Double benefits
Muong Bang Commune, Mai Son District, Son La Province currently has 2,200 hectares of managed forest. Every year, the commune receives over 600 million VND in forest environmental services. Previously, forest protection was sometimes only considered the responsibility of the authorities, while people living near the forest paid little attention. Since the implementation of the forest environmental service payment policy, it has contributed to raising people's awareness of forest protection.
Mr. Luong Van Dui, Chairman of Muong Bang Commune People's Committee, said: Since the implementation of the policy on payment for forest environmental services, forest protection and development in the area has had positive changes. The commune government has reviewed and supplemented regulations to enhance the responsibility of the community and people in forest management and protection. Village communities have more conditions to support people's livelihoods, limiting the situation of deforestation for farming.
According to the synthesis of the Forest Protection and Development Fund of 7 Northwestern provinces, in 2023, the revenue from forest environmental services in 7 provinces reached 1,270 billion VND. The Forest Protection and Development Fund of 7 provinces has proactively coordinated with relevant units to open accounts and pay forest environmental services (source in 2023) to 124,702 forest owners with a total amount of 1,144 billion VND.
In Phang Hum Co village, Muong Bang commune is assigned to manage nearly 900 hectares of forest, of which 800 hectares of forest are paid over 220 million VND of forest environmental services/year.
According to Mr. Ca Van San, Party Cell Secretary - Head of Phang Hum Co village, Muong Bang commune, every year, when receiving money from DVMTR, the village holds a meeting with the people to discuss how to use the money paid.
“The money received was used to build a suspension bridge over the stream, concrete nearly 7km of roads, buy scattered tree seedlings to plant along the village roads and pay 26 people in the forest protection team,” said Mr. San.
The policy of paying for forest environmental services also opens up opportunities for people living near forests to increase their stable income. The payment not only helps people improve their material life but also reduces economic pressure, thereby reducing illegal forest exploitation activities for immediate benefits.
According to Mr. Va A Tu - an officer of Mai Son Forest Protection Department, Son La province, since the policy of paying for forest environmental services has been in place, it has helped local people have better awareness and higher consciousness about forest protection.
“Thanks to the policy of paying for forest services, along with a well-established forest fire prevention and fighting plan, forest protection teams actively operate during the dry season from December to May of the following year, and people regularly patrol and guard forest areas prone to fires. When people have that money, it helps them improve their lives and contributes to limiting illegal logging,” said Mr. Tu.
Preserving forest resources
Currently, in Mai Son district, there are over 43,000 hectares of forest being paid for forest environmental services. In 2024, the Mai Son - Yen Chau branch of the Forest Protection and Development Fund paid to 5,975 forest owners, including households, individuals, household groups, communities, socio-political organizations and People's Committees of communes in Mai Son district.
Currently, Mai Son district is focusing on managing 56,000 hectares of existing forests; taking care of 300 hectares of protective forests; enclosing and regenerating about 500 hectares of natural forests; the forest cover rate in 2024 will reach 39%.
Mr. Ha Van Thoat, Officer of the Forest Protection and Development Fund, Mai Son - Yen Chau branch, said: To ensure the right progress and transparency in payment, the Fund has coordinated with districts and communes to implement, inventory, and review the areas to be paid in accordance with the current status. In 2024, the Transaction Office of the Social Policy Bank of Mai Son district made payments through accounts to forest owners, with a total amount of over 10.5 billion VND.
“With the DVMTR budget, the Fund has coordinated with localities to organize seminars and meetings to guide villages in developing regulations for managing and using DVMTR funds, ensuring publicity and transparency. From this source of funding, villages have built many projects to serve the people’s daily life, such as building roads, building village cultural houses, domestic water works, sports fields…”, Mr. Thoat said.
The policy of paying for forest environmental services has significantly contributed to improving the rural appearance in Mai Son district in particular and the whole country in general. This is also an important source of funding for grassroots groups and teams to enhance their responsibility in managing and protecting local forests and increase income for many households, creating motivation for people to stick with, preserve and develop forests.
In addition to its intrinsic benefits, the PFES policy also contributes to promoting public sympathy and international recognition for Vietnam’s environmental protection efforts. When communities actively participate in forest protection, they not only contribute to national efforts but also create an image of a country committed to sustainable development and global environmental protection. Successful implementation of this policy can also attract international resources and international support projects to Vietnam, thereby further promoting forest protection.
In the coming time, with the pilot results of Decree No. 107/2022/ND-CP on implementing the agreement on payment for greenhouse gas emission reduction in the North Central region, it is expected that DVMTR will be expanded and realized with a new type of service, which is forest carbon absorption and storage, contributing to supplementing resources for forest management and protection, and giving people more confidence in protecting forests and living in harmony with forests.
Comment (0)