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ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

COFO Committee on Forestry CoIST Centre of Information Technology and Statistics

DARD Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

DoF Department of Forestry DoFD Department of Forest Development DoFU Department of Forest Utilization DoPF Department of Provincial Finance DoST Department of Science & Technology EU European Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FBM Forest bio-physical monitoring FFPD Provincial fund for forest protection and development FG Forest governance FGM Forest governance monitoring FIPI Forest Inventory & Planning Institute FIS District Forest Inspection Section FLEG Forest law enforcement and governance FLEGT Forest law enforcement, governance and trade FM Forest monitoring FPD Forest protection department FRA Forest resources assessment FSC Forest Stewardship Council FSEM Forest socio-economic monitoring HRD Human Resource Department JEM Joint expert meeting MARD Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

NC National Customs NFMA National forest monitoring assessment NGO Non-governmental organization NTFP Non-timber forest product PDoF Provincial Department of Finance PEFC Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification PFPD Provincial FPD PPC Provincial People Committee QPPL Legal regulation REDD

Reduction of emission from deforestation and forest degradation

SFM Sustainable forest management

SOM Senior officer meeting

TWG Technical working group UNREDD United Nations program to promote REDD VFDS Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy 2006-2020

VNFOREST Vietnam Forest Administration VPA Voluntary Participation Agreement

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CONTENTS ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS.................................................................................. 1

CONTENTS.............................................................................................................................. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ......................................................................................................... 5 HOW TO READ THIS PAPER? ............................................................................................ 6

Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Background and context .............................................................................................. 7

1.2. Method of preparation of the background paper for the workshop ................................ 7

Chapter 2: Rationale for strengthening FGM in Vietnam .................................................. 9 2.1. What is Forest Governance? ........................................................................................... 9 2.2. Why strengthen forest governance? .............................................................................. 13

2.3. Why monitor forest governance? .................................................................................. 15 2.4. Principles of effective forest governance monitoring ................................................... 17

Chapter 3: FGM in Vietnam - Main findings ..................................................................... 20 3.1. Vietnam policy, legal, institutional and regulatory framework: introduction .............. 20 3.2 Sustainable forest management and development ......................................................... 21

3.2.1. Forestry land and 3 types of forest .................................................................. 21

3.2.2. Forest and forest land rental and allocation ................................................... 21 3.2.3. State forest enterprise restructuring ................................................................ 22

3.2.4. Timber harvesting from natural forests ........................................................... 23

3.2.5. Forest conversion into rubber plantation and other purposes .................... 23

3.2.6. Beneficiary policy ............................................................................................... 24 3.3 Program for forest protection and conservation, PES and Forest Finance .................... 24

3.3.1. Forest Protection ................................................................................................ 24 3.3.2. Handling of violations related to forest ........................................................... 25

3.3.3. Forest fire prevention and fire fighting ............................................................ 25 3.3.4. Protection forests and special-use forests ..................................................... 26 3.3.5. Forest environmental services................................................................................ 26 3.3.6. Forestry finance ..................................................................................................... 27

3.4. Program “Forest Products Processing and Trade” ........................................................ 28

3.5 Planning and decision-making processes....................................................................... 29

3.5.1 Forest governance cycle .................................................................................... 29

3.5.2. Planning and decision making process at national level ............................. 29

3.5.3. Planning and decision making at provincial and local level ........................ 30 3.6 Implementation, enforcement and compliance .............................................................. 30

3.6.1. Implementation, enforcement and compliance at national level ................. 30 3.6.2. Finance at provincial and local level ............................................................... 31 3.6.3. Forest land management and allocation at provincial and local level ....... 32

3.6.4. Coherence and cooperation at local and provincial level ............................ 32 3.6.5. Staff capacities at provincial and district level ............................................... 33

3.7 FLEGT and REDD+ ...................................................................................................... 33

3.7. 1. FLEGT and VPA, and Lacey Act .................................................................... 33 3.7.2. REDD+ ................................................................................................................. 34

Chapter 4: FGM Assessed by 3 pillars and 6 principles ................................................. 36 Chapter 5: Strengthening FGM practice in Vietnam ........................................................ 41

5.1. FGM is new for Vietnam .............................................................................................. 41 5.2. Current indicator systems for Vietnam forest sector .................................................... 41

5.2.1. Indicators of the General Statistics Office (GSO) ......................................... 41

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5.2.2. Indicator system of MARD ................................................................................ 41

5.2.3. Indicator system to monitor implementation of Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy 2006-2010 of VNFOREST, MARD .................................... 41

5.3. Strengthening FGM in Vietnam – how to develop a set indicators? ............................ 42 5.4. Next steps proposed for strengthening FGM in Vietnam ............................................. 42

LITERATURE ......................................................................................................................... 44 ANNEX 01: LIST OF PEOPLE RECEIVED FGM FAO FRAMEWORK WITH 13

COMPONENTS AND 77 SUB-COMPONENTS .................................................................. 46 ANNEX 02: LIST OF PEOPLE DIRECTLY INTERVIEWED AT NATIONAL LEVEL ... 48 ANNEX 03: List of the interviewees and the organizations at provincial level ...................... 49

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This document on forest governance monitoring in Vietnam has benefitted from the contributions and insights of several organizations and persons which is gratefully acknowledged by the authors. First of all, special high appreciation is to Tran Huu Nghi, Arend Jan van Bodegom, and Herman Savenije, because the background paper could not be completed without their valuable contributions. My sincere thanks goes to Dr. Nguyen Ba Ngai, Nguyen Huu Dung, Cao Chi Cong, Nguyen Tuong Van, Dr. Nguyen Nghia Bien, Doan Diem, Nguyen Ton Quyen, Huynh Thach, Vu Long, To Dinh Mai, Pham Minh Thoa, Dr. Pham Xuan Phuong, and Dr. To Xuan Phuc for their patience in answering demanding and complex questions from the national consultant. Many thanks also to Vu Thanh Nam, Le Cong Uan, Dr. Ho Van Cu, Tran Le Huy, To Manh Tien, and Huynh Thach for their patient assessment of Viet Nam FGM against the FAO FGM framework consisting of 13 components and 77 sub-components. I am extremely grateful to Lauri Vesa; Rametsteiner, Ewald; Akiko Inoguchi; Leppanen, Mikko; Cheney, Emelyne; Ho Manh Tuong; Dr. Nguyen Phu Hung; and Tore Langhelle. I gratefully acknowledge numerous other colleagues who provided valuable inputs to the development of this document, especially Stephanie Lackey for English language edit for the document. December 2011, Le Khac COI, lead author

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HOW TO READ THIS PAPER? This paper deals with the Status and Perspectives for Strengthening Forest Governance Monitoring Practice in Vietnam. It synthesizes the main findings of a larger background document with the same title. The paper is based on a review of relevant documentation and on interviews of key resource persons. This summary paper serves as a basis for the discussions during the Workshop on Forest Governance Monitoring in Vietnam that will be jointly organized by FAO and VN-MARD. This summary paper consists of the following chapters:

1. Background; 2. Rationale for strengthening forest governance monitoring in Viet Nam; 3. Forest governance monitoring in Viet Nam – Main findings; 4. Forest governance monitoring in Viet Nam assessed by 3 pillars and 6

principles; 5. Strengthening forest governance monitoring practice in Viet Nam.

The participants are invited to reflect prior to the workshop on the following questions: Chapter 3: 1. Issues for forest governance monitoring (FGM):

o Many issues are mentioned that could be monitored, and they are only a summary of issues found in the main report. In developing a monitoring system it is impossible to deal with all issues at the same time. So the question is : Which of the issues need to be prioritized and why? Which are less important?

o Not for all problems, monitoring is an effective solution. For example, sometimes laws and/or polices have to be changed and in such situations the role of monitoring may be limited and humble. But it is also possible that monitoring shows that the laws and policies indeed have to be changed, so then monitoring can make a stronger case for asking for change. Monitoring could also show that laws and policies are not being implemented. So the question is: In which issues can monitoring play an important role in order to improve the governance situation?

2. Indicators for FGM: o In each of the sections below there is a list of indicators that are already

being monitored. Question is: is the list complete and are the mentioned indicators relevant for dealing with the issues mentioned in that section?

o At the end of each section there is a list of suggested new indicators. Sometimes the list is long and not everything can be measured. So the question is: Which of these indicators are most important to measure and at the same time relatively cheap? Could you suggest better indicators?

Chapter 4: o What do you conclude from the appreciations of the interviewed people

about the state of forest governance in Vietnam? o What does it say about Forest Governance monitoring? Which aspects

should be improved with priority?

