From the 12th to the 14th of August, 2015, the Center for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD) organized a trip for the purpose of investigating Community-based Forest Management models at Vinh Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, Nghe An province. Members of the excursion included 35 representative members of 7 Forest Protection Management Groups from 3 communes (namely Yen Lac, On Luong and Dong Dat; Phu Luong district, Thai Nguyen province), representatives of the Peoples’ Committee of Phu Luong district, the Agricultural Extension Station, the Agricultural Department, and SRD’s representatives. This activity was within the framework of the “Participatory Land Use and Management” (PLUM) project in Phu Tho and Thai Nguyen provinces (VM048), which was held by SRD and sponsored by Manos Unidas.
By sharing experiences, methods, and skills in Community-based Forest Management, residents of the Phu Luong district were taught about self- managing and protecting natural regenerating forest areas within Vinh Thanh commune, in the Yen Thanh district.
Upon arriving at Vinh Thanh commune, the group was greeted with positive slogans such as “Grandfather sows the seed, grandson raises the tree” and “Forest is precious property”. These were created by residents to help promote forest protection and management.
In Vinh Thanh commune, members of Phu Luong district were not only welcomed by Vinh Thanh’s Forestry Group, but also had chance to discuss and share their knowledge, skills and experiences in Community-based Forest Management and Protection
The participants shared their knowledge, skills and experiences in Community-based Forest Management and Protection
After their conversation, the visitors dropped by Vinh Thanh’s forest and had deeper discussion on Community-based Forest Management and Development. In fact, due to the poor quality of the soil, 150 hectares of Vinh Thanh’s forest area is solely pine trees. However, local people still work towards good management and protection without illegal logging or forest fires. Meanwhile, earnings from exploiting pine resin for sale was up to 100 million VND a year.
The participants visited Vinh Thanh's forest
This has been a precious lesson for the participants from the 3 communes of Thai Nguyen, since their land is larger and more fertile. Nonetheless, they still depend on growing solely Acacia trees, which leads to insignificant productivity and exploitation in regards to forest land advantages and forest-based livelihoods.
At the end of the trip, many members of Thai Nguyen shared their plans to use their forest land more rationally, aiming for optimal forest development and protection including mixed planting (increasing the number of fruit trees and herbal plants), taking advantage of in-house areas, the creation of production forests, and increased protection of forested areas.
-SRD-
Centre for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD)
No.31, Alley 19 Kim Dong Street, Hoang Mai District, Ha Noi
Phone: +84 24 3943 6676/78 | Fax: +84 24 3943 6449
