As part of its long-term development program, Vietnam targets to increase its forest coverage in the coming years, specifically to 42% by the year 2020 and 45% by 2030. In order to achieve this goal, the forest sector has three crucial duties to perform: environmental protection; improving forest productivity and quality; and increasing the competitiveness of forestry products.

The REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) Programme, which was recently approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, aims at conservation; sustainable management of forests; and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries. It will be effective from 2017-2030 and will be implemented all over the country, especially in those areas which have a high likelihood for deforestation and forest degradation.   

From this year to 2020, the programme will focus on strengthening forest conservation and increasing forest coverage in order to reduce emissions. From 2021-2030, stabilization of natural forest acreage and further increasing forest coverage will be the goal to reach an 8% target of emission reduction.

The programme is also centred on forest usage so that it will acquire 16.2 million hectares of agricultural land by 2020, as well as help the agricultural and fishery sector achieve sustainable production. Furthermore, the implementation of forest law will be reinforced in order to prevent or arrest any violation or abuse to the particular environment.

So far, the programme has already yielded some positive results. The “agricultural restructure project” established four years ago gained 39.7% additional forest coverage from 2011 to 40.84% in 2015. Forestry production value started to enjoy an annual 6.57% growth. Since 2014, 900 hectares of protection forest has already been planted in Ninh Thuan Province.

This year, Ninh Thuan Province will plant 460 hectares of protective forest in the districts of Thuan Nam, Ninh Son and Ninh Phuoc as part of a Japan international agency-funded project called Protection Forests Restoration and Sustainable Management. From 2017-2021, the project will provide local forest growers with loans of VND48 million ($100) per hectare so that they can have something to call their own. The project will also concentrate on forest management, forest protection and newly-growing forest.

This forest protection and sustainable development plan will not only preserve the natural state of the forest but also create a stable livelihood for many local residents, creating a win-win situation for both the environment and the people.