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[ Background index ] Special-use Forests Evolution of the Special-use Forests system The origins of the Special-use Forests system can be traced back to 1960, when President Ho Chi Minh announced Ordinance No. 18/LCT: the 'Law on Organisation of the Government Council of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam'. This ordinance included a proposal to establish the General Department of Forestry. In 1962, on the advice of this department, the government established Cuc Phuong Protected Forest, the first protected area in Vietnam. Following the establishment of Cuc Phuong Protected Forest, and despite the on-going Second Indochina War, the General Department of Forestry continued to undertake forest surveys in northern Vietnam, and designated 49 Special-use Forests. Despite these efforts, the high demand for timber during the war and lack of resources meant that these areas received rather few management inputs. Forest degradation continued to occur. Following the end of the war in 1975, attention focussed on identification and survey of potential protected areas throughout the now unified country, including the Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta. The establishment of 10 Special-use Forests was decreed by Decision No. 41/TTg of the Prime Minister, dated 24 January 1977. These were Ba Be, Ba Mun, Ba Vi, Bac Son, Ban Dao Son Tra, Den Hung, Pac Bo, Rung Thong Da Lat, Tam Dao and Tan Trao. Together, these covered 44,310 ha. The establishment of Nam Cat Tien National Park was then decreed in 1978, followed by that of Mom Ray Nature Reserve in 1982, Con Dao National Park in 1984, and Cat Ba National Park in 1986 (MARD 1997). On 9 August 1986, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers issued Decision No. 194/CT. This landmark decision decreed the establishment of a further 73 Special-use Forests nationwide, comprising two national parks, 46 nature reserves, and 25 cultural and historical sites (MARD 1997). However, many of these Special-use Forests were left without management boards, budgets or investment plans. On 30 December 1986, the Minister of Forestry issued Decision 1171/QD, which contained the first set of management regulations for Special-use Forests. Expansion of the Special-use Forests system continued in the early 1990s: Yok Don National Park was decreed in 1991, followed by U Minh Thuong Nature Reserve in 1993, and Xuan Thuy, Tram Chim and Tien Hai Nature Reserves in 1994. Subsequently, Ta Kou and Ke Go Nature Reserves were decreed in 1996, followed by Thanh Phu Nature Reserve in 1998. The addition of these areas brought the total number of decreed Special-use Forests to 93, comprising 11 national parks, 55 nature reserves and 27 cultural and historical sites, with a total decreed area of 985,280 ha. A national review of the forestry sector highlighted many Special-use Forests that were too small and/or too degraded to meet their conservation objectives (MOF 1991). This review proposed a significant increase in the area set aside to conserve the nation's biodiversity. In 1994, Vietnam ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity, and Vietnam's national planning response to this convention, the Biodiversity Action Plan for Vietnam, reiterated the recommendations of the forestry sector review (Government of SRV/GEF 1994). In 1995 the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) was formed, by the amalgamation of the Ministries of Forestry, Agriculture and Irrigation. MARD announced plans to further expand the system of Special-use Forests to 2 million hectares. In 1997, MARD hosted a national conference on the Special-use Forests network at Cuc Phuong National Park. Following this conference, the Forest Protection Department (FPD) of MARD prepared a list of 94 Special-use Forests, comprising 12 national parks, 64 nature reserves and 18 protected landscapes (FPD 1998). This list is popularly known as the '2010 list'. The 2010 list proposed decreeing a number of new Special-use Forests and removing a number of decreed Special-use Forests from the national system, in order to bring the total area of the system to 2 million hectares by 2010, covering over 6% of the national land area. For various reasons, the 2010 list has not been submitted to the government for approval. The Forest Inventory and Planning Institute (FIPI), with support from BirdLife International and the European Union, then began to identify and prioritise areas for inclusion in an 'expanded' Special-use Forests network, and to advance the gazettment process for key sites. This initiative included a review of the existing system of Special-use Forests, which made recommendations aimed at improving the equitability of the system with regard to representation of different forest types, ecoregions, elevation zones and globally threatened species (Wege et al. 1999). A revised proposed list of Special-use Forests, which integrates the 2010 list with the recommendations made by FIPI and BirdLife, is currently being prepared by FPD and FIPI (FPD and FIPI in prep.). This list is expected to be submitted to the government for approval shortly. This sourcebook, which includes site cards for all the sites listed in the 2010 list and the revised proposed list, is another output of the European Union-supported project 'Expanding the Protected Areas Network in Vietnam for the 21st Century'. Special-use Forests today The term Special-use Forest refers to one of the three forest management categories in Vietnam, the others being production forest and protection forest. Special-use Forests are designated on the basis of their importance for conservation of Vietnam's biodiversity or cultural and historical heritage. Until January 2001, Special-use Forests were divided into three categories: national parks, nature reserves and cultural and historical sites. Special-use Forests are usually terrestrial forest areas but, in some cases, wetlands and marine areas are also included within Special-use Forests. This introduces the potential for overlap with systems of wetland and marine protected areas that may be developed in the future (see below). Certain Special-use Forests no longer retain any natural forest cover, while the forest resources of a number of others are heavily degraded. Indeed, a review published in 1999 found that the Special-use Forests system contains large areas of non-forest land, principally agricultural land, scrub and non-natural grassland, which comprises over 40% of the total area of the system (Wege et al. 1999). A number of laws, decrees, directives and other official documents have direct or indirect relevance to the management of Special-use Forests and other protected areas (see Table 3). Until January 2001, the principal legal and regulatory framework for Special-use Forests in Vietnam was laid out in Decision 1171/QD of the Minister of Forestry, dated 20 December 1986. Special-use Forest categories were outlined in Articles 2 and 3 of this decision, and management regulations were outlined in Articles 11 and 12. On 11 January 2001, new regulations for the management of Special-use Forests were promulgated by Decision No. 08/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister. Article 6 of the new regulations classifies Special-use Forests into three categories: 'national parks', 'nature reserves' and 'cultural, historical and environmental sites (protected landscapes)'. The new regulations further divide nature reserves into two sub-categories: 'nature reserves' and 'habitat/species management areas'. The new regulations also state that the Ministry of Culture and Information should take responsibility for the establishment and management of cultural, historical and environmental sites, in cooperation with MARD. Article 8 of the new regulations outlines the principal objective of buffer zones to be to 'reduce encroachment' of local residents into Special-use Forests, and specifies that all activities undertaken in buffer zones should aim at supporting the conservation, management and protection of Special-use Forests, including restricting access to 'outside residents' and prohibiting illegal exploitation of protected species. Table 3: Laws, regulations, decrees and official government decisions regarding the management of Special-use Forests (after MARD 1997)
The overall management of the national network of Special-use Forests is primarily the responsibility of the FPD of MARD. However, various organisations are involved in Special-use Forest management at the provincial, district and site levels. The day-to-day management of national parks is the responsibility of a management board established for this purpose. National park management boards are usually, but not always, under the management of the FPD of MARD. The members of national park management boards are usually drawn from staff of the relevant provincial FPD, although staff are sometimes transferred from the provincial forest development department. Likewise, the day-to-day management of nature reserves and cultural and historical sites is the responsibility of management boards. However, these management boards are usually under the management of the relevant provincial people's committee, via the provincial FPD or Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD). As is the case with national park management boards, their members are usually drawn from the staff of relevant provincial FPDs, although, in some cases, they are drawn from other organisations, for example, forest enterprises. Currently, Special-use Forests account for the vast majority of protected areas in Vietnam, and cover the largest extent of the protected area estate. [ Background index | Next ]
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