Decision No. 18/2007/QD-TTg Approving the Forest Development Strategy of Vietnam for the period 2006-2020

Pursuant to …;

Approves the Strategy for the Development of Forestry in Vietnam for the period 2006-2020

__________________________

PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Forest Protection and Development Law dated December 3, 2004;

Considering the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development at the report number 3309/TTr-BNN-LN dated December 12, 2006.

DECISION:

Article 1. Approves the Strategy for the Development of Forestry in Vietnam for the period 2006-2020, including the following main contents:

1. Current status of the forestry sector.

As of December 31, 2005, the total forest area nationwide was 12.61 million hectares, of which approximately 10.28 million hectares were natural forests and 2.33 million hectares were planted forests; the forest coverage rate was 37%. The total wood stock was 813.3 million cubic meters (natural forests accounted for 94%) and about 8.5 billion bamboo and rattan plants. Although the forest area has increased, the quality of both natural and planted forests remains low, failing to meet production and protective requirements. The current unused land area nationwide is 6.76 million hectares, of which barren hills and mountains account for 6.16 million hectares, representing 18.59% of the country's natural area, mainly degraded land; this is a potential resource but also a challenge for forestry development.³ 2. Forestry production activities during the period 1996-2005.

- Main achievements of the forestry sector.

Forest protection and development work across the country have made significant progress, preventing the decline in both forest area and quality. The forest area increased from 9.30 million hectares in 1995 to 11.31 million hectares in 2000 and 12.61 million hectares in 2005 (averaging an increase of 0.3 million hectares per year). Currently, approximately 200,000 hectares of new forest are planted each year. The volume of harvested plantation timber reached around 2 million cubic meters per year to provide raw materials for wood product processing for export and domestic consumption.

The wood processing industry and forest product manufacturing have seen strong development, gradually meeting domestic demand, contributing increasingly to export turnover and creating opportunities for the development of raw material plantations. The value of wood product exports rose from 61 million USD in 1996 to 1,035 million USD in 2004 and 1,570 million USD in 2005.³The production activities of the forestry sector are undergoing a significant transformation from state-owned forestry under a centralized planning mechanism to socialized forestry with a multi-component economic structure and operations based on a market economy mechanism, thereby actively participating in job creation, improving living standards for nearly 25% of the population living in mountainous forest areas, contributing to political and social security, and providing momentum for overall national development in recent years.

- Existing issues and weaknesses.

Although the forest area has increased, the quality and biodiversity of natural forests continue to decline, and in some places, forest areas are still being destroyed. The implementation progress of planting production forests under Program Project 661 has not met the target.

The growth of the forestry sector is low, unsustainable, with low productivity and profitability, weak competitiveness, and insufficient comprehensive exploitation of forest resources, especially non-timber forest products and ecological environmental services.

3. Views, objectives, and general tasks of the Strategy for the Development of Forestry for the period 2006-2020.

Forestry is a unique technical economic sector comprising all activities related to the production and provision of goods and services from forests such as protection, planting, harvesting, transportation, production, processing of forest products, and related environmental services; simultaneously, the forestry sector plays a very important role in environmental protection, biodiversity conservation, poverty reduction, particularly for mountain residents, contributing to social stability and national defense.

a) Development perspective

Develop forestry comprehensively from management, protection, development, and reasonable utilization of resources, from planting, improving, and enriching forests to harvesting, processing forest products, environmental services, eco-tourism...

- Develop forestry to make significant contributions to economic growth, poverty reduction, and environmental protection.

- - Sustainable management, use, and development of forests are the foundation for forestry development.

- Forestry development must be based on accelerating and deepening the policy of socializing the forestry profession, attracting investment resources for forest protection and development.

b) Target by 2020

Establish, manage, protect, develop, and sustainably utilize 16.24 million hectares of land designated for forestry; increase the forested land ratio to 42-43% by 2010 and 47% by 2020; ensure broad participation of various economic components and social organizations in forestry development to contribute increasingly to economic and social development, environmental protection, biodiversity conservation, and the provision of environmental services, contributing to poverty reduction, improving rural mountain residents' living standards, and maintaining national defense security.

c) Economic tasks

- Annual growth rate of the forestry sector's production value (including wood processing industry and environmental services) from 3.5% to 4%, striving to reach 2-3% of the national GDP by 2020.

