Sustainable Forest Governance

By CECAD

Sustainable forest governance helps maintain ecological balance by protecting forest ecosystems, maintaining soil quality, and regulating water sources, while minimizing erosion and flooding.

Sustainable forest governance is the process of managing forests in a way that balances ecological, economic, and social benefits to ensure their long-term health and productivity. It involves the collaborative efforts of governments, local communities, private entities, and civil society to establish policies, practices, and frameworks that promote the sustainable use of forest resources. Forests are vital ecosystems that provide numerous benefits, including climate regulation, carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, water cycle maintenance, and livelihoods for millions of people. However, unsustainable practices like illegal logging, deforestation, and forest degradation pose significant threats to these ecosystems and the services they provide. Sustainable forest governance is key to achieving global goals like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate targets under the Paris Agreement. By promoting transparency, accountability, and participatory decision-making, it ensures forests remain a cornerstone of environmental sustainability and human well-being for generations to come.

From 2005 to 2007, CECAD implemented the research project "Community Forestry and Poverty Alleviation in Vietnam" to explore the contribution of sustainable community forestry to poverty reduction. This research laid the foundation for the project "Improving Forest Governance to Ensure Climate Sustainability in Two Ethnic Minority Communes in Son La Province" (FLC 14-02), which was carried out from 2014 to 2016, funded by the Finland Embassy in Vietnam. The project aimed to contribute to the sustainable management and utilization of forest resources through improved forest governance for climate sustainability. As part of the project, CECAD conducted a survey on the current state of natural forests in Moc Chau district to identify the factors that either promote or hinder forest governance locally. Based on the survey results, training materials were developed for training of trainers (TOT) at the provincial level. The training aimed to enhance the capacity of officials from relevant departments such as the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE), the Department of Planning and Investment (DPI), the Department of Construction (DOC), and the Provincial Women's Union. Participants from these training sessions then shared their knowledge with other stakeholders at the district and commune levels, contributing to sustainable forest management and protection at the local level.

The project supported local communities in the project area by developing two carbon absorption models through the implementation of agroforestry systems. Additionally, models for planting native tree species and raising pigs were also developed. The tree planting model included species such as teak, xoan, and fruit trees like longan, mango, lemon, avocado, pomelo, jackfruit, and plum, which were planted to replace maize fields. This model helped reduce the area of maize cultivation, thus decreasing the use of herbicides and other harmful chemicals on crops grown in the fields. These two models have been successfully developed and have made positive contributions to the household economy in the two project communes. CECAD project staff regularly provide advice to community members involved in the pilot models, thereby fostering a better understanding of the relationship between forest governance and conservation models in agriculture and agroforestry. This has contributed to improved forest governance and increased resilience to climate change.

The project “Sustainable Mangrove Forest Management through Certified Shrimp Farming in the Red River Delta, Vietnam” (2017 - 2018), funded by the Eco-Peace Center, aimed to raise awareness among coastal communities in Thai Thuy district, Thai Binh province, Red River Delta, about the impacts of mangrove deforestation for commercial shrimp farming on ecosystem services and local benefits.

Through increasing awareness and engaging local concerns, the project sought to introduce certified clean shrimp farming practices to the shrimp farmers of Thai Thuy, Thai Binh, to preserve the ecosystem and protect local community benefits sustainably. The project’s objectives were to raise awareness about the impacts of mangrove forest degradation and issues related to commercial shrimp farming, introduce shrimp farmers to organic certification standards, highlight the contributions of certified shrimp farming to mangrove ecosystem services, and encourage the adoption of organic shrimp farming methods and sustainable mangrove forest management. The model in Thai Thuy was selected to pilot sustainable shrimp farming and mangrove forest management practices, with the aim of applying it to other areas in Thai Binh province and neighboring regions.

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