Circular No. 16/2023/TT-BNNPTNT amending and supplementing certain provisions of Circular No. 33/2018/TT-BNNPTNT dated November 16, 2018, issued by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on forest inventory, census, and monitoring.

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 33/2018/TT-BNNPTNT

dated November 16, 2018 of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

concerning forest inventory, census, and monitoring

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Pursuant to Decree No. 105/2022/NĐ-CP dated December 22, 2022 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

Pursuant to the Forestry Law dated November 15, 2017;

Pursuant to Decree No. 156/2018/NĐ-CP dated November 16, 2018 of the Government detailing implementation of certain provisions of the Forest Law; Decree No. 83/2020/NĐ-CP dated July 15, 2020 of the Government amending and supplementing certain provisions of Decree No. 156/2018/NĐ-CP;

At the proposal of the Director of the Forest Protection Department;

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development issues this Circular amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 33/2018/TT-BNNPTNT dated November 16, 2018 of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development concerning forest inventory, census, and monitoring.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 33/2018/TT-BNNPTNT dated November 16, 2018 of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development concerning forest inventory, census, and monitoring

1. Amending and supplementing some clauses of Article 3 as follows:

a) Amending and supplementing Clause 7 as follows: "7. A forest census plot is a part or all of a forest status plot with an area of approximately 10 hectares under one management authority."

b) Amending and supplementing Clause 14 as follows: "14. Mixed forest of timber trees and bamboo is a forest where the canopy cover of timber tree species and bamboo species each ranges from 25% to 75% of the total forest canopy cover."

c) Amending and supplementing Clause 19 as follows: "19. Bamboo forest is a forest where the canopy cover of bamboo species constitutes 75% or more of the total forest canopy cover."

d) Supplementing Clause 20 after Clause 19 as follows: "20. Forest managers include forest owners as stipulated in Article 8 of the Forest Law and People's Committees at the commune level managing areas of forests not yet transferred or leased as stipulated in point c, Clause 3, Article 102 of the Forest Law."

2. Amending and supplementing Clause 3 of Article 6 as follows:
"3. Mixed forest of timber trees and bamboo."

"7. Directing, inspecting, and guiding the police at the commune level on registration and management of residence; guiding registration to ensure community reintegration for individuals who have completed serving prison sentences and reside in the locality; managing, operating, and utilizing the Database on Residence."
"1. Tasks of specialized forest inventory, including: forest area inventory; forest stock inventory; forest structure inventory; forest growth inventory; forest regeneration inventory; non-timber forest product inventory; site inventory; scattered tree inventory; forest ecosystem diversity inventory; forest plant diversity inventory; forest vertebrate animal diversity inventory; forest insect and pest inventory; carbon stock inventory in forests."

4. Amending and supplementing Point c, Clause 1, Article 11 as follows:
"c) Inventory of timber stock and bamboo stock in mixed forest of timber trees and bamboo."

5. Amending and supplementing Point b, Clause 2, Article 12 as follows:
"b) Measuring and collecting indicators, including: name of forest tree, diameter at breast height, top height, height below branches, crown diameter, canopy cover; drawing longitudinal and transverse cross-sections of the timber tree layer at a scale of 1/100;"

6. Amending and supplementing Point a and supplementing Point d after Point d, Clause 2, Article 25 as follows:
"a) The Forest Protection Department shall submit to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development for issuance of a directive on forest census in accordance with the law;"
"d) The agency deciding on the forest census project shall be responsible for approving and organizing implementation in accordance with the law."