- Establish, manage, protect, develop, and sustainably utilize three types of forests: 8.4 million hectares of production forests, including 4.15 million hectares of planted forests (industrial raw material forests, non-timber forest products, etc.), 3.63 million hectares of production natural forests, and 0.62 million hectares of restored natural forests for combined agriculture and forestry (striving to achieve at least 30% certified forest area); 5.68 million hectares of protective forests and 2.16 million hectares of special-use forests.

- Plant new forests of 1.0 million hectares by 2010 and 1.5 million hectares for the subsequent phase. Replant forests after harvesting 0.3 million hectares annually. Plant scattered trees: 200 million trees annually.

- Domestic wood production 20-24 million cubic meters per year (including 10 million cubic meters of large timber), meeting the basic needs of raw materials for wood processing industries, paper pulp, and exports. Meet the demand for firewood mainly used in rural areas and maintain it at 25-26 million cubic meters.

- Wood product exports exceed 7.8 billion USD (including 7 billion USD in wood products and 0.8 billion USD in non-wood forest products).

- Increase revenue from forest environmental values through Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), water source protection, eco-tourism... (reaching 2 billion USD).³||| Annually (including 10 million cubic meters of large timber), meeting the basic raw material needs for wood processing industries, pulp, and exports. Meeting the firewood demand mainly for rural areas and maintaining at 25-26 million cubic meters.³ ||| - Wood product exports reach over 7.8 billion USD (including 7 billion USD in wooden products and 0.8 billion USD in non-wood forest products).³2. In the event that the Approval Letter is revoked, the project developers shall only be considered for issuance of a new Approval Letter after one (01) year from the date of revocation, if they have fully fulfilled all obligations related to the reasons for the previous revocation of the Approval Letter.

||| - Increase revenue from forest environmental values through Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), water source protection, eco-tourism... (reaching 2 billion USD).

||| - By 2020, non-wood forest products become one of the main production sectors, accounting for more than 20% of total forestry production value, with the export value of non-wood forest products increasing by an average of 15-20%; attracting about 1.5 million workers and income from non-wood forest products accounting for 15-20% in rural household economies.

d) The task of participating in resolving social issues

- Creating additional jobs for workers (including the wood processing sector, non-timber forest products, and traditional craft villages).

- Increasing income, contributing to eliminating poverty, and reducing the number of poor households in key forestry areas.

- Completing the transfer and lease of forests and forestry land to organizations, businesses, households, individuals, and rural communities before 2010.

- Raising the percentage of trained forestry workers to 50%, with a focus on ethnic minority households, poor households, and women in remote areas.

đ) The task of ensuring environmental stability

- Protecting forests, conserving nature, and biodiversity to effectively contribute to watershed protection, coastal and urban protection, disaster mitigation, erosion control, water conservation, living environment protection, and generating revenue from environmental services (environmental fees, reducing CO2 emissions...)._2, ecological tourism...).

- Increasing forest coverage to 42-43% by 2010 and to 47% by 2020.

- By 2010, planting 0.25 million hectares of protective and special-use forests.

- Minimizing violations against forest resources, limiting shifting cultivation.

4. Development Orientation.

a) Planning orientation for the structure of three types of forests and forestry land

- For protective forests: reviewing and rearranging the national protective forest system covering approximately 5.68 million hectares, including 5.28 million hectares of upstream protective forests; 0.18 million hectares of coastal protective forests; 0.15 million hectares of windbreaks and sand barriers; and 70,000 hectares of protective forests for major cities, industrial zones, and border areas. Depending on the level of vulnerability, it is necessary to combine protective functions with agricultural and fishery production, landscape business, eco-tourism, and other benefits of protective forests.

