Thua Thien-Hue strives for 15,000 ha of FSC-certificated forest.

Thua Thien - Hue province currently has over 300,000 ha of forest, of which natural forests are about 212,000 ha, planted forests area are nearly 100,000 ha, but large timber forests area are only about 9,000 ha.

To date, this locality has established 25 sustainable forestry cooperatives (cooperatives) with nearly 3,000 ha of forest participating in FSC sustainable forest certification.

Forest management and forest protection through forestry cooperatives have contributed to preserving biodiversity, maintaining ecosystem functions and integrity, stabilizing the natural ecosystem and minimising the harmful effects of climate change. At the same time, increasing income for member households and people contributes to the province's hunger eradication and poverty reduction goals.

According to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Duc, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thua Thien-Hue, one of the trends in forest economic development is the formation of sustainable forestry cooperatives along the value chain, whose members are forestry households with small production scale. Promoting the establishment of sustainable forestry cooperatives is an inevitable direction, consistent with the integration trend, to meet the need for planting large timber forests in the province.

"Thua Thien - Hue province sets a goal that by 2025 there will be 35 sustainable forestry cooperatives, reaching 15,000 ha certified for sustainable forest management, mainly including FSC forests. The formation of sustainable forestry cooperatives not only brings high economic efficiency, helps reduce poverty sustainably, but also contributes to protecting the environment and combating global climate change", Mr Duc said.