Decision No. 100/2007/QĐ-TTg Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of Decision No. 661/QĐ-TTg dated July 29, 1998 on Objectives, Tasks, Policies, and Implementation Organization of the Project to Plant Five Million Hectares of New Forests.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing some articles of Decision No. 661/QĐ-TTg dated July 29, 1998 of the Prime Minister on objectives, tasks, policies, and implementation organization of the New Plantation Forest Project of 5 million hectares:

I. AMENDING ARTICLE 3 AS FOLLOWS:

Article 3. Tasks of the Project during the period 2006-2010:

1. General responsibilities:

a) Regarding forest management and protection:

- For special-use forests: areas that have been strictly protected but have had people living there for a long time need to relocate these people out of the strictly protected area; if relocation is not feasible, specific plans and investments must be made to stabilize the livelihoods of the residents without causing deforestation. Within the strictly protected area, only delegate management to local residents in places where there are insufficient specialized forces for forest protection provided by the State;

- For protective forests: strengthen measures to protect the existing natural forest capital. Focus on developing non-timber forest products with economic value and under-canopy forest products in protective forests so that local residents can benefit from the forest management contracts. Gradually reduce the area under forest protection contracts; forest protection management boards should implement contracts for protecting difficult areas with high risk of threats but without the ability to benefit from the forest. Border areas far from populated areas and forests at high risk of damage may be delegated or contracted to border guard units and police. Concentrate on promoting the allocation of forests to community residents, households, creating conditions for households and village communities to link forest management, protection, and benefits as a driving force for forest development;

- For production forests: forest owners must organize their own forest protection forces; households must both protect the forest themselves and rely on the community for protection. The forestry inspection force and local authorities at all levels are responsible for handling acts of infringement against production forests of all economic sectors to ensure strict observance of laws and create investment confidence for forest owners.

b) Building and developing forests

- Special-use forests: review the planning of special-use forest areas, review the functional zones within special-use forest areas; stabilize the scale of special-use forest area at about 2 million hectares. For areas planned as special-use forests but without existing forests, if restoration is needed, mainly implement enclosure and regeneration measures; particularly pay attention to developing non-timber forest products to generate income for people living in special-use forest areas (outside strictly protected areas);

- Protective forests: stabilize the scale of protective forest area nationwide at about 6 million hectares. For areas planned for protective forests but without existing forests, mainly implement enclosure and regeneration measures for forest recovery; plant forests only where regeneration conditions are not met. Prioritize investment in projects for coastal protection, sand control, and border protection. All economic sectors are encouraged to participate in the protection and development of protective forests and enjoy benefits from the forests according to the law;

- Production forests: adjust approximately 3 million hectares (including natural forests, planted forests, and barren hills) previously planned as protective forests but after review do not meet criteria for conversion to production forests to be allocated or leased to organizations, households, community residents, and individuals for long-term production and business operations according to the law. Resolve land issues thoroughly at each locality to attract various economic sectors to invest in concentrated raw material areas with medium and large scales to ensure raw materials for wood processing. Encourage joint ventures, partnerships, and the establishment of forestry cooperatives. Use integrated forest management techniques to improve the quality of natural forests, moving towards sustainable forest management and conservation, using forests to sustain forests:

+ For production forests that are natural forests: develop forest management and harvesting plans according to sustainable forest management practices;

+ For depleted natural forests: carry out afforestation to enhance forest quality by planting additional valuable timber and non-timber forest products or reforest with higher-value species;

+ For production forests that are existing planted forests: in addition to harvesting and replanting, encourage investment in care and transformation of small timber plantations into large timber plantations for furniture, handicrafts export, and other processing needs;

+ For barren lands planned for production forests: promote intensive planting to meet the demand for large and small timber for industrial processing and household use; encourage the cultivation of multi-purpose trees and non-timber forest products. Use high-quality seed sources to increase the productivity of planted forests.

Reform scientific research, technology transfer, and forestry extension work in forest planting and protection. Focus on improving high-yield, short-cycle tree varieties combined with advanced silvicultural techniques to increase the productivity of planted forests. Complete silvicultural procedures and technical standards and provide market information. Strengthen the activities of the forestry extension system at the grassroots level for mountainous communes, remote areas.