- For special-use forests: reviewing and consolidating the existing national special-use forest system with a total area not exceeding 2.16 million hectares, aiming to improve forest quality and biodiversity value.

- For productive forests: the planned total area of productive forests is 8.4 million hectares, including 3.63 million hectares of natural forests and 4.15 million hectares of planted forests; focusing on building concentrated industrial raw material forest areas; managing and using sustainably according to multi-purpose principles. The remaining 0.62 million hectares of land allocated for developing productive forests will be used for forest restoration and combined agricultural and forestry production.

b) Management, protection, development, and utilization orientation for forests.

- Forest management: all 16.24 million hectares of forests and forestry land will be managed uniformly based on establishing a stable national forest administrative unit, according to the system of forest compartments, plots, and blocks on maps and in reality. By 2010, in principle, all forest and forestry land areas must be transferred or leased to forest owners of all economic sectors based on approved planning and plans by competent authorities, and in accordance with state policies and mechanisms. Modernizing forest management work on maps and in reality through extensive application of information technology, remote sensing, etc., in forest management, statistics, inventory, monitoring changes in forest resources and forestry land.

- Forest protection: recognizing forest protection as protecting a continuously developing ecosystem, ensuring optimal regeneration and utilization of forests, and on the principle of development for protection. Emphasizing propaganda efforts to raise awareness among all levels, sectors, and citizens.

Local People's Committees at all levels must organize forest protection and bear responsibility if violations of the Law on Forest Protection and Development occur within their jurisdiction. Strengthening the capacity and consolidating specialized and semi-specialized forest protection forces of forest owners and village communities to have sufficient capability to respond to forest law violations and natural disasters such as forest fires and pest outbreaks. Paying attention to inspecting timber harvesting processes in forests; monitoring and controlling the circulation and consumption of timber products is only a partial solution to protect forests.

Organizing the reorganization of forest rangers towards enhancing advisory roles in forest protection and development work, enforcing forestry laws for provincial, district, and commune-level governments. Implementing preferential policies to encourage strengthening local forest ranger forces to cooperate with grassroots authorities in guiding the public to implement forest protection and development work down to each plot and compartment.

- Forest development:

+ Planning, classifying, and developing three types of forests (special-use forests, protective forests, and productive forests), combining conservation and protection with eco-tourism and other environmental services.

For special-use forests, the main direction of development is through maintaining the status quo, creating the best conditions for the conservation and development of endemic species and unique ecosystems, preserving genetic funds, biodiversity, serving current and future socio-economic development needs of the country.

For protective forests, planning and development aim to maximize protective requirements, contributing to biodiversity conservation, maintaining environmental balance (preventing erosion, desertification, toxic chemical residues), water and climate stability, preventing and mitigating natural disasters, ensuring sustainable socio-economic development and the long-term survival of the nation.

For productive forests, planning and development should be deepened, creating concentrated raw material areas, following intensive farming practices; medium and large-scale operations to ensure raw materials for processing, increase land use efficiency, prioritize productivity and quality; combining forestry, agriculture, and fisheries production.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to submit to the Government for issuance of policies encouraging various economic components to invest in forest development; priority support policies for research and development on tree seeds, wild animal seeds, forestry cultivation techniques, and livestock breeding techniques, construction of forestry infrastructure, forest fire prevention and control systems, and forest pest control systems, etc., in accordance with international commitments that Vietnam has joined.

Apply advanced scientific and technological achievements and inherit local ethnic production experiences; develop forests in two main directions: improving forest tree varieties and implementing silvicultural measures.

+ Focus on developing scattered tree planting strongly to promptly meet local and effective demands for household wood and firewood, especially in plains and coastal areas. Vigorously promote the planting and development of non-timber forest products (bamboo, rattan, medicinal herbs, etc.) to meet raw material needs for high-competition handicrafts production, serving domestic consumption and export.

