The Impacts of Forest and Forest Land Policy on Rural Livelihood in Central Viet Nam

This study aims to analyze the impacts of the forest land allocation on pro-poor sustainable forest management and livelihood development in the Central Region and Viet Nam as a whole.

This project is being developed through a PhD research by Tran Nam Tu. Tu’s research has demonstrated that while FLA policy has been very effective in conserving Bach Ma’s forests, key issues are preventing equitable decentralization policy. First, a tendency towards top-down policy-making has bypassed thorough evaluation of local livelihood patterns and boundaries. This has not only reduced the potential for economic development but also produced confusion and conflict over stewardship boundaries. Second, FLA policy has empowered certain ethnic groups over others, creating further economic and decision-making inequalities. In Bach Ma, “Vietnamese” Kinh people have typically been granted more valuable, individually-managed production forest while their neighbors, the “indigenous” Co Tu people, are granted degraded forest to be communally-managed. Tu argues that legal devolution of forest ownership to households and communities must be accompanied by increased decision-making power, which remains elusive.