2. Specific tasks:

- Review and replan the three types of forests, determine stable forest compartments on maps and mark boundaries of the three types of forests on-site;

- Review and complete the allocation and leasing of forests and forest land to forest owners (community residents, households, organizations, and businesses);

- 100% of villages and communes with forests have forest protection teams, have local forestry inspectors, and have received training.

- 100% protected forest and special-use forest areas have management entities (state organizations, private entities, or communities) and have medium- to long-term planning for forest protection and development;

- 100% of natural forest production and business units establish, implement, and monitor and evaluate forest management plans;

- Contracted management of protective forests and special-use forests to households, individuals, and village community residents managed by Forest Management Boards: 1.5 million hectares;

- Encirclement and promotion of natural regeneration of forests: 800,000 hectares, including: encirclement and continuation: 400,000 hectares; new encirclement: 400,000 hectares;

- Planting special-use and protective forests: 250,000 hectares; average annual planting: 50,000 hectares;

- Planting productive forests: 750,000 hectares, average annual planting: 150,000 hectares.

Total investment capital: 15 trillion VND, including:

+ State budget: 5 trillion VND, average annual amount: 1 trillion VND;

+ Borrowed capital and other sources: 10 trillion VND, average annual amount: 2 trillion VND.

II. AMEND ARTICLE 5 AS FOLLOWS

Article 5. Land policy:

1. In 2007, People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities complete the review and re-planning of three types of forests according to Directive No. 38/2005/CT-TTg, stabilizing the national forest area on maps and on-site.

For areas of special-use forests and protective forests that were previously invested in under Program 327 and Project 661, after review and re-planning, if they do not meet the criteria for special-use forests and protective forests, they will be converted to productive forests and transferred or leased to organizations, households, and village communities for management, protection, and development of forestry production.

2. After reviewing and re-planning the three types of forests, provinces will proceed with marking boundaries of different types of forests on-site; reviewing and adjusting projects for planting five million hectares of new forests; restructuring and modernizing state-owned forest farms; reviewing and promoting the transfer and leasing of forests and forestry land to organizations, households, individuals, and village communities for long-term stable use for forestry purposes; encouraging domestic and foreign economic sectors to participate in protecting and developing forests.

3. The limits and terms for transferring, leasing land and forests, reclaiming land and forests shall be implemented in accordance with the Land Law 2003, the Law on Protection and Development of Forests 2004, Government Decree No. 23/2006/NĐ-CP guiding the implementation of the Law on Protection and Development of Forests, and related legal documents.

III. AMEND ARTICLE 6 AS FOLLOWS

Article 6. Investment and credit policies:

1. State budget investment capital.

- Annually allocate 5% of project funds for forest management and protection work (publicity and education, training organization, responsibility allowances for commune-level forestry staff, organizing forest protection forces, fire prevention and control, pest control, land allocation, forest allocation...); specific expenditure levels are determined by provincial People's Committees based on actual conditions.

- Continue implementing contracted forest protection for special-use forests and protective forests managed by Forest Management Boards in areas at high risk of threat but without potential benefits from the forests. Central support for local budgets for contracted protective forest and special-use forest protection averages 100,000 VND/hectare/year. Specific contract levels and durations are decided by provincial People's Committees based on actual conditions (except for regions with different regulations by the Prime Minister). The 100,000 VND/hectare/year support applies to both natural forest enclosure and promotion of natural regeneration;

- Funds from the Five Million Hectares of New Forests Project are allocated for reviewing the planning of three types of forests and setting boundary markers;

- For protective forests and special-use forests: investments in planting forests, encircling and promoting natural regeneration with supplementary planting and enriching natural forests are based on technical and economic standards set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; specific investment amounts for each project and region are carried out according to approved budgets. The investment cost for planting forests is averaged at 6 million VND/hectare for the period 2007-2010.

- For productive forest planting, support is provided according to the government's productive forest development policy.