- Utilize forests and develop timber processing industry

+ Exploitation and utilization of forests:

Rational exploitation and utilization of forests is a silvicultural measure to create and improve forest quality; at the same time, maximize the extraction of forest environmental services to generate revenue for forest protection and development. Sustainable use of natural forests based on forest management plans.

For production forests which are natural forests, focus on continuing enclosure, improvement, and enrichment of forests to enhance forest quality to provide large volumes of timber, other forest products, and environmental services after 2010. Only apply the main harvesting method for richly stocked forests, while for moderately and poorly stocked forests, focus on applying the enclosure and enrichment harvesting method; vigorously promote planting and development, utilization of non-timber forest products, concentrating on strong products such as bamboo and rattan, medicinal herbs, resin, food; encourage the breeding of wild animals; establish mechanisms guiding forest owners to legally exploit and utilize non-timber forest products.

Encourage the use of fuel from forest plantation by-products (pruned branches, etc.), agricultural by-products, and alternative energy sources, aiming to minimize the use of fuel from natural forest wood.

+ Develop the timber processing industry.

The timber processing and trade industry must become a spearhead of the forestry economy, developing under a market mechanism based on advanced technology, with high competitiveness to meet domestic consumption and export demands. Encourage various economic components to actively invest and promote the development of the timber processing industry.

Strengthen the development of export-oriented processed products. From now until 2015, focus on reviewing, consolidating, and upgrading medium and small-scale timber processing facilities; develop large-scale industries after 2015.

Establish and expand timber processing industrial zones in regions capable of providing sufficient and stable raw materials. Promote modernization of large-scale timber processing industries, gradually modernizing small-scale industries in rural areas and traditional craft villages. Vigorously process artificial boards, gradually reduce the processing of wood chips for export. Encourage the use of products made from artificial boards and plantation wood.

+ Directing import and export of forest products.

+ Organize the import of raw materials for forest products to meet production needs for domestic consumption and export, while strengthening the planting of raw material forests and non-timber forest products to quickly meet raw material needs for processing, reducing dependence on imported raw materials.

+ Organize research, training, design of household wooden goods models, innovation in forest product manufacturing and processing technologies, diversification, and enhancement of the quality and variety of processed product models to suit domestic and international consumer preferences; promote the issuance of forest certification and brand building for exported products.

5. Implementation Measures for the Strategy.

a) Policy and Legal Measures

- Forest and Forestry Land Management.

Establish a legal framework to set up a stable national forest boundary and mark physical boundaries. Amend and perfect policies on the allocation and leasing of forests and forestry land. Prioritize allocating and contracting protective forests to communities, economic organizations, and households for long-term management, protection, and benefit according to approved planning and plans.

Facilitate those allocated and contracted land and forests to exercise their rights to use land and own forests in production and business activities in line with the requirements of a commodity economy, making forests truly commodities and sources of capital for forestry development. Encourage land consolidation to create concentrated raw material forest planting areas through forms such as households, economic organizations, and individuals leasing or contributing shares with forest and forestry land use rights.

Continue to test and expand community forest management models; perfect management regulations and benefit mechanisms for various economic components. Test and build legal foundations for economic components to be allocated or leased special-use forests to use in eco-tourism and resort business activities.

Urgently accelerate reviews, establishment, and perfection of legal documents on forest management, protection, development, and utilization; abolish cumbersome and ineffective administrative procedures. Good customs and traditions of localities need to be considered, studied, and perfected to incorporate into the establishment of village rules for forest protection and development suitable to local conditions.

Strengthen decentralization of state management over forests to district and commune levels. Clearly define the responsibilities and authorities of forest owners, all levels of government, law enforcement agencies, and communes if forests are lost or destroyed in the locality.

Strengthening the dissemination and education on laws to enhance awareness and responsibility at all levels, sectors, each forest owner, each citizen, and the entire society in protecting and developing forests, in conjunction with enhancing state management, institutions, and laws.

- Finance and credit.

