Viet Nam Synopsis by country

19 still being lost at a high rate, the overall picture is of a nascent forest transition developing in the region. According to ITTO, in the Asia-Pacific region, an estimated 14.4 million hectares of the natural permanent forest estate PFE designated for production is estimated to be sustainably managed and 5.15 million hectares of the PFE designated for protection ITTO 2006. 1 Thus, a total of 19.5 million hectares 11.6 percent of the overall natural PFE 168 million hectares are considered to be under SFM. This means that close to 90 percent of the natural PFE in the region is not managed sustainably. Since ITTO’s assessment took place in 2006, interest in certification has increased and a number of companies have been, or are in the process of being certified. Forest Production forest Planted forest Conservation forest Primary forest Protection forest -4000 -3000 -2000 -1000 1000 2000 3000 4000 A rea 00s ha . Figure 2.1. Annual change in Asia-Pacific forest area by designation 2000-2010 Note: due to data unavailability, annual changes in primary forest for Australia and New Zealand are for 2005- 2010 only and areas of conservation, protection and production forest for Japan are assumed to have stayed constant between 2000 and 2010. Source: FAO 2010e.

2.2.1. Forest management certification

Forest management certification, although not fully identical to SFM, provides a ready and standardized means of assessing progress in forest management. The Forest Stewardship Council’s FSC certification scheme is of prominence in the Asia-Pacific region and although the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification PEFC is represented in Australia and Malaysia there are no other PEFC certified forests in the region. 2 Several other national certification schemes are in operation in countries covered in this paper – the Lembaga Ecolabelling Indonesia LEI and Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme MTCS in particular. National certification systems have also been developed in China and the Philippines. The LEI scheme is not directly comparable with internationally recognized systems as environmental and social requirements are generally less stringent, although over 1 million hectares of forest area have been certified by the LEI Inskandarsyah and Wicaksono 2008. The LEI scheme, however, agreed to 1 This includes only ITTO producer countries: Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand and Vanuatu. 2 Statistical figures on PEFC certification updated on 31052010: http:register.pefc.czstatistics.asp