Contribution of Forestry to Poverty Alleviation - APFNet

mountain people (Ha 2009). Presently, 23% of Vietnamese communes are poor. These poor communes
make up 50% of the country’s total land area, of which 66% is forestland (Dinh Duc Thuan et. al.
2005). The most recent of Viet Nam’s Living Standard Surveys shows that poverty incidence is highest
in mountainous areas, such as the northern mountains and central highlands, where forestry resources
are abundant. According to Sunderlin et. al. (2004 & 2005), the poorest of the poor, especially ethnic
minorities, reside in or near forested areas.
Viet Nam’s territorial area is about 33 million ha, of which 16.24 million ha is planned for three types of
forests, namely: special use forest (2,199,342 ha), protection forest (5,552,328 ha), and production forest
(8,495,823 ha) (MARD 2010) 2 . Recent data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
(MARD) show that Viet Nam’s existing forest area and forest cover are increasing and contributing
to poverty reduction in forested areas. As a result, the forest sector contributed to the national GDP
(MARD 2010). Viet Nam’s total forest area increased at annual average rate of 164,250 ha, from
12,601,800 ha in 2005 to 13,258,800 ha in 2009 (Ibid.). Forest cover increased at a rate of 0.4% per year,
reaching 37% in 2005 to 39.1% in 2009 and 39.5% in 2010. All of this is due to support from Program
661, Decision 147 that supports afforestation, and official development assistance (ODA) projects. The
increased forest cover contributed to important social objectives, such as rural poverty reduction and
income generation, especially for 12 million ethnic minority people living in remote forested mountains
in the country. These efforts include forest land allocation and rural employment. More specifically,
3.3 million ha of forests were allocated to households and two million ha of forests were contracted
for protection. Reforestation through Program 661 created employment for 4.7 million people (Ibid.).
However, the figures of Viet Nam’s forest cover and forest reserve as well as information about forest
quality and status are not correct. This was raised
and discussed by many experts and managers
in many workshops, as this is causing many
difficulties in planning, land allocation, and forest
management for policy-makers, managers, and
forest owners.
Between 2005 and 2009, the forestry sector
contributed only 1% of the national GDP, not
including processing and export of forest products.
In fact, 1% is very a very small proportion
compared to the contribution made by agriculture,
which is estimated at 14% per year. However,
forestry contributes greatly to the national
economy through the forest product processing
industry (for export) and for its environmental
values. Furniture exports increased from US$ 61
million in 1996 to US$ 3.55 billion in 2010 and
created about 250,000 jobs per year. Moreover, if
2 Special use forest is primarily for nature reserve,
conservation of national standard forest ecology
and the genes of forest flora, and scientific research,
protection of historical monuments, leisure,
and tourism. Together with protection forest, special
use forest contributes to environmental protection.
Protection forest is primarily used for water resources
and soil protection, prevention of soil erosion
and desertification, mitigation of natural disasters,
climate moderation, and environmental protection.
Production forest is used for production and trade
of timber and NWFPs. Production forest and protection
forest contribute to environmental protection.
3 Financial support from the State’s budget to the for-
328
Forest resources and small farms provide much of the
subsistence needs of rural families but not enough to
get out of poverty, given their distance from markets,
economic opportunities and social services.
Pedro Walpole