Establish a special investment mechanism for basic construction and reform the state's investment method for the forestry sector according to the approved plan for forest protection and development, gradually replacing the current practice of providing capital based on average investment support rates.

Develop insurance mechanisms and ensure that all economic components participating in forestry production and business have equal access to long-term loans suitable for the forestry business cycle from investment and credit sources.

Shift state investment from direct to indirect (infrastructure, seeds, science and technology...). Increase the state budget for managing, protecting, and developing special-use forests, protective forests, production forests, scientific research, extension services, human resource training... and appropriately invest in building forestry infrastructure.

Develop policies to encourage various economic components to invest in forest protection, development, utilization, and timber processing, linking and sharing benefits with communities. Create a transparent and stable investment environment; ensure clear industrial property rights, land use rights, forest use rights, or long-term forest ownership rights; support the establishment of forestry insurance funds, reduce certain types of taxes for forest owners and investors in forest business operations, simplify administrative procedures for investors in the forestry sector.

Publicize forestry development plans, experiment and expand forest lease bidding for production, serving eco-tourism or leisure activities according to the functions of the forest. The State will strengthen planning and support the establishment of some concentrated industrial raw material plantation projects to attract domestic and foreign investment.

Develop and gradually implement a mechanism for charging environmental service fees from organizations and individuals benefiting from forests to create additional funding sources for forestry. Implement upstream water conservation fees for hydropower projects, clean water projects, and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) forest planting projects.

The State ensures annual operating and public service funding for special-use forest management boards and protective forest management boards, and supports some operational costs of village and commune forest protection teams. For production forests, the State supports the planting of rare and valuable tree species with long business cycles and helps build forestry infrastructure, mainly forest roads, fire prevention facilities, etc., prioritizing concentrated industrial raw material plantation areas.

Develop a mechanism for allocating protective forests to increase the ability to directly benefit from forests, including revenue from environmental services, to gradually replace the current practice of allocating funds through state budgets.

For households participating in forest protection and development, especially poor households, ethnic minorities, and those living in mountainous, remote, and far-flung areas, the State has mechanisms such as preferential loans, food distribution, seedling provision, fertilizer provision, etc., to support small-scale production forest planting and integrated agriculture-forestry production during periods without income from forests, while minimizing shifting cultivation.

Implement forest valuation as a basis for forest transactions. Establish central and local forest protection and development funds from different sources and develop reasonable management and usage mechanisms to accelerate the socialization of the forestry profession and industry.

b) Reforming the production and business system and encouraging various economic components to participate in forestry development.

- Establish policy mechanisms to facilitate the transformation of state-owned forestry enterprises into comprehensive production and trading companies linked with wood processing and trade industries, serving as the core for industry development. Gradually promote the shareholding reform of state-owned forestry enterprises; develop joint ventures and collaborations among different economic forms in forestry production, business, and timber processing.

Focus on developing household, farm, community, and cooperative forestry production and business models. The State provides support mechanisms for poor households and ethnic minority households participating in concentrated industrial raw material planting and small-scale timber processing activities within enterprises and farms to create more jobs and increase income.

c) Solutions related to planning, implementation, and supervision.

- Review the planning of three types of forests, determine a stable national forest area, and mark boundary stakes on-site.

- Conduct statistics, inventory, and monitoring of forest resources, linked with land statistics and inventory. Build and update forest resource management databases, applying advanced technologies to improve the quality of forest planning surveys.

- Improve the quality of planning and implementing forest protection and development plans at all levels. When planning for special-use forest protection and development, simultaneously establish plans for buffer zone and biodiversity corridor protection and development. Forestry projects must be integrated with poverty reduction, agricultural, and rural development projects in remote areas. Special-use forest management boards, protective forest management boards, and forestry companies should focus their business activities on providing services or participating in local socio-economic development project management.

- Plan and develop wood processing and trade industries linked with reviewing and establishing concentrated industrial raw material plantation areas. There should be plans to replace low-yield forest plantations. Pay attention to planning the development of small-scale forestry product manufacturing villages and forestry farms.