7. Amending and supplementing Article 26 as follows:
"Article 26. Forest Census Procedure
1. Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development shall guide organizations in implementing forest census within their province.
2. Forestry specialized agencies shall perform technical contents, including:
a) Provincial Forest Protection Service or Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in places without a Provincial Forest Protection Service shall overlay current forest status maps, land allocation maps, and forest allocation maps onto satellite images to create maps for forest census purposes; specifically determine the location and boundaries of forest managers on census maps; hand over the results of forest investigation to the County Forest Protection Service within seven days from the completion of the forest investigation.
b) County Forest Protection Service or Provincial Forest Protection Service in places without a County Forest Protection Service shall hand over the results as specified in Point a of this Clause to forest managers within seven days from receiving the results of the forest investigation.
3. Forest managers shall inspect the current state of the forest at the time of census and fill out Information Forms 01 and 02 attached as Appendix III to this Circular.
4. County Forest Protection Service or Provincial Forest Protection Service in places without a County Forest Protection Service shall cooperate with forest managers and relevant agencies to perform tasks:
a) Inspect the field to adjust the position, boundary, and other information of the census plot when necessary;
b) Adjust attribute and boundary information of the census plot on digital maps when there are changes;
c) Edit and complete village-level and county-level census maps; establish forest management files in accordance with Article 31 of this Circular.
5. Commune People's Committee shall certify village-level census maps and forest management files and send them to the County Forest Protection Service or Provincial Forest Protection Service in places without a County Forest Protection Service. District People's Committee shall certify district-level census maps and forest management files and send them to the Provincial Forest Protection Service or Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in places without a Provincial Forest Protection Service.
6. Provincial Forest Protection Service or Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in places without a Provincial Forest Protection Service shall cooperate with relevant agencies to perform tasks:
a) Edit and complete provincial-level census maps;
b) Develop summary tables of census results by administrative levels according to Forms 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 16, and 17 attached as Appendix III to this Circular;
c) Establish provincial-level forest management files in accordance with Clause 2, Article 31 of this Circular;
d) Summarize and advise the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to submit to the Provincial People's Committee for approval and publication of provincial-level census results to the Forest Protection Department.
7. The Forest Protection Department shall cooperate with relevant agencies to perform tasks:
a) Edit and complete national-level census maps;
b) Develop summary tables of national-level census results according to Forms 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 16, and 17 attached as Appendix III to this Circular;
c) Summarize, submit to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for approval and publication of the national forest inventory results."

8. Amend and supplement Clause 1 of Article 30 as follows:
"1. The map of the forest inventory results shall use the National Reference System and National Coordinate System VN-2000 at the following scales:
a) For communes, districts, provinces, and Forest Owners Group II: Scale 1:5,000 for natural area sizes less than 3,000 hectares; scale 1:10,000 for natural area sizes from 3,000 hectares to 12,000 hectares; scale 1:25,000 for natural area sizes larger than 12,000 hectares up to 100,000 hectares; scale 1:50,000 for natural area sizes larger than 100,000 hectares up to 350,000 hectares; scale 1:100,000 for natural area sizes larger than 350,000 hectares.
b) Nationwide: Scale 1:1,000,000."

9. Amend and supplement some contents of Article 31 as follows:

a) Amend the name of Article 31 as follows: "Article 31. Forest Management Records".

b) Supplementing Clause 3 following Clause 2 as follows:
"3. Management and storage of forest management records (in paper or digital form) as stipulated in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article:
a) Forest management records of Forest Owners Group I shall be managed and stored at the Forest Owner and the District Forest Protection Station or the Provincial Forest Protection Department for those localities that have not established a District Forest Protection Station; Forest management records of Forest Owners Group II shall be managed and stored at the Forest Owner and the Provincial Forest Protection Department or the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for those localities that have not established a Provincial Forest Protection Department;
b) Commune-level forest management records shall be managed and stored at the People's Committee of the commune and the District Forest Protection Station or the Provincial Forest Protection Department for those localities that have not established a District Forest Protection Station; District-level forest management records shall be managed and stored at the District Forest Protection Station and the Provincial Forest Protection Department or the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for those localities that have not established a Provincial Forest Protection Department; Provincial-level forest management records shall be managed and stored at the Provincial Forest Protection Department or the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for those localities that have not established a Provincial Forest Protection Department; National data shall be managed and stored at the General Forest Protection Department."

10. Amend and supplement Clause 2 of Article 32 as follows:
"2. Requirements for monitoring forest changes:
a) Use the forest inventory results integrated into the central database for monitoring forest changes located at the General Forest Protection Department (referred to as Central Data) as the original data to conduct annual forest change monitoring. The published data of the previous year serves as the basis for monitoring forest changes in the subsequent year;
b) Use the software for updating forest changes issued by the General Forest Protection Department;
c) Use necessary surveying equipment and tools, including computers, satellite positioning devices, tablets to delineate forest plots with changes."