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Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background and context

Due to the increasing recognition of the importance of forest governance quality on progress towards SFM, FLEGT and the reduction of deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), increasingly many efforts are taken to monitor and report forest governance and governance quality. Several international initiatives and different methodologies exist for monitoring and reporting forest governance, including those related to Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG), reporting based on SFM criteria and indicators and on international agreements, as well as those of the World Bank. Recently, the REDD negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have agreed on safeguards, initiative of EU FLEGT VPA, and timber supply chain policy of different governments that relate to forest governance, further increasing the need for monitoring. However, perhaps most importantly, forest governance monitoring systems at the country level need to meet national monitoring needs in order to be relevant. This means that monitoring of forest governance should be most of all useful to better fulfill national and local priorities for forest management. Any forest governance monitoring that is established by countries needs to be feasible, cost-effective, reliable (verifiable), allow reliable measurement of change over time, and fulfill international reporting requirements. To meet these goals, Government of Vietnam (MARD) has requested the assistance of FAO to help integrate forest governance monitoring into national-forest related monitoring systems. The work on forest governance monitoring is undertaken in the context of the FAO/Finland1 work on a National Forest Assessment (NFA) system. To this end, FAO is providing support through the services of a national consultant and international technical consultants. As a first step, from June to November 2011, the national consultant carried out a scoping study in collaboration with and with inputs from several organizations of the Vietnamese Government and other stakeholders. The aim of the study – that has been based on review of relevant documentation and stakeholder interviews - was to inventory and assess the present status of FGM and propose steps to develop a preliminary proposal for strengthening FG monitoring. The results of the study are laid down in a draft background report. The main findings of that report are summarized here. This summary will serve for discussion during a multi-stakeholder consultation workshop, where the results, key issues and main questions and proposals of the report will be evaluated as a basis to provide concrete, practical recommendations for next steps to take. 1.2. Method of preparation of the background paper for the workshop Forest governance is a broad concept and a complex issue to monitor. Moreover in the Vietnamese context – like in many other countries- the term forest governance is relatively new term that is not readily understood by everybody as to what it means, 1 FAO Finland Forestry Programme: “Strengthening Forest Resources Management and Enhancing its

Contribution to Sustainable Development, Land use and Livelihoods”

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what it entails, and in which it differs from (or relates to) forest monitoring (see chapter 2).

In the context of Viet Nam the Viet Nam Forestry Development Strategy 2006-2020 is the main policy programme for forest (see Box 01). In other words, – and in line with the opinion of the persons interviewed - the governance to implement the 5 programs of the strategy and their targets should be the focus and starting point of forest governance monitoring. Because of explanations above the documentation analysis and interviews, were conducted in the context of the following two relations:

Firstly, the relation between FGM on one side and implementation of the 5 programs of Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy 2006-2020 and their targets, on the other side. In current circumstances this, perhaps, is an appropriate way to get the background paper for the workshop, because by this way the paper can bring what the workshop participants are familiar with, interested in and confident to join discussions.

Secondly, FGM is assessed through documentation analysis and interviews in the context of the FAO FGM framework, but only of the 3 pillars and 6 principles and not 13 components and 77 sub-components (see chapter 2 for more details.

Recently, Vietnam achieved some very important results in forest sector, especially in increase of forest cover, forest products export and poverty reduction in mountainous areas. The way in which forest governance is taking place in Vietnam, no doubt, has provided considerable contributions to those achievements, also providing valuable experiences for the development of forest governance and its monitoring. This report will focus on finding the issues to be addressed - not for criticism but rather for opportunities - to advance the forest governance towards sustainably managed forests and sustainable development of Vietnam forestry. Due to the complexities of “forest governance monitoring” and time and resources constraints, the background paper – and consequently this document - must be seen as “work in progress” and as a growth document to improve on step by step. It surely contains certain shortcomings for which the authors expect to get and appreciate every input from colleagues to address them.

Box 01: Objectives of Viet Nam Forestry Development Strategy 2006-2020:

a) To sustainably establish, manage, protect, develop and use 16.24 million ha of land planned for forestry; b) To increase the ratio of forested land with forest up to 42 – 43% by the year 2010 and 47% by 2020; c) To ensure a wider participation from various economic sectors and social organizations in forest development, and to increase their contributions to socioeconomic development, environmental protection, biodiversity conservation and environmental services supply, in order to reduce poverty and improve the livelihoods of rural mountainous people, and to contribute to national defense and security.

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Chapter 2: Rationale for strengthening FGM in Vietnam 2.1. What is Forest Governance?

Box 02: COFO about forest governance

“It is now broadly understood that good governance in the forest sector is vital for achieving sustainable forest management. Furthermore, realizing the full potential of forests to contribute to reducing poverty can only be achieved if the forest sector is governed in such a way that it ensures poor people’s access to and benefits from forest resources. However, forest governance means different things to different people and there is no internationally agreed definition. Originally, the term was understood as being almost synonymous with government or the way the government was ruling. With changing vision of the role and responsibilities of governments, a broader vision of governance has evolved, which takes into consideration the new roles of civil society and the private sector. It involves multiple actors and multiple levels (local, national and international) and acknowledges that different stakeholders have different views, values and interests. Improving forest governance to move forward towards sustainable forest management therefore is a complex endeavor involving the active participation of a range of stakeholders, not just forestry administrations.” COFO/2010/6.2

Forest governance is a generic term for describing the way in which people and organizations rule and regulate forests. This relates to how they allocate and secure access to, rights over and benefits from forests, including the planning, monitoring and control of their use, management and conservation. Important aspects include a coherent set of laws and regulations, both within the forest sector and in other sectors that influence forest management;

1. the coherent implementation of these laws; 2. the decision making processes about rules, laws and regulations 3. clear mandates of, and arrangements between different stakeholders (various

units and levels of the government, NGO, community organizations business sector, etc.), and

4. staff capable of executing the tasks that have been assigned to them.

Relation between forest governance and forest/SFM is described in figure 01. Forest governance, by nature, is to make influence in order to achieve expected results on (i) extent of forest resources; (ii) forest biological diversity; (iii) forest health and vitality, (iv) production functions of forest resources; (v) protective functions of forest resources, (vi) socio-economic functions of forest resources through action programs and legal, policy and institutional arrangements (vii). Forest governance monitoring is one of the components of forest-related monitoring system including (i) forest bio-physical monitoring, (ii) forest socio-economic monitoring, and (iii) forest governance monitoring. The term Forest Governance also emerged in response to a changing vision of the roles and responsibilities of the government vis-à-vis other stakeholders: from the ‘old’ style of governance – the government is steering – to a new situation (or conceptual understanding) in which several actors are co-steering or are considered to be co-players in a forest (management) system.

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In this vision the government does not bear sole responsibility for the governance situation, but every actor is meant to play a role and assume specific responsibilities. Important aspects of this new situation are its multi-actor, multi-level (national, international, and local) and multi-meaning nature, recognizing that different stakeholders may embrace different values, interests and world views. The term FG as such relates to governance functions without necessarily being normative: it does not say anything about how well such functions must be performed. Such norms will need to be specified per country. Good Forest Governance puts the qualification ‘good’ on governance, which makes it a normative approach relating to a certain required quality/performance of governance functions. Important principles often mentioned in relation to ‘Good Governance’ include: participation (stakeholder engagement), fairness, decency, accountability, transparency, efficiency, equity and sustainability 2 . They are supposed to be universally applicable, as they are based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, there is always debate on what principles have to be included and what exactly is meant by them. The interpretation of such principles is value-laden and debatable. Different stakeholders may have different perspectives, interests and interpretations of what good forest governance means to them and how it should be operationalized. It is also possible that stakeholders may agree that a certain concrete issue is part of forest governance, but they may disagree about the question under which principle the issue should be categorized. In international debates and processes like REDD+ and FLEGT, principles of Good Governance play a certain role. Also in multi-stakeholder processes which are at the basis of further development of Forest Governance Systems, these principles regularly come up in the discussions – either as clear principles to be discussed or hidden and at the basis of demands to provide data to the public on a certain forestry issue (which in this case is an elaboration of the principle of ‘transparency’). During the multi-stakeholder process a way has to be found to deal with diverging views on such principles.

2 ODI, 2006. Governance, development and aid effectiveness: a quick guide to complex relationships. Briefing

paper March 2006. 4pp.

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Figure 01: Relationship between different types of monitoring of forest/SFM

A joint initiative between UNREDD/Chatham House and the World Bank is underway to formulate together with international experts indicators for (Good) Forest Governance. The resulting indicators are grouped into three pillars: (1) policy, legal, institutional and regulatory frameworks, (2) decision-making processes; and (3) implementation, enforcement and compliance.3

In each of these pillars the following principles have to be applied: transparency, accountability, effectiveness, participation, fairness and efficiency. See figure 02. We

3 Capistrano, D., 2010. Forest Governance Indicator Development: Early Lessons and Proposed Indicators for Country

Assessments. FAO, 34 pp.

FGM: Forest Governance monitoring

FBM: Forest bio-physical monitoring

FSEM: Forest socio-economic monitoring

SFM: Sustainable Forest Management

(3) Forest health and vitality

FOREST

GOVERNANCE

National Forestry Development Strategy

(5 programs)

FSEM FBM

FOREST/SFM

FGM

(1) Extent of forest resources

(7) Legal, policy and institutional

framework

(5) Protective functions of forest

resources

(2) Biological diversity

(4) Productive functions of forest

resources

(6) Socio-economic functions

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will take the three pillars and six principles as a starting point for discussions on what (good) forest governance in a country could mean.

Box 03: Sustainable development definition

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". World Commission on the Environment and Development.

Figure 02: Pillars and Principles of Forest Governance.

Transparency

Accountability

Participation

Fairness/Equity

Efficiency

Effectiveness

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Box 04: Seven key components of sustainable forest management (SFM):

1) Extent of forest resources; 2) Biological diversity; 3) Forest health and vitality; 4) Productive functions of forest resources; 5) Protective functions of forest resources; 6) Socio-economic functions; 7) Legal, policy and institutional framework. United Nations Forum on Forestry (UNFF)

2.2. Why strengthen forest governance? Before ourselves asking the question: why monitor forest governance, we need to ask ourselves: why strengthen forest governance? We may approach this question from two angles: a) assessing the costs of bad governance and b) assessing the benefits of good governance. Inadequate forest governance has often contributed to the following interrelated costs:

Environmental impacts resulting in deforestation, forest degradation and biodiversity loss and loss of environmental services such as clean water and carbon sequestration;

Economic impacts caused by poor governance and corruption which distort forest economies. This may lead to unfair competition between legal and illegal forest practices and it may lead to loss of revenues for the state and other stakeholders. Areas with poor governance will pose risks that discourage investors (so lack of trust). Also, the forest sector may get a bad reputation, which affects the investment climate.