- Reform methods and improve the quality of planning towards strengthening inter-sectoral connections, coordinating the use of cross-sectoral information, and involving relevant parties.

- Strengthen monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of forest protection and development plans. Promptly establish a monitoring and evaluation system and enhance capacity for planning agencies, financial management agencies, and sector supervision agencies at all levels.

- Consolidate the information and supervision system of the forestry industry to serve the monitoring and assessment of the implementation of the Forestry Development Strategy, meeting the management requirements of the industry and international integration.

d) Solutions regarding organizational management of the industry

- Urgently build a roadmap for reforming the organizational structure of the forestry industry towards achieving a unified and strong state management system from central to grassroots levels; linked with administrative reform and international integration. Prioritize the establishment of state management organizations and strengthening forestry management staff at district and commune levels with forests within the next five years. In communes with extensive forests, assign dedicated forestry staff.

- Encourage and support the establishment of associations of forestry producers, processors, and importers/exporters.

- Establish long-term mechanisms for cooperation between research, education, training, and extension organizations and forest owners, enterprises, and communities to link research, training, and extension with production and business activities in the forestry sector.

đ) Solutions regarding science and technology

- Scientific and technological research activities in forestry must meet production and market demands, while involving forest owners and enterprises.

- Review, develop, and perfect technical procedures and norms.

- Develop and implement the Forestry Research Strategy from 2006 to 2020, focusing on breakthrough research in areas such as biotechnology, non-timber forest product refining, high-yield tree planting, and rehabilitation of depleted natural forests.

- Implement the national seed strategy for the 2006-2020 period, initially addressing the need for high-quality seeds for afforestation projects like Project 661 and other projects.

- Implement the national program on conservation and development of non-timber forest products for the 2006-2020 period.

- Establish a national standard system for sustainable forest management, product supply chains, and national standards for timber and non-timber forest products.

- Enhance equipment and technical infrastructure for research organizations. Increase the application of modern, environmentally friendly technologies in forestry production and processing; view foreign investment as a channel for new technology transfer.

- Establish a forestry extension system from central to provincial and district levels with extensive forests (provinces with over 50,000 hectares of forests and forestry land), under the national agricultural extension system at various levels. Communes with extensive forests should have dedicated or part-time forestry extension staff. In areas where the national agricultural extension system has difficulty reaching, voluntary forestry extension organizations should be quickly established, and the State should provide necessary support to these organizations.

- Gradually reform activities and enhance the capacity of forestry institutes and schools to become strong advisory centers for the forestry sector. Encourage the establishment of technology transfer and service centers under research, training, and extension institutions. Perfect mechanisms to increase autonomy and responsibility for the quality and quantity of products for research, training, and extension organizations.

e) Solutions for human resource training

- Develop and implement a strategy for training and enhancing the capacity of forestry officials at all levels, particularly at the commune level. Emphasize training for ethnic minority children and continuous training for forestry officials in remote areas. Focus on training and extension activities for the poor.

- Enhance the capacity of managers, enterprises, communities, and households engaged in forestry and wood processing through short-term training and extension programs so that they can gradually build, implement, and monitor their own production plans.

- Enhance the capacity and technical infrastructure of forestry training units. Develop a comprehensive reform plan for the forestry education and training system in terms of structure, curriculum, content, teaching methods, and management mechanisms to improve training quality. Strive to have 1-2 forestry institutes reach international standards by 2020.

- Develop short-term training programs by topic, prioritizing training for farmers, forestry workers, and artisans in craft villages.

- Encourage educational and extension organizations, non-governmental organizations, and international projects to participate in supporting training and extension activities.

- Plan and train specialized scientists and lecturers in forestry fields, paying attention to economic aspects and creating favorable conditions for young scientists to participate in research and teaching.

- Develop distance learning formats to meet increasing demands for study and research. Promptly incorporate forest environmental education into the curricula of schools nationwide.

g) International Cooperation Solutions

- Strengthen international economic integration in the forestry sector through active participation and close cooperation with international, regional, and bilateral forestry organizations.

