Summary Forest Tenure Reform Vietnam 53

40

5.5 Summary

his section provided an in-depth understanding of the implementation of forest tenure at the local level in the eight study villages in Dak Lak and Hoa Binh. he discussion so far indicates that contrasting processes of FLA have been observed in two provinces. While the FLA program in Dak Lak has been able to account for some variations at the local level and has initially provided people with actual rights to the forest, FLA in Hoa Binh has been implemented on an ad hoc basis and has confused local people. Few households surveyed in the two study provinces have full knowledge of the rights endowed by FLA, and even fewer people have had a chance to realize such rights. Findings indicate that FLA alone has not been able to shape the actual uses of allocated forest. Other factors, such as support from donor projects, market pressures, beneit- sharing arrangements, gaps between statutory regulations and customary practices, and the participation of local people, have inluenced the realization of rights endowed by FLA. Inequitable distribution of forest resources is also found within villages. FLA has generally created two separate groups of actors at the local level: those with legal rights to forest and those without legal rights. Additionally, forest resources are inequitably distributed among the former group. Power relations and access to information have shaped the distribution of forest resources among local forest recipients, particularly in the case of Hoa Binh. Poor and disadvantaged households that have inadequate access to power and information, are often left out. As a result, FLA has had unclear and uneven efects on poverty alleviation in the study villages. In the case of Hoa Binh, the potential for reverse efects from FLA have been observed. Forest resources and resource-use patterns by local people in both provinces have undergone changes since FLA implementation. he level of change varies across study sites and also in relation to diferent resources. Timber may have become scarcer in one village forest area but more abundant in others. Similarly, in the same village the availability of one forest product may have decreased since FLA but the availability of others may have increased. Various factors have contributed to such changes, including increased market demands due to economic growth, migration, traditional customs and practices, illegal logging, and the insuicient sanction of violations. Most importantly, FLA appears to have made positive contributions to these changes, mostly in sites where donor support has continued after FLA implementation. Actual forest tenure arrangements in the study villages are also inluenced by the presence of customary practices. Traditional rules still shape how forest resources are used and managed. Nevertheless, the presence of customary practices varies across sites and the role of traditional rules has declined with pressure from economic growth, the increase of migrants to the area, and the dominant role of state-elected village leadership. Last but not least, the discussion in this section suggests that, on the whole, people in forest communities have the ability to manage allocated forests. Although some people and communities may have been involved in the rapid deforestation that occurred in Vietnam during the last three decades of the 20 th century, it appears that traditional forest management systems that worked in the past are once again being put into practice. In some communities, there has been no interruption to these sustainable practices. With timely support from the outside, local communities can protect allocated forests from unauthorized use and beneit from forest management. IMPLEMENTATION OF FOREST TENURE AT THE LOCAL LEVEL 41 6 Variations in the Implementation of Forest Tenure Policies 42 Variations in the Implementation of Forest Tenure Policies 6 his section discusses research question three, concerning variations in the implementation of forest tenure policies between the two provinces. We focus on two major policies: FLA policies and forest beneit-sharing policies. Based on primary data from the eight study villages and secondary data at the provincial level, we draw a comparison between the two study provinces and relate it to the national policy framework.

6.1 Forest Land Allocation Policies