Poverty reduction and social impacts caused by poor governance that harms forest-dependent communities. Livelihoods of indigenous people and the rural poor may be threatened through unclear and insecure land tenure and other property rights, lack of adherence to rule of law, and excessive discretionary authority.

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Figure 03: The Roots and fruits of forest governance (adapted from: World Bank, 2009)

In most countries the situation in and around forests is rapidly changing and has become increasingly dynamic and complex. An increasing number of – often competing – claims and uses is exerted on the country’s forests by a growing range of actors, each with their specific needs, interests and powers. So there is a need to tackle this complex situation. The promotion of forest governance can bring about many benefits or fruits. Good forest governance makes it possible to optimize the production of goods and services from the forest. See figure 03. Important fruits of forest governance may include profit from new opportunities created by internationally driven processes. These may generate additional forest revenues through penetration to international timber markets (in the case of FLEGT) or international payments for forest carbon capture, storage and avoided emissions (in the case of REDD+). For these processes durable results at a national level like ‘legally produced timber’ and ‘decreased deforestation’ will be important selling points and requirements. Such results can only be realized and ensured in the longer term if an adequate forest governance system is in place. In the case of REDD+ the in 2010 formulated ‘safeguards’ (see box 05) can be considered governance aspects.

Transparent and

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decision-making

and institutions

Economic

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equity and

incentives

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institutional and

regulatory

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Forest health

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Productive

functions of

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resources

Extent of

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Biological

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forest

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Box 05: Safeguards for REDD+

When undertaking REDD+ activities, the following safeguards should be promoted and supported:

“(a) Actions complement or are consistent with the objectives of national forest programmes and relevant international conventions and agreements;

(b) Transparent and effective national forest governance structures, taking into account national legislation and sovereignty;

(c) Respect for the knowledge and rights of indigenous peoples and members of local communities, by taking into account relevant international obligations, national circumstances and laws, and noting that the United Nations General Assembly has adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;

(d) The full and effective participation of relevant stakeholders, in particular, indigenous peoples and local communities, in actions referred to in paragraphs 70 and 72 of this decision;

(e) Actions are consistent with the conservation of natural forests and biological diversity, ensuring that actions referred to in paragraph 70 of this decision are not used for the conversion of natural forests, but are instead used to incentivize the protection and conservation of natural forests and their ecosystem services, and to enhance other social and environmental benefits;

(f) Actions to address the risks of reversals;

(g) Actions to reduce displacement of emissions. “

Source: Annex I from draft decision -/CP.16, LCA, Cancun 2010

2.3. Why monitor forest governance?

Box 06: The Power of Measuring Results

• If you do not measure results, you cannot tell success from failure • If you cannot see success, you cannot reward it • If you cannot reward success, you are probably rewarding failure • If you cannot see success, you cannot learn from it • If you cannot recognize failure, you cannot correct it • If you can demonstrate results, you can win public support

(Source: Kusek & Rist, 20044)

Promoting forest governance may be good, but why should one engage in monitoring such governance? Would it not be better to spend funds in a more useful way, for example on the actual improvement of governance directly? To these questions several answers are possible, which are basically an elaboration of box 6.

Monitoring improves performance of the forest sector:

Strategic management: Monitoring helps to check whether policies are on the right track, by providing crucial information over time on status and progress to

4 Kusek, J., and Rist, R., 2004, 'Ten Steps to a Results-based Monitoring and Evaluation System', World Bank,

Washington, D.C. 268 pp. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/23/27/35281194.pdf

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/23/27/35281194.pdf

16

inform the definition and adjustment of shared goals, objectives, strategies and outcomes that are important to the stakeholders.

Operational management/Implementation: Monitoring helps to improve operations. It provides information needed for co-ordinating human, financial and physical resources committed to different programmes and projects across and within organizations and sectors, for improving coordination, collaboration and performance in the forest sector, and for targeting particular geographic and/or programmatic areas to enhance effectiveness of investments.

Monitoring improves reputation and credibility towards the general public, investors and the international community: Monitoring provides a basis for demonstrating to taxpayers, beneficiaries and partners that expenditure, actions and results are as agreed or could reasonably be expected in the situation. This transparency helps to build legitimacy, or the “social license to operate”, which in turn reduces investment risks. Reduced risk improves the investment climate. For international processes (e.g. REDD+ and FLEGT) monitoring of forest governance is a tool for creating evidence that forest governance is indeed improving at an acceptable level. The rationale here is that (a) better forest governance is needed to effectively decrease deforestation (see figure 1 on ‘roots and fruits’); (b) reduction of deforestation cannot be pursued at all social costs, hence certain safeguards are needed (see box 2). In the REDD+ process governance monitoring is therefore a requirement (see box 4).

Monitoring improves visibility to other departments within government and other economic sectors: A governance monitoring system helps to build trust between stakeholders in the sector and improve the image of the sector towards the outside world. But it can also demonstrate that the forest sector is important in the country and contributes to sustainable development of the country.

Box 07: REDD+ and forest monitoring

Paragraph 71 from draft decision -/CP.16, LCA, Cancun 2010:

71. Requests developing country Parties aiming to undertake activities …., in the context of the provision of adequate and predictable support, including financial resources and technical and technological support to developing country Parties, in accordance with national circumstances and respective capabilities, to develop the following elements:

(a) A national strategy or action plan;

(b) A national forest reference emission level and/or forest reference level or, if appropriate, as an interim measure, sub-national forest reference emission levels and/or forest reference levels, in accordance with national circumstances, and with provisions contained in decision 4/CP.15, and with any further elaboration of those provisions adopted by the Conference of the Parties;

(c) A robust and transparent national forest monitoring system for the monitoring and reporting of the activities referred to in paragraph 70 above, with, if appropriate, sub-national monitoring and reporting as an interim measure, in accordance with national circumstances, and with the provisions contained in decision 4/CP.15, and with any further elaboration of those provisions agreed by the Conference of the Parties;

(d) A system for providing information on how the safeguards referred to in annex I to this decision are being addressed and respected throughout the implementation of the activities referred to in paragraph 70, while respecting sovereignty.

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2.4. Principles of effective forest governance monitoring The generally agreed principles of Forest Governance (see figure 02) are: transparency, accountability, effectiveness, participation, fairness and efficiency. These principles are also applicable to forest governance monitoring. Below we list the six principles and examples of their effective application in forest governance monitoring5:

1. Transparency: a. Transparency about data. There is a need to be as open as possible

about disclosure of data. However, a balance is necessary, as it is unproductive to disclose all detailed data, but aggregated data should be disclosed as much as possible.

b. Communication and transparency. In order to secure coordination within forest agency and across sectors it is important to clearly communicate the process of strengthening forest governance monitoring to stakeholders from the start so that they understand what it involves. It is also very important to disseminate the results of the monitoring in a transparent way so that the users help build a demand for the service. If the results from monitoring aren’t used, then even the best designed system will—and indeed should—die from neglect.

c. The government and the implementing authorities should also in one or another way respond to the outcomes of the monitoring: what will they do with the results?.

2. Accountability: a. Credibility of the monitoring process and data quality is key. Monitoring

is only of use if the data quality is adequate. There needs to be a mechanism for quality control and quality assurance of the data.

b. The monitoring system is meant to provide a basis for learning that allows for sharing the realities experienced along the way; and for using the lessons learned for fine-tuning and adapting the process. The monitoring system is meant to be a self-help tool for the government and other stakeholders in a country to improve accountability, to promote sectoral learning and adaptive management, and to promote better strategic and operational management and capacity building in the sector.

c. Capacity building at all levels. Capacity will be needed, and may need to be built, for all stakeholders engaged in the design and implementation of systems.

3. Effectiveness: the monitoring should fit within goals set by the country. Aspects include:

a. Country leadership and national ownership: A national driven process ownership and firm commitment and a strong political and societal will to manage forests sustainably and to monitor forest governance.

b. Consistency with national policies, strategies/NFP document: Integration with the country’s sustainable development strategies, inter-sectoral approaches, consistency with the country’s legal frameworks,

5 Partially based on the national forest programme principles and on Saunders & Reeve. 2010 Monitoring

Governance for Implementation of REDD+. Chatham House

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recognition and respect for customary and traditional rights and secure land tenure arrangements.

4. Participation: partnership and inclusive multi-actor participation are key for success, as are involvement of all relevant stakeholders, decentralisation and empowerment, coordination and conflict-resolution.

a. The monitoring system should be developed and implemented jointly by major stakeholders and take into consideration various relevant geographic and administrative levels in the country, also recognizing the differences in influence, means, roles and mandates of the different stakeholders.

b. Multi-stakeholder participation in the identification of indicators as well as in the design and implementation of the tools and institutional arrangements for monitoring, reporting and verification will result in more credible and useful information and more accountable institutions. It will also help to build trust between stakeholders.

5. Fairness: Fairness implies the degree to which rules apply equally to everyone in society. It is also about who is part of the negotiation and who is left out.

a. Meaningful participation of disadvantaged stakeholders in the country: remote and resource dependent communities, unorganized actors, and women may lack the possibilities and opportunities (power and recognition, time, funds, and distance) to effectively participate in the forest governance monitoring process.

b. Meaningful participation of groups that at first sight do not see the importance of forest monitoring for them. The private sector may not be interested in participating because they do not see any use in it. However such stakeholders do matter and it is critical that they are encouraged or enabled to participate effectively in and benefit from the process.

6. Efficiency: this principle has several very important aspects: a. Building on existing data sets, data collection routines, IT

infrastructure and organisational frameworks as much as possible. b. Don’t do it all at once, but prioritize and incentivize progress.