- Strengthen advocacy, attraction, and strategic and targeted use of ODA funds. Manage and use effectively the funds of the Forest Trust Fund (TFF) and the Vietnam Conservation Fund (VCF). Gradually create a favorable legal framework and improve the investment environment to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), especially in industrial raw material plantation, wood processing, and technology transfer.

- Consolidate and strengthen the activities of forestry support partners (FSSP) and the Steering Committee to coordinate international funding sources to support the implementation of programs under the Forestry Development Strategy.

- Proactively and positively cooperate with countries, advanced institutes and schools in the region and worldwide to accelerate access to advanced forestry scientific and technological standards, develop human resources, and upgrade equipment for the forestry sector.

- Continue to implement multilateral agreements on the environment and international commitments related to forestry that Vietnam has joined to enhance Vietnam's position globally and regionally and to seek funding sources.

6. Main programs and tasks.

a) Sustainable Forest Management Program

- Establish a stable national forest management unit for three types of forests.

- Enhance the capacity of forest owners who were granted or leased forest land and forestry land before 2010.

- Implement sustainable forest management. Forest producers must develop and implement forest harvesting plans, with at least 30% of production forest area obtaining forest certification.

- Plant new forests covering 1 million hectares by 2010 and 1.5 million hectares for the subsequent period, increase productivity of planted forests; enrich 0.5 million hectares of depleted forests; plant 200 million scattered trees annually.

- Ensure stable domestic wood production, reaching 9.7 million cubic meters of wood per year by 2010.³ - Reach 20 to 24 million cubic meters of large timber by 2020.³||| Annually (including 10 million cubic meters of large timber), meeting the basic raw material needs for wood processing industries, pulp, and exports. Meeting the firewood demand mainly for rural areas and maintaining at 25-26 million cubic meters.³ - Supply small wood for paper pulp production; reach 3.4 million cubic meters by 2010.

- Reach 8.3 million cubic meters by 2020.³- Invest in modern equipment for forest management and periodic forest inventory; consolidate and update forest resource databases.³.

b) Biodiversity Conservation and Environmental Service Development Program

- Effectively protect 16.24 million hectares of forest and forestry land for three types of forests (special-use forests, protective forests, production forests).

- 100% of regulations on forest protection shall be disseminated to forest owners and local residents.

- Reduce violations of forest protection laws by 80%.

- All forest owners, villages, and communes with forests shall have forest protection forces. 100% of protected forests and special-use forests shall have managers, planning, and protection and development plans. 100% of forest protection and development staff, especially forest rangers in communes and forest protection forces of forest owners and villages, shall be trained to improve their capabilities.

- Increase investment in infrastructure, equipment, and operational costs for forest protection, prevention, firefighting, and pest control.

- Develop and strengthen the system of protective forests with a total area of approximately 5.68 million hectares and special-use forests with a total area of approximately 2.16 million hectares.

- Continue to test and expand community forest management models and other forms.

- Study the valuation of environmental services provided by forests, establish mechanisms for payment for such services in the forestry sector. Starting from 2007, build and implement the Forest Protection and Development Fund.

c) Program for Orienting Forest Area Planning and Implementation Progress of the Strategy 2006-2010 and Priority Projects 2007-2010

- Implement the orientation for forest area planning and forestry land up to 2010-2020 (as per Table 2 attached to the Forestry Development Strategy of Vietnam for the 2006-2020 period).

- Implement the planned progress for the strategy implementation during 2006-2010 (as per Table 3 attached to the Forestry Development Strategy of Vietnam for the 2006-2020 period).

- Implement the list of priority projects for 2007-2010 (as per Table 4 attached to the Forestry Development Strategy of Vietnam for the 2006-2020 period).

d) Wood Processing and Timber Trade Program

- Reorganize the wood processing industry and non-timber forest product industry.

