| Country |
Vietnam |
| Partner Organization: |
Forest Resources and Environment Center, Forest Inventory and Planning Institute
(FREC/FIPI) |
| Timeframe: |
Phase I: 1 November 2001-31 October 2002Phase II: 1 February-31 December 2003 |
| Contact Person (s): |
Dr. Nguyen Huy Dung |
Dr. Nguyen Huy Phon |
| Address: |
Than TriHanoi, Vietnam |
Than TriHanoi, Vietnam |
| Telephone: |
84-4-8615513 |
84-4-8615511 |
| Fax: |
84-4-8616081 |
84-4-8612881 |
| Email: |
dungfipi@fpt.vn |
phonfipi@fpt.vn |
PROJECT PROPOSAL PHASE I
The FIPI team will assist communities and local government in Quang Hoa District of Cao Bang Province to build a Network for sharing and supporting the development of community forest management systems. The project builds from the success of Phuc Sen Commune in Quang Hoa District in Cao Bang Province, where all of its 11 villages are actively involved in community forestry with support from commune officials. The area is a pioneer in techniques of forest rehabilitation in challenging limestone ecology. The project supports FIPI's aim to build a district-level network on community forestry with Phuc Sen as learning center.
The project approach is designed to bring commune authorities and district-level institutions together to support community forest management in the area. Aside from expanding practice of community forestry within the district, the network also plans to contribute to the development of implementation options for existing and forthcoming participatory forest stewardship policies and examine how they affect district government and local communities. The network will also serve as a forum to allow communities and communes can present their issues and needs to district agencies and administrators.
The key activities supported under the project for Phase I (2001-2) will include organizing a district CF network based in Phuc Sen Commune. FIPI will develop the network through a series of village, commune, and district level meetings and workshops. During the first phase of the three-year project, FIPI staff will focus their activities on Phuc Sen and seven other communes to build new linkages between sixteen communities within the district. FIPI staff will assist the network to organize cross-visits by community representatives to allow them exposure to a variety of community-based forest management strategies and agroforestry practices.
The FIPI team will work with community representatives and local government staff to hold participatory diagnostic activities and spatial mapping and analysis as tools for resource management planning in participating communes. Special attention will be given to mapping forest and land tenure patterns in Phuc Sen commune to document existing informal stewardship agreements, facilitate their formal recognition by local government, and to provide educational materials for orienting outside visitors to Phuc Sen's community forest management strategies.
SUMMARY OF PHASE I
Through establishing the Network of CFM (Phuc Sen commune is the center and 16 villages, 8 communes in the district are the members) conducting activities of the Network (meeting, training, field visit, etc) and carrying out surveys on CFM at the communes, we have obtained considerable results. Our assistance and results have been appreciated by the people and the Authorities of the locality. We have accomplished specific activities as follows:
1. Operation organizing
The Forest Inventory and Planning Institute has assigned the Forest Resources and Environment Center to implement the program. An Execution Board was made, with the Manager and Coordinator is Dr. Nguyen Huy Dzung and Mr. Ho Manh Tuong respectively. All the persons participated working in to the program are experienced staffs of the
FREC-FIPI.
2. Implemented activities
2.1. Establishing the CFM Network
From November to December, 2001 after negotiations, discussions with the Authorities and specialized staffs from communal to district and provincial levels, the Community Forest Management Network at Quang Uyen (before it was Quang Hoa) was formed with Phuc Sen commune as the center, the members included 16 villages of 8 communes within the district. During the period, 4 Network meetings and training were organized. Besides FIPI, The provincial institutions participated in to the Network as the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), the Forest Protection Department (FPD), the Forest Development Department (FDD)…Under the assistance of the FREC staffs and supports, facilitation from the local Authorities, the meetings and training were taking place successfully beyond expectation. Besides the valuable dedication from villages of Phuc Sen commune in presenting their experiences and "tricks" in appealing all the people participating protect and rehabilitate the forests of the commune in the last 40 years, representatives from others have also brought to the meetings their own distinct experiences and knowledge on forest management. Some of the experiences on forest tree planting were documented by FREC for the technical training. On the other hand, the Network became opened platform for representatives from villages express their opinions and expectations related to the forest management as well as governmental responsible staffs could also disseminate the current policies and lows on the sector of forestry. Aside the discussing, sharing experiences at the meetings, field visits on the good rehabilitated forest sites were made. There the representatives have once more gotten useful lesions in reforesting on Limestone Mountain.