Forest governance encompasses many aspects. i. Prioritize. By paying attention to all of them, the data collection

and monitoring grid may become unmanageable, due to expense and limited capacities for data collection and analysis.

ii. Use as much as possible existing data. c. Consistency and complementarity in national and international

systems. Data needs at domestic and international levels should harmonised and collected and reported ideally through a coordinated national and international institutional architecture with appropriate oversight mechanisms involving verification at both national and international level.

d. Sustainability and cost of governance monitoring. The forest monitoring system must be feasible, implementable and cost effective. It must be compatible with the country’s longer term institutional and organizational capacities and resources for forest related monitoring. If the process of gathering, assessing, and reporting of information is too costly there is a high risk that the system will collapse.

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Box 08: Key success factors for improving and sustaining FGM

Established demand and a sense of urgency. Major stakeholders, in particular the government in the country need to be convinced of the urgency, relevance/value added and benefits of developing and/or improving monitoring or forest governance.

Ownership, commitment, and championship. From the outset, the major national stakeholders in the forest sector should express co-responsibility and active support for the process, which requires that they are able to participate in guiding and benefiting from the process. Ownership and commitment is particularly important in the case of funding of the process by international donors, hence to avoid the risk and impression that it is becoming a donor driven action rather than a process designed to meet nationally identified needs.

Credibility of leadership. The organisation that leads the process must be

considered as open, trustworthy, and effective to guide and facilitate the process of

monitoring. Stakeholders are likely to forgive gaps or errors in data as long as they

believe that the organisations that are in charge of the forest governance monitoring

are doing the utmost to give a fair picture of the situation, while striving for

improvement and allowing outside oversight.

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Chapter 3: FGM in Vietnam - Main findings

3.1. Vietnam policy, legal, institutional and regulatory framework: introduction

Since 2003 Vietnam central governmental agencies have issued 165 legal documents related to forest policy and institution: Resolution: 01 document (The Communist Party Political Bureau); Law: 5 documents; Decree: 39 documents; Decision, directions by Prime Minister: 20 documents; Circular, Decision, Direction by ministries: 105 documents. However, some documents only mention forest policy and institution at one or some articles, or even only in some expressions. Only about 140 out of 165 documents issued since 2003 are legally valid. This legal system has made its way into society, creating a legal base and mobilizing resources for forest protection and development, which contributes to continuous increase of forest cover, a stable socio-economic development, poverty reduction and improvement of people’s living in the highland and mountainous areas. However, this report will focus rather more on finding opportunities of improvements in FGM. In this document forest governance is analysed in relation with Vietnam National Forestry Development Strategy 2006-2020, particularly its three key programs including

1. Sustainable forest management and development program, 2. Program for forest protection and conservation, PES and Forest Finance 3. Forest products processing and trade program.

The Vietnamese system of key legal regulations for forest governance consists of Land Law 2003; Forest Protection and Development Law 2004; decisions, circulars dealing with different areas of or related with forest and forestry. Generally those legal regulations form a system covering all aspects of forest governance that need to be addressed. The categorization of all aspects – also used in this document - is as follows:

1. Sustainable Forest Management and Development:

Forestry land and 3 types of forest;

Forest and forest land rental and allocation;

State forest enterprise restructuring;

Timber harvesting from natural forests;

Conversion of natural forest into rubber plantation and other purposes;

Beneficiary policy; 2. Program for forest protection and conservation, PES and Forest Finance:

Forest Protection;

Handling of violations related to forest;

Forest fire prevention and firefighting;

Protection forests and special-use forests;

Forest environment services ;

Forestry finance;

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3. Forest product processing and trade

Forest Products Processing and Trade. Apart from the subject mentioned above, this chapter will also deal with emerging issues, not yet included in the National Forest Development Strategy: FLEGT and REDD. 3.2 Sustainable forest management and development

3.2.1. Forestry land and 3 types of forest Brief description of the issues:

Since 2003 ‘Forest land‘ no longer includes bare land. The forest sector cannot find enough land for the target of 16.24 million ha set out in 2007.

Planning for the 3 forest types is not clear on maps, it is only at the level of a master plan.

Plans of communes have not been approved and are not coherent with the master plan.

What is being monitored already?

Existing forests on lands (special-use forest land, protection forest land, production forest land).

What needs to be monitored in the future (suggestions)?

Total national land, with a defined land use for the Forest Sector, with clear boundaries in the field.

Total national land area, with forest, with a defined land use for management by the Forest Sector; with clear boundaries.

Area of production forest, total, and the area with clearly defined boundaries/demarcations in the field.

Area of protection forest with clearly defined boundaries and demarcation in the field.

Area of special-use forest; area of special-use forest with clearly defined boundaries/ demarcation in the field.

3.2.2. Forest and forest land rental and allocation

Brief description of the issues:

Forest land allocation has been slow.

Natural forest use and beneficiary rights are not clear, especially the relation between the government - owner of the land - and forest managers.

Forests allocated to households are often of poor quality, so the benefits are poor.

It is not clear what are the rights of forest enterprises when they work with the allocated forests.

How to calculate the benefits of allocated forests?

There are land disputes and encroachments of the land.

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What is being monitored already?

Allocation of land and forests. What needs to be monitored in the future (suggestions)?

Number of Forest Management Boards having forest allocated, but without land use certificate.

Number of Forest Management Boards clearly knows in-the-field defined boundaries of the forest under their management.

Number of Forest Management Boards made in-the-field demarcation for the forest under their management.

Total area of land, forest allocated to households.

Area of land, forest allocated to households having clearly defined boundaries in the field.

Area of forest allocated to households but without land-use certificate.

Number of land-related conflicts between households and organizations, and between households and households. Including numbers of solved issues

3.2.3. State forest enterprise restructuring Brief description of issues:

Forest Companies cannot get long-term loans. One reason is that forest value for the natural forest has not been identified and so the forest cannot function as an asset for obtaining a loan.

Some Forest Companies only manage poor forests and cannot generate any profits.

Some FCs generate money, but it is going to the provincial treasury and they cannot use the generated money for forest management.

According to decree No. 200 FCs should be financially supported, but in practice FCs do not receive financial support, no technology support and no capacity building.

The local budget is according to decree 200 responsible for covering costs for FCs for making land measurement and land documentation. In reality there is no such payment.

No proper policies are available for obtaining finance and credits. What is monitored/ measured already?

Number of SFE and FCs. What needs to monitored/measured in the future (suggestions)?

Number of forest companies having allocated forest with and without land-use certificate.

Number of forest companies having land and forest with clearly defined boundaries and demarcation in the field.

Total land area allocated to forest companies (with and without land-use certificate).

Total land area and forest area allocated to forest companies having clear demarcation in the field.

Number of forest companies doing business according to Company Law 2005.

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Number of forest companies financially independent in line with the Company Law 2005.

Budget from the local level going to FCs.

3.2.4. Timber harvesting from natural forests Brief description of issues:

Timber-harvesting-limit and/or logging ban reduce presence of forest manager in the forest, with more chances for illegal logging.

Result of the ban is also lack of revenues for forest manager,. Other effects are: no silvicultural measures and no re-investments in forests.

What is monitored/ measured already?

Volume of timber harvested from natural forests by quota. What needs to be additionally monitored/measured in the future (suggestions)?

Illegal logging (number of trees or ha)

Number of forest companies are in condition accurate for implementation of sustainable timber harvesting.

Number of forest companies allowed to do timber harvesting in line with timber production of their allocated forest.

Revenues from timber from natural forests.

Budget for re-investment in forest: allocated and actually used.

3.2.5. Forest conversion into rubber plantation and other purposes Brief description of the issues:

Conversion of poor natural forest, with low timber production, into rubber plantations is since 2006 allowed by the government. The aim is to create more jobs for local poor people.

The criteria for identifying the conversion forest are not clear.

Some good natural forest was converted into rubber plantation. What is monitored/ measured already?

Area of natural forest converted to rubber plantation and other purposes. What needs to be additionally monitored/measured in the future (suggestions)?

Area of natural forest converted to rubber plantation.

Number of projects to convert natural forest to rubber plantation and total number appraised by relevant authority from forest sector.

Number of projects to convert natural forest to rubber plantation rejected by relevant authority from forest sector after appraisal.

Same for hydro power plants

Same for mining activities.

Value of the forest to be converted: how poor in timber is it?

How many jobs have been created by each forest conversion?

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3.2.6. Beneficiary policy Brief description of issues:

The term ‘benefit’ is not consistently used in official documentation.

There are no clear criteria for identifying forest major and minor products. There are no clear rules set in the regulations to manage these ‘minor’ products.

For many (low producing) types of forest the beneficiary policy is not feasible.

Benefits for households contracted for special forest protection are much lower than for protection or production.


Area of forest allocated to households.

Payment for households for provided forest protection service. What needs to be additionally monitored/measured in the future (suggestions)?

Number of provinces having defined when the forest is allocated to households the following:

o forest value o forest rental price. o real income from forest (including pay for forest protection and others

from forest), per ha of forest allocated to households. o real income from forest (including payments for forest protection and

forests in general) and its ratio to total income of local households.

3.3 Program for forest protection and conservation, PES and Forest Finance

3.3.1. Forest Protection Brief description of issues:

Lack of resources to permit close and regular collaboration between forest rangers and other legal executing agencies for forest protection.

Lack of incentives for forest rangers;

Legal status of forest ranger is weak.

Almost all financial support originates from Program 661, but this only partially covered the needs and the program stopped in 2010.

Lack of resources for protection may lead to deforestation. Local communities are not involved in forest protection, because forests are not their property and they do not receive any profit from the forests, or too little.


Number of local forest rangers.

Number of communes having local forest rangers.

