers increased, but forest quality has not improved Most natural forests belonging to a poor forest group, which focuses on primary forest in the biosphere reserve Although previously affected by people neighborhood, but this has been provincial, state, world interest protection and development should also relatively pristine and high value for biodiversity Currently, Industrial Plantations pure identifiable about plants of high species, therefore, low biological diversity

Biological diversity of forests in the province is quite high Forest with a rich flora and fauna with many rare genes, is one of the genetic conservation center, rare plants of the northeastern province of Vietnam, especially in national park Ba Be, nature reserve Kim Hy and Conservation area Species and biotope Nam Xuan Lac

2.3.2.3 Na Ri District

Geographical location: Na Ri district, Bac Kan province, located in the eastern province of Bac Kan, the north by Ngan Son district, the west by Bach Thong and Cho Moi district, the south by Vo Nhai district (Thai Nguyen), the east by Binh Giang and Trang Dinh district (Lang Son) (Thuong, 2005)

About Socioeconomic: The district has an area of 864 square kilometers and has more than 38 thousand demographics with 6 ethnic that are Tay, Nung, Dao, Kinh, HMong, San Chi (65% are Tay ethnic), distributed in 233 villages of 21 communes

higher proportion of poor households 34.30%, concentrated in the villages close to the forest, lack of arable land, they have no stable job still relies on natural forests forlogging and harvesting of forest products (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Bac Kan Province,2010).

Information on forestry, forest, mining situation, transportation of timber and wood processing: The total area of natural forest district is 85,406.70 hectares, which area is 74,760.6 hectares of forest land occupies 87.53 percent, forest land area is 58,961.29 hectares, of which 48,260.78 hectares of natural forests and plantations that are 10,700.51 hectares (including new forest is planted 1,980.11 hectares), non-forested land is 15,768.02 ha, other land is 10,570.69 hectares, the forest coverage is 66.8 percent (according to the general expression of forest cover per unit of Bac Kan administration, Na Ri district accounting to December 31, 2014)

2.3.2.4 Natural condition of Dong Xa Commune, Na Ri district, Bac Kan Province

Geographical location:

Dong Xa Commune located in the Northern mountains, from Na RI district center, 40 km to the south, from Bac Kan town 56 km and is bordered by the following communes:

The north by Quang Phong commune, Duong Son commune, Na Ri district.The south by Yen Cu commune, Cho Moi district

The east by Xuan Duong and Liem Thuy commune, Na Ri district

The west by Tan Son and Cao Ky commune, Cho Moi district

The commune consists of 13 villages including Na Ca, Na Khang, Na Quan, Na Vang, Nam Giang, Ken Co, Khuoi Cay, Khuoi Na, Khuoi Nac, Na Thac, Lung Tao, Cho Chua and Cho hamlet

The natural area of the commune is: 7,875.87 hectares; the commune has 2,630 demographics.

Topography: Dong Xa Commune has high mountainous terrain, the center is the narrow fields running along the streams and ravines High slope and dissected by high mountains and rivers average altitude from 300 meters to 800 meters Average slope from 15-35 degrees C

Climate: Dong Xa Commune brings climate general characteristics by high mountainous north, the tropical monsoon, divided into two distinct seasons: rainy and dry seasons: rainy season from April to December 10 The dry season from November

to March of next year The average temperature was 21.5 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature up to 37 degrees Celsius, lowest temperatures down to 5 degrees Celsius.Hydrology: Due to the steep mountainous terrain, high rainfall and focus The system is a quite dense ravine, has a great flow and speed of the water flow varies by season Shallow dry season, rainy season easily causes to floods, landslides in stream bank area and upstream of the ravine

Dong Xa Commune has Nari River flows through the main river and the tributaries of Bac Giang river flow volume are relatively large, diverse hydrological density and abundance The system, streams, slot is water sources serving demand and production activities of people

Forest resources: Area of forest land in the Dong Xa commune: 6,543.94 hectares of protected forest land which has 3,047.21 hectares, accounting for 46.57percent, 3,496.73 hectares of productive forest land occupied 53.43 percent forest land Chief among these are natural forests, plantations have about 470 hectares,

mostly Magnolia conifers, acacia, anise fundamental to mining cycle There is very little forest animals, mainly birds, ferrets, squirrels

In general, Dong Xa forests have relatively large timber volume approximately 66,420 cubic meters of wood Especially with over 200 hectares of forest rocky, so Dong Xa there are many valuable species of group IIA (Group IIA: including the forest flora species valuable for science, environment or have high economic value, the population size is small in nature or in danger of extinction) With the current forest reserves with plantation projects are developed, managed protection and forestry will be the important economic sector of the commune in the coming years

2.3.2.5 Population and Labor

- Population: The commune has a total of 2,630 demographics / 601

households The ratio of natural population growth was 1.3 percent Distribution of population density is 33 people / square kilometer

- Labor: The number of employees in age is 1,405 people In which female

worker is 662 people, male worker is 743 people Agricultural workers are 1,333 people, accounting for 94.9 percent, mostly these workers are untrained Mostly agricultural workers are 1,333 people, accounting for 94.9 percent Non-agricultural labor is 72 people, occupied 5.1% Economic Situation of the commune shows mainly agriculture, forestry, commercial and undeveloped service

PART III METHODS 3.1 Subject

- Research topic: Assessing the potential impact of Voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) to the livelihood of local people in Dong Xa commune, Na Ri district, Bac Kan province

3.2 Research design

- Research focuses on environmental issues related to the management, protection and rational exploitation of forests

- Location of research: Dong Xa Commune, Na Ri district, Bac Kan province

- Conducting - time: from March 1, 2015 to June 30, 2015

3.3 Research contents

- Research the natural characteristics, the forest status of Dong Xa Commune,

Na Ri district, Bac Kan province

- Collecting secondary information related to natural conditions, economic livelihood, income structure, actual planting, tending, forest management, protection, exploitation and transportation of forest products; the main forest products and forest by-products

- Identify the main causes of deforestation Initial analysis and evaluation of the impact of deforestation on the environment

- Identify and assess potential impacts of the VPA on the livelihood of local people by groups of factors that impact positively and negatively