2.2. Community mapping
Using skills and experiences on the participatory technique for community forestry, FIPI staffs have conducted the land tenure mapping at Phuc Sen commune during the May 2002. Communal Cadastral staff, village heads and Farmers from villages of the communes were actively participated. Through this work the forest land boundaries between owners (communities, household groups…) were defined and delineated on map. Besides, the staffs and the farmers have together assessed the status of the forests as well as promoted plans of managing and reforesting for each class of forest. During doing the mapping, the FREC staffs helped the village heads and farmers to clarify and mediate issues like land tenure conflicts, benefit sharing…where it happening. The specific outputs:
- Land tenure map of Phuc Sen commune. On it forestlands of every owners (community, household group, household) and status of the forests are presented.
- Explanation of land tenure map. Methods of the mapping, assessing the condition of forestland owning, status of the forests and suggested plans on forest management and rehabilitation… are presented.
2.3. Case study on CFM
In order to understand further formation, effects and constrains of the CFM existing in the communes of the district, during the time from April to September, 2002, the case studies on CFM in three communes, Tu Do, Phi Hai and Quoc Dan were carried out. During the surveys, the communal and village staff as well as the farmers and representatives from social associations have enthusiastically participated in to activities such as forest inventorying, mapping, household economic classification, interviews answering and providing data related to the history of villages, process of CFM formation, forest management and so on. Through the surveys we found out that, in most of the villages, CFM has been spontaneously by farmers, patriarch headmen and village heads, established since 1960s, but due to different reasons in the past they were not appreciated or ignored. With the its effects and contribution to the forest management and community development as well as feedback from survey reports on CFM, it has recently been recognized. Although the recognition is still informal in legal aspect but has been highly appreciated and supported by the Authorities at different levels and public opinion. Aside the effects, there exists constrains and limitation of CFM at locality. On average the area of communal forests in compare with the individual forest and household -group forests, it occupies a low proportion. The communities have not yet received the certificate of land use right on communal forestlands and other formalities so somewhat is obstructed to sell forest products from the community forests to outside areas. Technical measures on forest rehabilitation applied on forest management in general are inconsiderable. The specific out is report on CFM in the three communes.
3. Conclusion and Suggestions
Although the time and the finance were modest, the outputs of the project have brought the farmers and the local Authorities a substantial sense in aspects:
- Strengthening roles of the communities in managing forests;
- Enhancing knowledge and experiences on reforesting on limestone mountains for the
farmers;
- Consolidating associate in forest management between the villages and communes;
- Fortifying awareness of the local Authorities at levels and influencing to the public opinion on the roles of community in forest management. That together with the research reports are important fundaments for revising and adjusting policies related to the CFM in the forthcoming times.
Based on expectation of the farmers and the Authorities and the realistic requirements in consolidating and developing the forms of CFM. Activities need to be carried out are:
- Expending the current CFM Network, attracting more members from other districts of the province;
- Carrying out further studies on CFM in some other villages,
Assisting local farmers in land use planning on the community forestlands in the way forwards sustainable
PROJECT PROPOSAL PHASE II
Based on the reality founded during the carrying activities on CFM as well as suggestion of the local farmers and Authorities, it was deemed necessary to extend the CFM Network and carrying out assistant activities on CFM in the locality. The planed activities of Phase II are:
- Extending CFM network, the Network will become a provincial Network. Four communes of two district (Trung Khanh and Dong Khe) of Cao Bang province intended to be the network members.
- Conducting activities of the network, 4 meetings, sharing experiences on CFM and thee training on forestry technique at the network will be organized.
- Carrying out surveys on CFM at some four villages at two new member communes
- Conducting assistant activities on participatory land use planning at community forest land at four villages of two communes.
The approved activity will have the following outputs:
- Affirming effects as well as constrains of the community forest management forms existing in the mountainous areas of Vietnam in order to feedback to the policy makers for readjusting policies related to the forest management and rural development;
- Assisting the communities in doing land use planning in their own forest land towards sustainable;
- Documentation results of surveys and summarization experiences on community forest management. Case reports shall be prepared for 2 communes representing specific issues and/or aspects of local CFM practice and of the participatory land use planning.
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