Area of forest under financial support of the program 661. What needs to be additionally monitored/measured in the future (suggestions)?

Incentives paid to forest rangers.

Funds paid for actual protection of forests.

Number of local forest rangers.

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Number of communes having local forest rangers.

Number of plans of forest protection authorities, forest companies, forest management boards to cooperate with local authorities and communities in forest protection agreed and signed.

Number of violations of Forest Protection and Development Law that are not treated due to the weak legal position of forest protection officers (forest rangers).

Number of forest patrol units having forest regular patrol plans.

Number of patrols conducted.

Number of villages having common forest protection agreement.

Number of communes having forest officer and number of communes having forest protection team.

3.3.2. Handling of violations related to forest Brief description of issues:

There are many violations of the Law on forest protection and development. There are also land conflicts in several regions.

Illegal logging, illegal timber transport and processing occurs in many areas.

The level of punishment is too soft.

Law enforcement at local level could not meet the real ‘demand’ or necessity. What is monitored/ measured already?

Number of cases of forest destruction.

Area of destroyed forest.

Volume/value of seized timber.

Number of illegal timber transportation cases.

Volume/value of illegal-transported timber seized. What needs to be additionally monitored/measured in the future (suggestions)?

Number of cases against people on duty.

Area of destroyed forest; Volume/value of seized timber.

Value ofillegal-timber-transporting means seized.

Number of criminal-violation cases, number of contriver-found violations.

Number of punishments that are implemented and that are not implemented.

3.3.3. Forest fire prevention and fire fighting Brief description of issues:

Forest managers who do not benefit from the state budget have to cover expenses for forest fire prevention and firefighting from their own budget. Many do not have the money.

Budget for firefighting at commune level are very limited. What is monitored/ measured already?

Number of forest fire cases.

Area of forest lost by fire.

Direct causes of fire.

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What needs to be additionally monitored/measured in the future (suggestions)?

Number of organizations having fire-prevention and fire-fighting plans, and resources to implement those plans.

Actual budget of communes for firefighting.

Number of agreement of forest range units; forest companies; forest management boards to cooperate with local authorities and communities in fire-prevention and fire-fighting, signed.

Number of communes having budget, plan, means and forces for fire prevention and firefighting.

3.3.4. Protection forests and special-use forests Brief description of issues:

The country has some 2 million hectares of special use forest (natural forests and planted forests) and 4.8 million hectares of protection forests.

Program 661 gives financial space for only a very limited staff capacity to manage these forests.

Payment for forest protection service is too low ( up to 100,000vnd/ha/yr). What is monitored/ measured already?

Area of protection and special-use forest.

Number of forest management boards.

Payment for provided forest-protection service. What needs to be additionally monitored/measured in the future (suggestions)?

Actual budget spending on special use forests.

Number of forest management boards having forest management plan (protection and special-use forest).

Number of forest management boards having forest-patrol plan (protection and special-use forest).

Number of patrols conducted vs planned.

Average of actual income of a staff of forest management boards.

Number of forest management boards that do not get fund for forest management on time.

3.3.5. Forest environmental services Brief description of issues:

The government issued Decree No. 99/2010 on a policy for payment of environmental services.

Implementation of the programme is very slow

Forest status and boundaries have not been defined.

Lack of budget to start pilots.

Collaboration between ministries needs improvement. What is monitored/ measured already?

Number of hydro-power plants and clean drinking water supply, in pilot provinces, committed to pay for ES.

Amount of money paid to the pilot provinces.

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Actual budget spending on payment for environmental services. Number of provinces having clearly defined principles, calculation method and

procedure for paying for forest environmental service.

Number of organizations, households who are entitle to get payment for forest environmental service provided, but payment has not been made.

Number of provinces having clearly defined area providing forest environmental services.

Number of provinces having clearly defined forest status with “K” – pay coefficient.

Number of provinces having clearly defined in-the-field forest boundaries of organizations and households providing forest environmental service.

3.3.6. Forestry finance

Brief description of issues:

There are several decisions, decrees and circulars which define ways to finance forestry.

Different sources of forest funding are not enough to pay the management costs.

Contribution from central government is in reality much lower than determined according to rule no. 147.

Access to credits is very limited. What is monitored/ measured already?

No information. What needs to be additionally monitored/measured in the future (suggestions)?

Number of provinces collecting standing-tree fee.

Amount of money that forest sector receives from national budget.

Amount of money that forest sector receive from provincial budget, or the local budget.

Number of households having access to preferential credit for forestry activities.

Value of credits handed out to the forest sector (FCs, communes, other forest managers).

Vietnam fund for forest protection and development


The fund has no resources

There is no mechanism to mobilize funds from different potential contributors.

Provincial fund does not exist either. What is monitored/ measured already?

Amount of money invested in protection? forestry(??).

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Size of the National Forest Protection and Development Fund. Annual spending of the fund.

Number of organizations, individuals providing contributions to the National Forest Protection and Development Fund.

Amount that organizations and individuals contributed to the National Forest Protection and Development Fund.

Number of provinces established provincial forest protection and development fund and set up the fund management system.

Law on natural resources tax 2009


Tax rate of timber is very high in comparison to taxes on other natural resources.

Too high tax promotes illegal logging, especially in natural forests. What is monitored/ measured already?

No information. What needs to be additionally monitored/measured in the future (suggestions)?

Total amount of natural-resource tax paid by forest companies.

Total amount of natural-resource tax paid by households. 3.4. Program “Forest Products Processing and Trade” Brief description of issues:

This program aims at the reorganization of the wood and NTFP processing industries in order to match the production capability with a sustainable supply of raw materials.

Control system for timber supply needs to be in line with FLEGT and Lacey Act.

There are no good data on domestic timber consumption inside Vietnam. What is monitored/ measured already?

Annual export value of timber products.

Annual import value of imported timber material. What needs to be additionally monitored/measured in the future (suggestions)?

Total number of wood processing companies.

Number of wood processing companies having timber product exporting business.

Number of companies importing timber to Vietnam.

Volume of from-natural-forest imported timber.

Volume of from-plantation-forest imported timber.

Volume of from-domestic-plantation processed into timber products for export.

Volume of exported wood chip.

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Total volume and value of exported timber products.

Volume and value of NTFP production both for domestic and international market.

Estimate of Vietnams sustainable production capacity for timber and important NTFPs. Estimation of the gap between actual production and the sustainable production.

3.5 Planning and decision-making processes

3.5.1 Forest governance cycle Monitoring is important for forest governance, because information from collected data may result in the conclusion that some laws, decrees or regulations do not have the impact that was foreseen. In that case the regulatory framework needs adaptation. Forest governance monitoring can also result in data that confirm that the policy leads to the results that were projected.

3.5.2. Planning and decision making process at national level Brief description of issues:

The law of 03/06/2008 defines steps in the decision-making process: o needs assessment, o description of needs and its rationale, o need approved and put into plan, o development of policy, o monitoring, and o a consultation process.

These steps are very important in order to guarantee good quality of new laws and regulations.


No information What needs to be additionally monitored/measured in the future (suggestions)?

Number of needs assessments executed before new policy.

Number of initiatives on policy, legal, institutional and regulatory framework to-MARD

proposed by FSSP.

considered by MARD.

Number of initiatives on policy, legal, institutional and regulatory framework to-MARD proposed by Forestry Regional Network, FSSP.

Same, but considered by MARD.

Number of initiatives on policy, legal, institutional and regulatory framework to-MARD proposed by organizations, individuals (including civil society).

Same but considered by MARD.

Number of monitoring implementation reports.

Number of reports on consultations after issuance of new or revised policy, legal, institutional and regulatory framework.

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3.5.3. Planning and decision making at provincial and local level During the process of preparation of this document special attention was given to the provincial and local level. Brief description of issues:

Inventories for forest management and protection are generally prepared by provincial agencies, while the preparation of both the short and medium-term plan is assigned to authorized organizations at district and commune level, based on the provincial master plan.

Forest plans are generally prepared by professional organizations, without involvement of local people and organizations and communes.

Cooperation between different levels of administration is not always good.

There is lack of transparency about decisions.

Participatory processes rarely take place at local level. What is monitored/ measured already?

Number of ha converted from forest to rubber plantations.

Number of the state companies and the private companies involved in the rubber plantation.

Total amount of investment to rubber plantation and potential number of job created by planting rubber according to the reports from companies.

The process of rubber planting after clearing forest/vegetation in comparison with the plan.


Who are the owners of rubber plantations.

Participatory process: number of times plans have been discussed in meetings at local and provincial level.

For how many local and poor households land has been allocated for rubber plantation?

How many jobs are created by this program?

Impacts of conversion from forest to rubber plantation on biodiversity loss, and vulnerable group especially ethnic minorities and the poor.

3.6 Implementation, enforcement and compliance

3.6.1. Implementation, enforcement and compliance at national level Brief description of issues:

Normally the issued legal regulation contains a provision on its implementation specifying who is mandatory to implement it and when. After that, depending on the issued legal regulation itself, a written guideline in form of another legal regulation (e.g. circular) or administrative letter will guide how to implement the issued legal regulation. And in many cases, trainings on the issued legal regulation implementation are taken place.

The implementation of the issued legal regulation is also reported in operation meetings to aim (i) for right implementation of the regulation and find

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opportunities for improvement of its implementation or gaps that need to be addressed by its possible revision or even by possible issuing new regulation.

No problems/ challenges have been reported on this item. What is monitored/ measured already?

Number of forest-related legal regulations newly issued.

Number of forest-related legal regulations withdrawn (out of effectiveness). What needs to be additionally monitored/measured in the future (suggestions)?

Number of feedbacks on implementation of legal regulations from Forestry Regional Network, FSSP to MARD.

