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 The poverty levels in communities that depend directly on forest resources are higher than in other communities. With its Forest Sector Strategy 2006-2020 the Government of Viet Nam aims to reduce the poverty of these communities. This will depend on creating alternative livelihood opportunities, mainly through the better use of forest resources and forest products. Recognizing that forests provide considerable benefits to communities living outside the forests, the Vietnamese government has established the 5 Million Hectare Reforestation Programme to increase the area of forested land, improve the livelihoods of households dependent on forests and improve forest conservation.
This project will conduct policy and action research in TT Hue and Quang Tri to address ways in which livelihoods can be improved for these forest-dependent communities, both through improvements in existing practices and by developing new opportunities in forest production and forest protection.
3a Set of alternative livelihoods
This project will develop or fine-tune new options for alternative livelihoods strategies that are environmentally sustainable and financially rewarding and meet farmers' cash flow needs.
3b Elaboration of two livelihood strategies
3.b.1 Agroforestry systems
Protection Forest Management Boards (PFMBs) also manage bare lands. The project will undertake research with the PFMBs into ways of enhancing the biodiversity of these areas. Mixed species planting programmes will be developed to encourage the establishment of native species, improve watershed protection and reduce downstream environmental damage.
3.b.2 Payment for environmental services
Forests provide many environmental services to communities living within and outside the forests. MARD has requested assistance to develop policies for an equitable distribution of the payments for such environmental services between people living in the forests, and responsible for protecting them, and different tiers of government, including the PFMBs. Policies also need to be developed for sharing the revenue from forest products (including pine resin).
Objectives
To find new opportunities to generate livelihoods from forest lands and reduce poverty by allocating revenues to households, communities, companies and Protection Forest Management Boards.
Outcomes/outputs
Sets of models on sustainable forest management and agroforestry will be developed and tested in the project area. The lessons learned from the project will be shared with interest parties. Conferences/workshops and field manual/guidelines will be produced and provided to the target audiences.
Implementing partners
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