Forest area decline Forest restoration measures and methods

174 other land uses. This is mirrored by policies that drove economic growth to exploit natural resources in an unsustainable manner; the construction of infrastructure for economic development including hydropower, mining and transportation also reduced forest area in Viet Nam Pham et al. 2012.

2.2.3 Institutional weakness, weak law enforcement and financial deficits

The forestry management system is well structured and extends from the grassroots level to central government de Jong et al. 2006; Tran et al. 2006; Pham et al. 2012. However, the quality of forest management in some localities is not good, especially at the commune level, where direct land management and forestry production activities are implemented Pham et al. 2012. For many reasons, including low capacity and lack of economic incentives, the commune-level agroforestry staff often find it difficult to meet the requirements of forest management in their communes. At the same time, the local forest rangers who play essential roles in forest protection and management in the field do not fulfil their duties and have been found to be corrupt as well Sikor and To 2011. Failure to follow the legal instructions on forest protection and management is a serious problem leading to forest degradation. Deforestation, shifting cultivation and conversion of forest land for agricultural purposes and industrial plantations have been occurring in many localities. This is amplified by poor law enforcement, lack of awareness, corruption, overlapping regulations and mild penalties Sikor and To 2011; Phan 2014. Database systems for forest management, including GIS data, are not accurate, with overlaps e.g. different mapping systems for the natural resources and environment sector and forestry sector. Moreover, the complicated history of land use including encroachment of State Forest Enterprise land, handwritten land-trading contracts and inherited land make it difficult for forest and forest land management to achieve good results de Jong et al. 2006; Pham et al. 2012.

2.2.4 Finance

Under Decision 02-CP of the Prime Minister, millions of hectares of State Forestry Enterprise forest land and forest management boards are patrolled by local farmers under contracts with these entities. Initially, farmers received only VND50 000 per hectare per year for forest management and protection, but this has recently been increased to VND200 000. This is still too small to be an incentive for effective forest protection and management compared to the much higher economic returns from monoculture industrial plantations and other crops de Jong et al. 2006; Pham et al. 2013; Phan 2014. The lack of resources for forest management and protection is also a major issue facing forest management boards, national parks and conservation zones. The number of personnel and the budget allocated to the forest management boards are often lower than needed, making them ineffective in protecting and managing forests de Jong et al. 2006; Phan 2014.