3.6.2. Finance at provincial and local level Brief description of issues:

Lack of staff members to perform the assigned tasks for forest management and conservation.

At provincial level often the Department of finance determines the planning and allocation of resources. Income from timber and other products goes to the State Treasury and cannot be used for forest management and conservation.

Stagnation in budget allocation

Delay in allocation causes delay in planting forests.


Number of staff members at local and provincial level.

Procedures for budgeting and budget flows based on the regulation of Ministry of Finance or the PPC at provincial level.

Annual forest plantation and forest protection area plan based on the existing forested area and land available for plantation.

Annual report of forest production, forest protection area including the number of forest law violation cases.

Annual forest production turnover including domestic production and exporting forest products.


Income generated from forest sector of domestic and exporting forest products.

Budget allocation and actually transferred funds to the forestry sector, based on the real demand from grass root level, such as the number of forest area must be protected, the available barred land for forest plantation.

Number of staff really function well and appropriate with their educated background and assessment of their performance based on the results of assigned tasks as well as the feedback from their counterparts at all level.

Number of training needs assessments: they should be conducted by the third party in the link with real demand of forestry sector and the long term education strategy of forest university and colleges. This assessment also reflects how many percent of educated student got proper job with their

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background, and the number of new staff appointed proper position in the forestry organizations.

The cost-benefit analysis for the forest production and forest protection if the budget allocating to the forestry sector delayed.

3.6.3. Forest land management and allocation at provincial and local level Brief description of issues:

At provincial and commune level, the PPC and CPC bear responsibility for management of forest land.

Management of forest and forest land allocation does not receive adequate attention by the authorized organizations.

Many forest companies have not been given land use rights for the lands they are managing.

Changing of land use often takes place without consulting forest organizations at district level and communes.

At communal level the commune forest team often does not work efficiently, because most members do not receive any remuneration.


Number hectares of forest and land allocated to the state forest companies, local people and communities and its existing land use.

The roles and responsibilities for forest management at all levels province, district and commune indicated in Decision 245/TTg.

The volumes of timber logged yearly based on the demand of the province which approved by People Council Committee and MARD at central level.

The total area of new plantation made from government funding sources (normally from state forest companies for production forest, and state budget for protection forest), and the number of trees planted scatter of the year.

Number hectares of deforestation and forest fire around the year in the province.


Remuneration (amounts of payment) for commune forest team.

Information on amounts obtained by selling illegally logged timber.

The effectiveness of forest and land used by state forest companies.

Number of state forest companies got land certificate (red book), and how many of them can mortgaged it for loan from the bank.

Information from assessment of allocated forestland to the local people and communities.

The area of new plantation made by the private sector and individuals.

3.6.4. Coherence and cooperation at local and provincial level Brief description of issues:

Data on forest and land resources at DARD and DONRE (Dept. of Natural Resources and Environment) are often different.

Cooperation of organizations in the horizontal axis still face challenges.

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The guidelines, and policy direction mentioned generally about cooperation, collaboration among government organizations, departments during carrying out the policies.

Number of committees mixed members from different department to regulate certain projects and programs for forest development.


Coherence of data of DONRE and DARD.

Transparent of policy development process including budgeting and cost benefit analysis for all forest management and development project with cleared tasks and responsibility of each actors involved.

Frequency of the regular meetings, and the ad hoc meeting held among the departments at province level.

3.6.5. Staff capacities at provincial and district level Brief description of issues:

At the district and commune level, staff members are not qualified enough and there is not enough staff.


Number of staff working for forestry sector at province, district and commune level and their education level (technician, engineer, and post-graduation).

Number of training courses provided to the local staff yearly.

Number of staff got refreshing courses for their professional. What needs to be additionally monitored/measured in the future (suggestions)?

Capacity building efforts at district and commune level.

Percent of new staff appointed proper to their background in forestry sector.

Training need assessment at district and commune levels.

Amount of time that staff at district and commune level really involved in forestry activities rather than the other tasks.

Information about local educated students come back home to work in forestry sector and the seasons.

Job competition and the opportunity for staff working in forestry sector based on the statistic information in the past (it should be available in the personnel section of the district).

3.7 FLEGT and REDD+

3.7. 1. FLEGT and VPA, and Lacey Act Brief description of issues:

In order to comply with FLEGT it will be necessary to establish a Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS).

FLEGT and Lacey Act are important in order to assure export to EU and USA.

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Number of organizations/individuals trained in FLEGT, VPA, EU Timber Regulation 995/2010 and Lacey Act.

Number of organizations/individuals consulted during VPA negotiation/VPA implementation.

Number of initiatives/suggestions/requests from organizations/individuals contributed to VPA negotiation/VPA implementation.

Number of companies having COC certificate.

Number of companies having FSC FM certificate.

Total forest area FSC FM certified.

Number of organizations/individuals competent to provide consultancy in timber supply according to COC requirement.

Number of organizations/individuals competent enough to provide consultancy in forest management according to FSC FM requirement.

Number of organizations/individuals trained in TLAS.

Number of organizations/individuals competent enough to verify timber supply chain according to TLAS requirement.

Number of organizations competent enough to do FLEGT licensing for timber products exported to EU.

Number of organizations competent enough to conduct independent monitoring for TLAS.

Volume of legal/controlled/certified timber imported into Vietnam.

Number of shipments need to be licensed for export to EU market.

Number of companies competent enough to get “operator-based licenses” for their timber products exported to EU market.

Volume/value of timber products exported to each of 27 countries of EU.

3.7.2. REDD+ Brief description of issues:

At the international level for REDD, some safeguards have been defined which also deal with forest governance issues. See chapter 2.

REDD+ payments in the future could create substantial income for forest managers.



Not clear what exactly are REDD demands , but demands should be based on REDD safeguards (see box 5)

Total forest area meeting all conditions to join REDD+.

Number of communities competent enough (meeting all conditions) to join REDD+.

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Number of forest companies, forest management boards having forest area with defined carbon stock.

Total area of forest having defined c-stock.

Number of communities having established system for from-REDD+ benefit distribution (BDS).

Number of provinces having established system for measuring, reporting and verification (MRV).

Number of forest companies, forest management boards participate in carbon voluntary market.

Total C-stock of Vietnam forest.

Total amount of money received from REDD+.

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Chapter 4: FGM Assessed by 3 pillars and 6 principles

During interviews, after discussion about the current status and issues of FGM, interviewees were requested to assess for Vietnam the status of FGM by using the 3 pillars and the 6 principles of the FAO framework and by giving score rating to each principle in each pillar. See box 26.

Box 26: Score rating

0 = If there is no sign that FGM considers the principle. Score 0 is 0% when transferred to 100% mark scale. 1 = If there is sign that a minor part of the principle is considered by FGM. Score 1 is 33% when transferred to 100% mark scale. 2 = If there is sign that a major part of the principle is considered by FGM. Score 2 is 66% when transferred to 100% mark scale. 3 = If there is sign that the principle is fully considered by FGM. Score 3 is 100% when transferred to 100% mark scale.

The assessments given by the interviewees are not based on quantitative measurements, but rather on their own professional judgments and perceptions. However, on one side, the interviewees are experts in their FG and FGM-related working area and, on the other side, their judgment was done after a long discussion with the consultant and on top of that they had to explain their own score rate by giving their own evidences and arguments. The evidence and arguments sourced from their own practice, their working experiences, as well as their expectations how a good FG and FGM in Vietnam should be.

For instance, about the principle “Effectiveness”, person rated it with score 3 argued that FG and FGM is under a national driven process ownership and firm commitment and a strong political and societal will to manage forests sustainably and to monitor forest governance with evidence that FG and FGM considerably contributed to increase of the forest cover from 27.2 % in 1990 up to 39.1% in 2009 and millions of households in mountainous areas received land and thanks to that they got rid of poverty. But the “Effectiveness” is rated by another interview with score 1 with other arguments that FG and FGM is without iintegration with the country’s sustainable development strategies, inter-sectoral approaches, and evidences of weak effectiveness is problematic conversion of natural forest to rubber plantation and other non-forest purposes, and responsibilities and beneficiary policy for people managing allocated is not clear enough.

In terms of gathering all possible information on FG and FGM in Vietnam, both people mentioned here provided the consultant with a very good help in getting multi-vision and multi-experience based information. Therefore with the score rating for 3 pillars and 6 principles, the consultant at least achieved two purposes: (i) know how overall FGM in Vietnam is seen by the deeply- in-FGM-involved people, and (ii) all arguments and evidences of the interviewees to back their own score rating are really good ideas and suggestions for how a good FGM in Vietnam should be.

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Figure 06 describes result of the score rating mentioned above. Following that 27% of the interviewees rated FGM in Vietnam with score 1, while another 62% consider that the FGM is entitle with the score 2, and only 11% of them given the FGM the score 3.

Forest Governance Monitoring - Assessed by Score Rating

27%

11%

62%

1 score (27%) 2 scores (62%) 3 scores (11%)

Figure 06: Forest Governance Monitoring – Assessed by Score Rating

Figure 07 reflects result of FGM assessment (as mentioned above) by 6 principles. According to that principle “Transparency” is rated at 56% (56/100 mark) which is the lowest, from lowest to highest, then follow by “Accountability” and “Participation” both at 60% (60/100 mark), “Fair/Equity” and “Effectiveness” at 63% (63/100 mark), and finally and highest is “Efficiency” at 67% (67/100 mark).

