Efficiency of forest environmental service revenue

Cat Linh villagers patrol and protect the forest.

Solidarity, high consensus

After nearly an hour of riding a motorbike through winding slopes, we arrived at Cat Linh village, located about 8 km from the center of Chieng Muon commune. The village has 53 households, nearly 400 people, 100% of whom are Mong ethnic people, living together next to vast green forests. The villagers are managing and protecting more than 2,000 hectares of forest, so each year they receive a payment for forest environmental services of up to more than 1 billion VND. Notably, the villagers have effectively used this source of income, investing in the construction of essential public works, significantly improving the quality of life and the appearance of the new rural areas in the highlands.

In an exciting atmosphere, the people of Cat Linh village are urgently installing a new solar lighting system. Mr. Hang A Dinh, a member of the village management board, said: For many years, the village has mobilized people to allocate 50% of the forest environmental service fee to invest in essential infrastructure. With unity and high determination, up to now, the village has completed 100% of the internal village roads, 30% of the roads to the production area, installed lighting on the main roads, built 43 hygienic toilets and 53 mini garbage incinerators... with a budget of billions of VND and thousands of working days.

Mr. Hang A Su, Cat Linh village, said: The village held a meeting with the people, prioritizing the construction of essential public works first, then supporting each household with 12 million VND for auxiliary works, 2 million VND for pouring concrete floors and building mini garbage pits. Thanks to that, most households have private toilets, clean floors and garbage pits to treat waste on site, protecting the environment. The people appreciate the transparency, clarity and completely trust and support the village's way of doing things.

Not only in Cat Linh, the spirit of self-reliance is also clearly demonstrated in Noong Quai village, home to the La Ha ethnic community. The people here agree to use all the funds collected from forest environmental services, hand them over to the village community for management, to supplement the village fund and invest in new rural construction.

The road to Noong Quai village was invested in and built from people's contributions.

In Noong Quai village, there are 86 households with 430 people living there, assigned to manage and protect nearly 1,000 hectares of forest, divided between 1 community forest owner and 44 household forest owners. The village has established 2 forest fire prevention and fighting teams, regularly inspects the forest and clears firebreaks, clears vegetation during the dry season, minimizing the risk of forest fires. Thanks to that, over the years, the forests managed by the village have grown green and healthy, without any forest fires.

Mr. Quàng Văn Kim, Party cell secretary and head of Noong Quái village, informed: In the two years 2023 - 2024, the village used 400 million VND from the forest environmental service fund to supplement the village fund. From this fund, the village built 3 internal roads, with a total length of 500 meters; installed 50 solar-powered lamp posts along the main roads. In addition, the village also supported 12 m³ of sand for families to pour solid concrete foundations. Up to now, the roads into the village have been concreted and have a night lighting system.

Spreading the power of community

Currently, Chieng Muon commune has 6 villages, 336 households, mainly Mong and La Ha ethnic people living; natural forest area is nearly 5,500 hectares. Annual revenue from forest protection in the whole commune is paid nearly 4 billion VND. Along with that, people and forest owners in the commune also intercrop more than 35 hectares of cardamom under the forest canopy, contributing to improving income, improving life and awareness of sustainable forest protection and development.

Noong Quai village contributes to the socialization of concrete for internal village roads and rural lighting projects.

Promoting the spirit of solidarity and implementing effective methods, in the past two years, the whole commune has mobilized social resources to invest in the construction of 2.2 km of rural roads in Noong Quai, Hua Dan, and Cat Linh villages; installed 110 lighting poles in Hua Dan, Hua Kim, Noong Quai, and Hua Chien villages; built 1.4 km of drainage ditches in Pa Kim village; supported the hardening of the foundations of 76 households. In particular, people in the villages also voluntarily contributed 450 million VND to construct the Chieng San - Chieng Muon road. The total amount of money contributed by the people for the projects in the past two years was nearly 2 billion VND.

Mr. Giang A Pao, Chairman of the People's Committee of Chieng Muon Commune, said: Thanks to the promotion of propaganda, the awareness of cadres, party members and people about new rural construction has been significantly improved. Chieng Muon truly takes the people as the main subject, all matters are discussed openly and democratically. In 2025, Chieng Muon Commune aims to mobilize people to contribute 600 million from the payment for forest environmental services. This amount will be mainly used to pour concrete on the roads of the remaining villages, in order to complete the traffic system, creating favorable conditions for people to travel and trade goods.

Although Chieng Muon is still poor, with a proactive spirit, consensus, not waiting or relying on the state. Sustainable forest protection and reasonable exploitation of benefits from forest environmental services have improved people's lives and created a new rural face in the highlands that is increasingly prosperous.

Source: https://baosonla.vn/xa-hoi/hieu-qua-nguon-thu-dich-vu-moi-truong-rung-DCTpz41Hg.html