- For households of ethnic minorities under Decision No. 134/2004/QĐ-TTg dated July 20, 2004 of the Prime Minister, in addition to enjoying the above provisions depending on whether it is a protective forest or a productive forest, they also enjoy benefits according to Decision No. 304/2005/QĐ-TTg dated November 23, 2005 of the Prime Minister when participating in protecting and developing forests on allocated forest land;

- Implement food supply for local ethnic minority people in mountainous areas planting forests instead of shifting cultivation fields:

+ For non-permanent shifting cultivation fields not terraced and with slopes over 25 degrees within planned protective forest land (approximately 500,000 hectares), if planted with rice and crops causing soil erosion and degradation, protective forests will be replanted;

+ For shifting cultivation fields with slopes below 25 degrees within planned productive forest land (approximately 260,000 hectares); productive forests consisting of timber trees or specialty trees suitable for local natural conditions and market demand will be planted.

During the time when people are engaged in forestry activities and unable to change their farming methods, the state provides an average of 10 kg of rice per person per month for subsistence, while funding is provided according to planting protective or productive forests for people to replant forests on shifting cultivation land. Encourage planting multi-purpose trees and non-timber forest products in protective forests. Specific levels are delegated to provincial People's Committees to decide. People planting protective forests may benefit from all forest products and timber products under current regulations, if applicable.

- Construct some essential infrastructure facilities serving forestry activities in forest planting projects including:

+ Support for building and upgrading seedling nurseries, seedling forests, converted seedling forests, and seedling growing nurseries.

+ Construction and upgrading of forest pest control facilities and forest fire prevention and extinguishing works (firebreaks, forest watchtowers, irrigation ditches, water reservoirs, dams for firefighting during dry seasons...);

+ Forest protection stations; construction and upgrading of forestry roads (main roads within concentrated wood raw material planting areas and protective forests);

The investment capital for infrastructure construction (for annual macro planning) averages at 10% of the total state budget investment capital for the project. Specific investment levels for each project are approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development or the People's Committees of provinces.

- Allocate 2% of the total annual state budget investment capital for the Project to organize afforestation promotion activities: building models, transferring advanced techniques, providing information, training guidance for forest workers in the project area, directly serving the project;

- The management fee for the new 5 million hectare forest planting project is calculated as 10% of the total state budget investment capital for the project: allocated to central ministries and sectors at 0.7%, provincial level at 1.3%, and project implementing bodies at 8.0%;

- Project Management Boards, including the project director, accountant, and planning, technical, and on-site supervision staff, are guaranteed salaries from the project costs if not covered by other administrative and public service funds;

2. Regarding investment credit:

- Forestry farms, enterprises, investors, organizations, and households participating in planting forests in approved raw material planting projects may borrow from the Vietnam Development Bank, ODA funds from countries, international organizations, and other loan sources at preferential interest rates, with repayment terms based on the crop cycle, whereupon the forest owner must repay the principal and interest according to the credit agreement, without compounded interest and with the responsibility to replant the forest;

- Encourage all economic sectors; domestic and foreign enterprises to invest in forest planting. Investors are granted land use rights, lease land, and guaranteed stable long-term business conditions on the assigned land according to current regulations;

- Establish a Central and local Forest Protection and Development Fund from various sources (state budget, ODA funds, forest resource taxes, water resources, electricity, environmental services, carbon credits, eco-tourism, and other contributions) to support investment in forest protection and development work;

IV. SUPPLEMENT ARTICLE 13A AS FOLLOWS

Article 13a on the mechanism for assigning plans

The Ministry of Planning and Investment, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, assigns three-year plans (including annual sub-plans) to provinces; based on this, provinces assign plans to grassroots project implementers to proactively prepare land, seedlings, and plant forests to ensure completion of the project;

Article 2. In addition to amending the items in Articles 3, 5, 6, and supplementing Article 13a as mentioned above, other provisions in Decision No. 661/QĐ-TTg dated July 29, 1998 of the Government Chairman remain effective;

Article 3. After completing the targets and tasks for the 2006-2010 phase which have been adjusted, starting from 2011, the Government will entrust the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance, to continue allocating funds and managing the forest protection and development program under the national target program mechanism to achieve the goal of planting 5 million hectares of new forests;

Article 4. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government agencies, and Chairpersons of Provincial People's Committees and Municipal People's Committees directly under the Central Government shall be responsible for enforcing this Decision.

Article 5. This Decision takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette./.