Forest governance Monitoring - Assessed by 6 Principles

67%

63%

60%

56%

63%

60%

50%

55%

60%

65%

Transparency

Accountability

Effectiveness

Participation

Fairness/Equity

Efficiency

Figure 07: Forest Governance Monitoring – Assessed y 6 Principles

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Data on the figure 07 advise us that if Vietnam wants to improve its FGM the prioritized focus should be more on “Transparency”, (ii) “Accountability” and “Participation” than other principles.

Figure 08 is scoring result of the pillar 1 “Policy, legal, institutional and regulatory framework”. The data on the figure shows that 3 principles including “Transparency”, “Accountability” and “Participation” have the lowest mark 63% (63/100 mark), then “Efficiency” 67% (67/100 mark) and finally “Fair/Equity” and (Effectiveness” both at 70% (70/100 mark). Data of pillar 1 assessment once again advise that if Vietnam wants to improve its FGM the prioritized focus should be more on “Transparency”, (ii) “Accountability” and “Participation” than other principles.

Pillar 1 "Policy, Legal, Institutional & Rgulatory Framework - "

Assessed by 6 Principles

67%

63%

63%

70%

63%

70%

20%

40%

60%

Transparency

Accountability

Effectiveness

Participation

Fairness/Equity

Efficiency

Figure 08: Pillar 1 “Policy, legal, institutional and regulatory framework” – Assessed by 6 principles

Figure 09 describes scoring result of the pillar 2 “Planning and decision making process” which shows that “Transparency” gets 52% (52/100 mark), “Accountability” scored at 59% (59/100 mark), are the lowest ones. All three “Effectiveness”, “Participation”, “Fair/Equity” reached 63% (63/100 mark). And the highest one is “Efficiency” 67% 67/100 mark). Data of pillar 2 assessment once again tell us if Vietnam wants to improve its FGM the prioritized focus should be more on “Transparency”, (ii) “Accountability” than other principles.

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Pillar 2 "Planning & Decision Making Process - "


63%

63%

59%

52%

67%

63%

20%

40%

60%

Transparency

Accountability

Effectiveness

Participation

Fairness/Equity

Efficiency

Figure 09: Pillar 2 “Planning and decision making process” – Assessed by 6 principles

In the Figure 10 we can see “Transparency” scored at 52% (51/100 mark) which is very lowest and very low. This means that if Vietnam wants to improve its FGM the first priority focus should be “Transparency”.

Pillar 3 "Implementation, Enforcement & Compliance" -


52%

67%

56%

56%

56%

59%

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%

Transparency

Accountability

Effectiveness

Participation

Fairness/Equity

Efficiency

Figure 10: Pillar 3 “Implementation, enforcement and compliance” – Assessed by 6 principles

The Table 01 is overall assessment by scoring whole FGM and each pillar by the 6 principles. The data clearly show that the first attention in strengthening FGM should be paid to (i) “Transparency”, (ii) “Accountability”, and (iii) “Participation”.

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Table 01: Overall assessment by 6 principles

PRINCIPLE FGM PILLAR 1 PILLAR 2 PILLAR 3 AVERAGE

Transparency 56% 63% 52% 52% 56%

Accountability 60% 63% 59% 59% 60%

Effectiveness 63% 70% 63% 56% 63%

Participation 60% 63% 63% 56% 60%

Fair/Equity 63% 70% 63% 56% 63%

Efficiency 67% 67% 67% 67% 67%

All the results shown in charts and table of this chapter is perception of the interviewees on the six principles of forest governance (transparency, accountability, effectiveness, participation, fairness/equity and efficiency) in each of the three pillars: (1) policy and legal frame work, (2) planning and decision making, and (3) implementation, enforcement and compliance. The principle with the highest overall score is ‘efficiency’ while the lowest score is for ‘’transparency’. The lowest scores for all principles are in pillar 3 (implementation, etc.), the highest ones are in pillar 1, while the scores for pillar 2 are in-between. A provisional interpretation of these results is that interviewees do not see so many issues (gaps) in existing laws and regulations, but rather in their implementation.

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Chapter 5: Strengthening FGM practice in Vietnam

5.1. FGM is new for Vietnam The term of forest governance has not been officially used in the legal documents of the forestry sector, at least at the provincial, district and commune levels. The targets in forest monitoring and evaluation, which have been used by the forest sector, mainly focus on technical aspects such as forest cover, area of plantation forests, and volume of logged timber. Meanwhile, there is still a lack of targets relating to the transparency in policy making, the extent of involvement in forest activities, or gender equity in forest land allocation. There are no specific policies and regulations for forest governance monitoring, nor implementation instruction at the local level. The results from the interviews conducted in Dak Lak and Thua Thien Hue provinces indicated that the annual report from the forest sectors contains a great deal of information on forest governance, nevertheless the information is general and lack specific targets, foundation and a performance guide.

5.2. Current indicator systems for Vietnam forest sector

Current indicator systems for Vietnam forest sector are structured as a pyramid. At national level, indicators are the highest synthetic mode. From national level down to sectoral, provincial, and local level those indicators split off to detailed indicators.

5.2.1. Indicators of the General Statistics Office (GSO) The GSO indicator system is formed in line with the Decision 305/2005/QDTTg, dated 24 November 2005 of the Prime Minister. This system consists of 24 groups of indicators. Forest sector indicators belong to group number 9 (agricultural and fishery indicators according to Vietnam classification) which includes 17 indicators, namely from 0901 to 0917. But there are only 3 indicators for the forest sector which are: Production value of forestry-0901, area of newly planted forest-0912, and volume of harvested timber-0913.

5.2.2. Indicator system of MARD MARD indicator system is formed according to Decision 71/2006/QD-BNN of MARD dated 14 September 2006, containing 19 groups with 231 indicators including 18 indicators for the forest sector, classified in group 3. This table is available in the background document.

5.2.3. Indicator system to monitor implementation of Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy 2006-2010 of VNFOREST, MARD This strategy has defined 72 indicators. This table is available in the background document and in the 2010 progress report of the Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy.

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5.3. Strengthening FGM in Vietnam – how to develop a set indicators?

In chapter 3 several indicators have been proposed. These need revision by stakeholders. During the workshop proposals for indicators can be amended, or new indicators can be proposed. However, Criteria for proposal of the indicators are:

1. Strengthening FGM is to improve the quality of FG for implementation of programs of Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy 2006-2020;

2. Strengthening FGM should be appropriate to forestry sector administration system, in terms of sectoral, multi-sectoral and geographical aspects;

3. Strengthening FGM should not require too much additional financial and human resources;

4. Strengthening FGM should be appropriate to international frameworks so that the monitoring can help to show to foreign parties that Vietnam has a governance of forests which is acceptable according to international standards.

It is certainly not the idea to establish a new agency for Forest Governance Monitoring. The indicators and the related collection of data should as much as possible be integrated into the actual roles and tasks of the organizations currently busy with monitoring practice. In terms of method and methodology of collection and treatment, FORMIS and NFA projects can support the FGM through their action plan and pilot case studies. 5.4. Next steps proposed for strengthening FGM in Vietnam In case, Vietnam would like to strengthen FGM practice systematically, what is mentioned below can serve as a reference.

Figure 11 presents a generic design overview for forest governance monitoring. The overview distinguishes between a number of building blocks that need to be addressed in the process of preparing for design, actual design, and sustaining the designed forest governance monitoring. 1. Creating a forest governance reference framework. In the case of Vietnam the Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy has been taken as point of reference. This strategy has been compared with Figure 02: Pillars and Principles of Forest Governance. It is composed of three “pillars” (i.e. in a way the structural elements for Forest Governance to function) and “principles” (the quality of how well Forest Governance functions. These principles (transparency, accountability, effectiveness, participation, fairness/equity and efficiency) should be applied to all aspects of the Vietnam Forest Development Strategy. The background document and this report can be considersed to be the first attempt to realize this.

2. Agreeing on a defined purpose & vision – establishing a shared understanding of the key reasons for engaging in forest governance monitoring. Such an understanding needs to be consistent with national policies, strategies/NFP document and fit within the country’s sustainable development strategies, inter-sectoral approaches. The workshop is also to develop this purpose and vision for forest governance monitoring.

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Figure 11: A framework for forest governance monitoring design

In-country shared reference framework on forest governance

Functional Forest

Governance Monitoring

National-level

forest governance

Provincial/district

level forest

governance

Local/household

level forest

governance

Selected

information

needs &

indicators

Use of existing data sets

and data collection

mechanisms

Advised

additional data

collection

Prevalent

governance issues &

related performance

questions

In-country shared purpose & vision for forest governance monitoring

Clear roles &

responsibilities

Capacities &

conditions in place

Institutional

embedding

3

4

75

6

8

2

1

Prevalent

governance issues &

related performance

questions

Prevalent

governance issues &

related performance

questions

Selected

information

needs &

indicators

Selected

information

needs &

indicators

Communication

Data

collation

Independent

verification

Sense

making

National-level

monitoring

Provincial/district

level monitoring

Local/household

level monitoring

3. Making information needs explicit – establishing shared understanding of what information is needed to answer forest governance performance questions, taking into consideration the need to prioritize amongst the many information needs. During the workshop a first attempt will be made to implement this step. The following steps will be started only after the workshop, once priorities are known: 4. Selecting methods & methodologies for data collection – establishing shared understanding of the ways in which needed information will be gathered from which sources of information; use of primary and secondary data; clarification of IT part of the methods and methodologies (storage, retrieval etc.). 5. Creating an outline of the organization (flow) & intended use of information – establishing clear processes for turning data into information and the way in which it will flow to/be accessed by intended audiences. This will

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6. Agreeing on roles & responsibilities – establishing shared understanding of who will be expected to do what to make functional forest governance monitoring happen; 7. Activating a plan for putting in place operational capacities & conditions for functional forest governance monitoring – establishing a shared understanding of what will be required in terms of capacities and conditions to sustain efforts. 8. Providing an Institutional embedding – establishing forest governance monitoring in existing organizational and institutional arrangements. Although this step is mentioned as the last one, it is crucial for the success of FGM. The step builds on earlier steps. However, this step means that long term monitoring is going to be secured, by way of arrangements in laws and/or regulations, and in assignment of tasks to organizations to take up the governance monitoring on a permanent basis.

