Thanh Hoa promotes afforestation according to FSC standards

FSC certification is a voluntary standard developed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to promote responsible forest management globally. This certification ensures that wood products are produced from controlled raw materials and comply with environmental, social, and economic standards.

With the increasing demand for wooden furniture, many farmers in Thanh Hoa province have switched from traditional forest planting to FSC-certified forest planting. This helps to manage and exploit forests sustainably according to FSC standards more effectively, creating a source of raw materials with clear and safe origins and ending the exploitation of wood from deforestation.

Currently, the Sustainable Forest Management Cooperation of Thach Thanh district, Thanh Hoa province, has been granted FSC forest certification for an area of ​​over 3.2 thousand hectares with 1,575 participating households in 11 communes of Thach Thanh district. During farming, households do not use herbicides or chemical pesticides and limit burning vegetation, which affects the ecological environment.

The cooperative's annual "clean" wood output reaches about 62,000 m3, and also becomes a "passport" to help wood products from Thach Thanh plantation forests. Thanks to the FSC sustainable forest certification, the business efficiency and income of members of the Thach Thanh Sustainable Forestry Cooperative have increased.

Not only the Thach Thanh District Sustainable Forest Management Cooperative, but also according to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thanh Hoa, the whole province has over 641,000 hectares of forest; of which, the total area of ​​large timber forests is 56,000 hectares and 260,000 hectares of planted forests. Joint ventures and product consumption linkages with businesses are increasing efficiency, helping many households escape poverty thanks to forest planting.

Nguyen Dinh Thai, Head of the Forest Use and Development Department (Thanh Hoa Provincial Forest Protection Department), said: "To increase income for people from afforestation, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thanh Hoa will implement a policy to support seedlings and tissue culture to develop high-quality forest wood material areas towards granting FSC sustainable forest management certificates; a policy to support FSC granting at VND 300,000 per hectare for areas of 300 ha or more; promote the accumulation of concentrated forestry land for concentrated timber and commodity production, forming links along the value chain of planting, caring for, exploiting, processing and consuming forest wood products.

In addition, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thanh Hoa province coordinates with local authorities to mobilize people to participate in planting large timber forests with FSC certification, reorganize production towards establishing cooperatives, household groups, and forest owners to manage and protect forests, and issue forest certificates associated with processing facilities. Thereby, building a concentrated raw material area associated with FSC certification".

Also according to Thai, after many years of implementation, up to now, in Thanh Hoa province, more than 28.4 thousand hectares/4,670 households have been granted FSC certification, including 7 chains linking forest owners (households, groups of households) with processing factories such as Xuan Son Joint Stock Company, Ngoc Son Joint Stock Company, BWG Mai Chau Joint Stock Company, Dai Minh Joint Stock Company... Thanks to being granted FSC sustainable forest management certification, as well as developing livelihood models, many mountainous households have risen out of poverty thanks to afforestation.

Thanh Hoa province strives to increase the area of ​​​​planted wood material areas to 125,000 hectares by the end of 2025 and have an additional 25,000 hectares of planted wood forests and 10 hectares of bamboo forests granted FSC certification. Developing FSC forests is the door for the province's wood products Thanh Hoa in general and Vietnam in particular export to European and American markets, thereby increasing income for people working in forestry in mountainous areas.

Dr. Vu Thi Que Anh, the representative of FSC (International Organization for Sustainable Forest Management and Protection) in Vietnam, affirmed that to increase the economic value of non-timber forest products, applying FSC forest management standards to published products is necessary. Organizations can now be granted FSC certification for non-timber forest products such as rubber, rattan, and bamboo, supporting the promotion of forestry by ensuring social responsibility, environmental protection, and economic sustainability.

The sustainable exploitation and use of non-timber forest products and access to international markets that demand FSC certification will positively impact people's livelihoods in rural areas. This standard will help to remove bottlenecks and promote the supply of certified non-timber forest products, which are in increasing demand in Vietnam and are also a driving force, thereby supporting sustainable forest management and enhancing the value of forests.