11. Amend and supplement some clauses of Article 33 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement Point c of Clause 3 as follows: "c) The General Forest Protection Department summarizes the results of forest change monitoring; builds a national database for monitoring forest changes;"

b) Amend and supplement Point a, Point d of Clause 4 as follows:
"a) Approval result files, including: Request for approval of forest change monitoring results; summary tables according to Tables 02, 03, 04, 05, and 06 of Appendix IV promulgated together with this Circular; report on the situation of forest changes, analysis of reasons for increases and decreases in forest areas, non-forest areas during the period compared to the same period of the previous year; monitoring database, including: current status maps of forests (digital or paper) and attribute information of the maps (digital);"
"d) The General Forest Protection Department prepares the approval file in accordance with Point a of Clause 4 of this Article to submit to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for decision to publish the current status of national forests before March 31 of the following year."

12. Amend and supplement Point a, Point b of Clause 2 of Article 34 as follows:
"a) Area with regenerating trees in the enclosure and recovery phase to become forests;"

b) Area where forest trees have been planted but have not yet met the criteria for becoming forests;"

13. Amend and supplement Article 38 as follows:

“Article 38. Forest Monitoring Results

1. The forest change result map at the scale prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 30 of this Circular.

2. The summary table for monitoring forest changes and non-forested areas by administrative levels and Group II forest managers shall be implemented according to Tables 02, 03, 04, 05, and 06 attached as Appendix IV to this Circular.

3. Management and storage of forest monitoring results:

a) Data on forest monitoring results (in paper or digital form) as prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall be managed and stored annually;

b) Paper-based data on forest monitoring results at the commune level shall be managed and stored at the People's Committee of the commune and the Forest Protection Division of the district or the Forest Protection Department of the province for areas without a Forest Protection Division;

Paper-based data on forest monitoring results at the district level shall be managed and stored at the Forest Protection Division of the district and the Forest Protection Department of the province or the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for areas without a Forest Protection Department;

Paper-based data on forest monitoring results at the provincial level shall be managed and stored at the Forest Protection Department of the province or the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for areas without a Forest Protection Department;

National-level paper-based data on forest monitoring results shall be managed and stored at the Forest Protection General Department;

c) Digital data on forest monitoring results shall be integrated into central databases and managed and stored at the district, provincial, and Forest Protection General Department levels.”

Article 2. Repeal and Replace Certain Provisions of Circular No. 33/2018/TT-BNNPTNT dated November 16, 2018, of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on Forest Inventory, Census, and Monitoring

1. Replace terms and appendices:

a) Replace the term "law on maps" with "law on surveying and mapping" at Point a, Clause 3, Article 10, Point a, Clause 3, Article 16, and Point a, Clause 3, Article 18;

b) Replace the term "Forest Industry Administration" with "Forest Protection General Department" at Point a, Point c, Clause 3, Article 23, Point d, Clause 2, Article 25, and Clause 1, Article 40;

c) Replace the term "forest owner" with "forest management entity" at Articles 35 and 39;

d) Replace Appendices I, II, III, and IV issued together with Circular No. 33/2018/TT-BNNPTNT dated November 16, 2018, of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on Forest Inventory, Census, and Monitoring with corresponding Appendices I, II, III, and IV issued together with this Circular.

2. Repeal terms and phrases:

a) Repeal the word "timber" at Clause 1, Article 8.

b) Repeal the phrase "investment" at Point a, Clause 3, Article 23.

c) Repeal the phrase "staff" at Point a, Clause 1, and Point a, Clause 3, Article 33.

d) Repeal the phrase "encroachment of forest land" at Point d, Clause 2, Article 37.

3. Repeal Clause 15, Article 3.

Article 3. Implementation Provisions

- Office of the President, Office of the General Secretary,

2. Localities shall allocate sufficient resources to implement annual forest monitoring as stipulated in Article 102 of the Forestry Law.

3. Programs and projects applying contents, procedures, and methods of forest inventory, census, and monitoring approved before the effective date of this Circular shall continue to follow the provisions of Circular No. 33/2018/TT-BNNPTNT dated November 16, 2018, of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Forest Inventory, Census, and Monitoring.

4. During the implementation of this Circular, if there are any difficulties, agencies, organizations, and individuals shall promptly report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for guidance and research on amendments and supplements.