Stepping up to large timber forests: To step more firmly

Mr. Le Van Duan, Deputy Director of Quang Binh Provincial Forest Protection Department, said that according to the locality's project on developing large timber forests, the entire province strives to reach about 16,000 hectares by 2030.

"However, in the development roadmap, many difficulties and obstacles must be resolved in order to have an upward path for localities to step up to large timber forests, bringing significant revenue to forest growers and increasing total social income," said Mr. Duan.

Concerns of forest growers

In addition to the advantages of land, the development of large timber forests and FSC-certified forests also faces difficulties and obstacles that need to be handled by governments at all levels.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Su (Cao Quang commune, Tuyen Hoa district), planting large timber forests has a long business cycle and is easily affected by wind and storms that cause damage. Recalling the big storm in August 2017, Mr. Su said that the storm swept through Tuyen Hoa district and damaged 9,000 hectares of planted forests.

"At that time, my family's 5 hectares of planted forest that were about to be harvested were all broken by the storm. Part is broken across the body; part is broken at the root. Later, people had to sell it at the price of dry firewood. Even to replant the forest, people have to hire someone to clean up the aftermath of the storm and dig holes to plant trees. Therefore, forest growers here are not very excited about large timber forests," Mr. Su confided.

Along with the fear of natural disasters, forest growers also have other concerns. Specifically, the cost of planting large timber forests is high compared to the income of forest growers, so people do not dare to boldly invest in planting. The majority of households plant forests with an area of less than 10 hectares. Therefore, it is difficult to convert the area to planting large timber forests.

According to Mr. Le Thuan Van, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thai Thuy commune (Le Thuy district), only families with a forest area of several dozen hectares or more and also having income for many years and accumulating a little capital will have conditions to convert to planting large timber forests. Therefore, most people with an area less than ten hectares of forest find it very difficult to convert.

Through surveys, many forest growers said that currently, when growing small timber forests to sell by weight, growers can sell whenever they need. In the area, there are many purchasing agents at market prices. People who need money to spend or have business can sell the forest immediately. However, once stepping up to large timber forests, it is difficult to actively sell the forest. According to Mr. Vo Van Xuong, a forest owner in Thai Thuy commune, not seeing any specific output has made forest growers feel insecure when stepping up to large timber forests.

Another reason hindering the development of large timber forests is that forest growers are not aware or do not clearly see the benefits from forest certification and are concerned about the output of certified wood. Since then, the growth of large timber forests has been limited.

Removing barriers

To promote sustainable forestry economic development, create good-quality products, and protect the ecological environment, Quang Binh implemented the "Project on developing planted forest timber material areas associated with planting large timber forests."

According to Mr. Le Van Duan, implementing the project aims to contribute to improving the value of the production and business of planted forests, protecting the environment, and developing sustainable forestry. "Localities also pay attention to forming large timber and industrial timber raw material areas associated with building a linkage chain of production, processing, and consumption of products," he said.

To effectively implement the plan to plant large timber forests and plant forests associated with FSC forest certification, Le Thuy district strengthened communication work to raise awareness for people about the effectiveness of planting and converting to large timber production forests.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Han, Vice Chairman of the Le Thuy District People's Committee, said that governments at all levels actively mobilized forest owners to participate in planting and converting small timber forests to large timber forests, associated with FSC sustainable forest management certification.

"We prioritize funding to plant large timber forests and convert small timber forests to large timber forests. At the same time, introduce forestry tree varieties with high productivity and output, resistance, and limitation to forest pests and diseases to limit risks for forest growers," said Mr. Han. 

Quang Binh province is expanding the call for organizations and businesses with capacity and demand for purchasing and consuming FSC-certified planted forest wood products to continue to support funding to evaluate FSC forest certification and consume products. This is also the key to rapidly increasing the area of large timber forests.

Mr. Nguyen Van Sang, a forest owner in Thai Thuy commune, said that there are about 3,900 hectares of planted forests in the commune, and only 150 hectares of large timber forests have been developed, which is still a modest rate. To develop large timber forests, there must also be individuals and organizations with the conditions to stand up, accumulate forest land, and collect many small areas into a large area, like collecting fields into large fields in rice production linkage.

"If there are businesses linking with people to jointly participate in the stages of seedlings, cultivation, and product consumption, then surely in the next few years, the area of large timber forests in the area will account for 50–70% of the total area of planted forests in the locality. Because at that time, people will feel more secure in production," shared Mr. Sang.

We returned to Quang Ninh district; this locality has a Steering Committee of the District Sustainable Forestry Development Program that operates effectively to support forest growers. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Que, Head of Quang Ninh District Forest Protection Department, said that since the beginning of 2023, the Steering Committee of the Quang Ninh District Sustainable Forestry Development Program has directed the District Forest Protection Department to coordinate with communes, units, and forest owners to promote inspection, supervision, and guidance to households in the area to register and implement the large timber forest planting plan.

The Forest Protection Department coordinated with the district Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to provide support for providing quality acacia seedlings to ethnic minorities to plant large timber forests with an area of 100 hectares.

"Besides, we also advise, disseminate, mobilize, and guide forest owners to convert the model of planting small timber forests to planting large timber forests. Coordinate to review the area of household planted forests participating in registering for FSC sustainable forest management certification for more than 1,000 hectares in Truong Xuan and Truong Son communes," added Mr. Que.

Mr. Le Van Duan, Deputy Director of Quang Binh Provincial Forest Protection Department, said: "As of now, Quang Binh has more than 121,000 hectares of economically planted forest. Each year, localities put into their exploitation plan about 8,000–10,000 hectares of forest. The entire province has over 4,000 hectares of large timber forests. In terms of social and environmental effectiveness, it reduces the burning of forests after exploitation, the risk of soil erosion and washing away, soil pollution, the impact of natural disasters, and at the same time protects the ecological environment.