LITERATURE 1. Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy 2006-2020

2. Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy 2006-202 - 2010 progress report

3. The Vietnam province governance and public administration performance index PAPI 2010

4. World Bank, 2009. Roots for Good Forest Outcomes: An Analytical Framework for Governance reform. Report No. 49572-GLB. 47 pp.

5. Partially based on the national forest programme principles and on Saunders & Reeve. 2010 Monitoring Governance for Implementation of REDD+. Chatham House

6. Capistrano, D., 2010. Forest Governance Indicator Development: Early Lessons and Proposed Indicators for Country Assessments. FAO, 34 pp.

7. Grindle, M.S., 2004. Good Enough Governance: poverty reduction and reform in developing countries. Governance: an institutional journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions, Vol. 17, No. 4, October 2004 (p. 525-548),

8. Grindle, M.S. 2005. Good enough governance revisited. A report for DFID with reference to the Governance Target Strategy Paper, 2001. Harvard University, USA. 27 pp.

9. James Mayers | Stephen Bass | Duncan Macqueen | 2002 : The Pyramid A DIAGNOSTIC AND PLANNING TOOL FOR GOOD FOREST GOVERNANCE

10. JOANGO Hutan, September 2006: Forest governance in Malaysia An NGO perspective

11. Krister Andersson and Ashwin Ravikumar, University of Colorado at Boulder, July 15, 2010 : Monitoring Forest Governance: A Field-Based Approach from Tanzania

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12. Kusek, J., and Rist, R., 2004, 'Ten Steps to a Results-based Monitoring and Evaluation System', World Bank, Washington, D.C. 268 pp

13. Nigel Dudley, Nguyen Cu and Vuong Tien Manh: A Monitoring and Evaluation System for Forest Landscape Restoration in the Central Truong Son Landscape, Vietnam

14. Nguyen Hang, Wulf Killmann, Xuan Phuong Pham and Eveline Trines: Viet Nam National REDD+ Program: Background document UN-REDD PROGRAMME Version 3 February, 2011

15. ODI, 2006. Governance, development and aid effectiveness: a quick guide to complex relationships. Briefing paper March 2006. 4pp.

16. Pham Xuan Phuong, Doan Diem, le Khac Coi: Assessment on forest policy formulation and execution phase 2006-2010 and proposal for forest policy amendment, revision phase 2011-2015.

17. Simon Counsell: Forest Governace in Africa. 2009 18. Tim Holland and Doan Diem: Scoping Study of Forest Governance Indicators in Vietnam

19. Van Bodegom, A.J., D. Klaver, F van Schoubroeck and O. van der Valk, 2008. FLEGT beyond T: exploring the meaning of ‘Governance’concepts for the FLEGT process. Wageningen UR, The Netherlands

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ANNEX 01: LIST OF PEOPLE RECEIVED FGM FAO FRAMEWORK WITH 13 COMPONENTS AND 77 SUB-COMPONENTS

No Name Position Position

1 Dr. Nguyễn Bá Ngãi Vice director VNFOREST

2 Nguyễn Tường Vân Vice director

Department of Science; Technology and International Cooperation, VNFOREST

3 Nguyễn Hữu Dũng

4 Dr. Nguyễn Nghĩa Biên Director

Planning and Finance Department, VNFOREST

5 Cao Chí Công Director Department of Forest Utilization, VNFOREST

6 Vũ Thành nam Seniot officer Management Board for Forestry Enterprises

7 Đàm Ngọc Năm Vice director

Department of Agricultural Products Processing and Trading and Salt Production, MARD

8 Trần Hữu Thành Senior officer

Department of Agricultural Products Processing and Trading and Salt Production, MARD

9 Phạm Minh Thoa Director


10 Dr. Phạm Mạnh Cường Director

REDD Standing Office, VNFOREST

11 Dr. Đinh Đức Thuận Director Forestry Projects, MARD

12 Tô Mạnh Tiến Director Provincial Department of Forestry LN, DARD Lào Cai

13 Phạm Trọng Minh Vice general director Vietnam Forestry Corporation

14 Dr. Nguyễn Phú Hùng Vice director FIPI, VNFOREST

15 Hồ Mạnh Tường NFA Project, FIPI, VNFOREST

16 Dr. Nguyễn Văn Tuấn Vice director Vietnam Forestry University

17 Dr. Nguyễn Quang Hà Faculty Head

Forestry Business & Management Faculty, Vietnam Forestry University

18 Dr. Lê Minh Chính Senior lecturer in forestry

economics Vietnam Forestry University

19 Dr. Phạm Xuân Phương Freelance consultant

Former vice director of Legal and Institutional Framework, MARD

20 Tô Đình Mai Director Centre for Environment and Community Development

21 Đoàn Diễm Freelance consultant

Vice chairman of Forestry Science & Technology Association

22 Vũ Long Freelance consultant Former director of Forestry Economics Institute

23 Nguyễn Tuấn Phú Freelance consultant

Former director of Agriculture Department, Vietnam government Office (expert in FPES)

24 Nguyễn Tôn Quyền General Secretary, Vice

Chairman Vietnam Forest Products Association (VIFORES)

25 Huỳnh Thạch Senior officer Vietnam Forest Products Association (VIFORES)

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26 Chu Đình Quang Freelance consultant Former coordinator to Vietnam-Germany Forestry Program

27 Lê Duy Phương Freelance consultant

28 Trần Lê Huy General Secretary Bình Định Forest Product Association

29 Nguyễn Chiến Thắng Chairman Handicraft & Wood Processing Association (HAWA)

30 Huỳnh Văn Hạnh Vice-chairman Handicraft & Wood Processing Association (HAWA)

31 Trần Quốc Mạnh Vice-chairman Handicraft & Wood Processing Association (HAWA)

32 Nguyễn Văn Vy General Secretary Handicraft & Wood Processing Association (HAWA)

33 Akiko Inoguchi Officer FAO

34 Dr. Juergen Hess Director MNR Program, GIZ

35 Tô Thị Thu Hương Component Manager FP, GIZ

36 Tapio Leppänen CTA FORMIS

37 Lê Công Uẩn GFTN VN Coordinator WWF, GFTN

38 Dr. Hồ Văn Cử Vietnam Country Representative TFT

39 Dr. Tô Xuân Phúc Vietnam Country Representative Forest trends

40 Trần Hữu Nghị Vietnam Country Representative Tropenbos International

41 Dr. Nguyễn Quang Tân

Vietnam Country Representative RECOFTC

42 Goetz Eberhard Advisor to HAWA HAWA/CIM

43 Heiko Woerner CTA GFA

44 Lutz Lehmann CIM advisor to Kontum Kon Tum

45 Tim Dowson FLEGT VPA Advisor EC Hanoi

46 Lauri Vesa CTA NFA Project

Note:

People who filled 77 sub-components of the FAO FGM framework

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ANNEX 02: LIST OF PEOPLE DIRECTLY INTERVIEWED AT NATIONAL LEVEL No Name Position Position

1 Dr. Nguyễn Bá Ngãi Vice director VNFOREST

2 Nguyễn Tường Vân Vice director


3 Nguyễn Hữu Dũng

4 Dr. Nguyễn Nghĩa Biên Director

Planning and Finance Department, VNFOREST

5 Cao Chí Công Director Department of Forest Utilization, VNFOREST

6 Phạm Minh Thoa Director


7 Dr. Phạm Xuân Phương Freelance consultant

Former vice director of Legal and Institutional Framework, MARD

8 Tô Đình Mai Director Centre for Environment and Community Development

9 Đoàn Diễm Freelance consultant

Vice chairman of Forestry Science & Technology Association

10 Vũ Long Freelance consultant Former director of Forestry Economics Institute

11 Nguyễn Tôn Quyền

General Secretary, Vice Chairman

Vietnam Forest Products Association (VIFORES)

12 Huỳnh Thạch Senior officer Vietnam Forest Products Association (VIFORES)

13 Dr. Tô Xuân Phúc

Vietnam Country Representative Forest trends

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ANNEX 03: List of the interviewees and the organizations at provincial level

No. Name, position of interviewees

Position and Organization

1 Mr. Y Manh Adrong, Vice Chairman of District People Committee

2 Mr. Huynh Duc Luan Director of Ea Hleo State Forest Company

3 Mr. Le Cong Hung Vice director of Ea Hleo SFC

4 Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hung

Vice head of Technical Section of Ea Hleo SFC

5 Mr. Phung Chi Hai Head of Technical Section of Ea Hleo SFC

6 Mr. Ho Duy Tan Chairman of Ea Sol Commune People Committee

7 Mr. Nguyen Van Xuan Deputy Director of Dak Lak province DARD

8 Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hung

Vice Director of Forest Sub-Department of Dak Lak province

9 Mr. Le Van Minh Deputy Director of Lam Dong Province DARD

10 Mr. Nguyen Trong Director of Thua Thien Hue Department of Forestry

11 Mr. Nguyen Vu Linh Vice Director of Bach Ma National Park, Thua Thien Hue

12 Mr. Nguyen Huu Dai Director of Phong Dien Forest Company, Thua Thien Hue

13 Mr. Le Van Tam Director of Forest Protection Unit, Nam Dong district, Thue Thien Hue province

14 Mr. Truong Xang Vice Director of Forest Protection Unit, Nam Dong district

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