English 2.28MB - Center for International Forestry Research

| Conservation context in Khe Tran
Summary
Khe Tran village has been through different land use policies. Its forests were
first considered productive forests, then watershed protection forests, and
it is planned to be part of Phong Dien Nature Reserve in 2010, because of
its important biodiversity and the presence of rare and endangered species.
However, forests in the village’s surroundings have been deeply disturbed,
because of war, logging activities and agricultural practices. Many projects
linked to the preparation of the nature reserve have taken place in Khe Tran.
Banning local people from many extractive activities in the planned reserve,
the government has proposed to develop other activities to provide incomes
to all households. In this context, rubber and Acacia plantation programs were
implemented with government support. Even if these programs are supposed
to provide cash income to the local people, some villagers worry about their
future rights on the plantations and expect to get rights to manage the natural
forests and the bare land in a sustainable way. Lack of land for agriculture may
become a problem for food security and may leave many villagers with few
alternatives to the exploitation of the natural forest.