- Strengthen industrial wood processing capacity to meet domestic needs and export requirements, specifically:

+ Total sawnwood capacity: 6 million cubic meters.

+ Particleboard: 320,000 cubic meters of products per year.³2. In the event that the Approval Letter is revoked, the project developers shall only be considered for issuance of a new Approval Letter after one (01) year from the date of revocation, if they have fully fulfilled all obligations related to the reasons for the previous revocation of the Approval Letter.

+ Medium-density fiberboard (MDF): 220,000 cubic meters of products per year.³ + Export value of wood products: 7 billion USD (3.5 million cubic meters of products).

+ Export value of non-timber forest products: 0.8 billion USD.³ + Export value of wood products: 7 billion USD (3.5 million cubic meters of products).

- By 2020, non-timber forest products will become one of the main production sectors, accounting for over 20% of the total value of forestry production, with the export value of non-timber forest products increasing by an average of 15-20%, attracting about 1.5 million workers, and income from non-timber forest products accounting for 15-20% of rural household economies.³ đ) Research, Education, Training, and Extension Program

- Focus research on key areas such as biotechnology, non-timber forest product refining technology, high-yield tree planting, agroforestry integration, and rehabilitation of degraded natural forests. Improve technology and equipment for the wood processing industry to enhance competitiveness and meet international economic integration requirements. Conduct scientific and practical research to develop breakthrough policies in the forestry sector.

||| d) Research, education, training, and extension program

||| - Focus on researching key areas such as biotechnology, non-wood forest product refining technology, high-yield plantation forestry, integrated agriculture-forestry, and natural forest rehabilitation. Improve technology and equipment for the wood processing industry to enhance competitiveness, meeting international economic integration requirements. Study scientific and practical bases to develop breakthrough policies in the forestry sector.

||| 4. The General Statistics Office shall cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant parties to determine the content and indicators for monitoring and evaluating the forestry sector; direct and guide localities in implementing statistics, forest inventory, and research on the contributions of the Forestry Sector to the economy, environment... according to criteria suitable for the requirements of reform and trends towards international economic integration in the forestry sector to submit to the Government for amendments and supplements to the forestry sub-sector in Decree No. 75/CP dated October 27, 1973.

- Train an average of 5,000 students and pupils annually on a regular basis, with a focus on enhancing training for key officials. Strengthen vocational training for farmers engaged in forestry and in areas with traditional craft villages processing forest products. Starting from 2008, incorporate education on forest protection and environmental protection into the curriculum of general secondary schools. Ensure that 80% of local forest managers are trained in forest surveys and in developing and implementing management, protection, and development plans for forests, including criteria for forests. Enhance the capacity of teaching staff and provide basic equipment for forestry institutes and schools. Complete and update training programs and textbooks to meet requirements for reform and international economic integration. Increase collaboration between the forestry training system and the extension system. By 2020, have one to two forestry training institutions meeting international standards.

- Attract participation from 50% of economic sectors and organizations in forestry extension activities; improve the professional level of forest management and protection knowledge for 80% of farmer households. Allocate at least one full-time or part-time forestry extension officer for each commune with significant forest areas; develop and enhance the capacity of voluntary forestry extension systems. Improve the content and methods of forestry extension to suit the capabilities of farmers. Establish connections between the forestry extension and training systems and forest owners and wood processing enterprises.

   e)  Program to renew institutional mechanisms, policies, planning, and monitoring in the sector

- Develop and update the legal and policy framework towards decentralization and sustainable forestry development oriented towards commercial production and socialization of the forestry industry. Create mechanisms and policies to motivate economic sectors to participate in forest protection and development, encouraging domestic and foreign economic sectors, rural communities, and household participation in forestry economic development.

- Reorganize and enhance the effectiveness of state management systems for forestry towards unified functions of management, protection, utilization, and development of forests; clarify the functions and responsibilities of forestry organizations at all levels and diversify types of forestry services.

- Establish mechanisms and policies for state-owned forestry farms that have successfully reorganized into companies and operate effectively in production and business; gradually implement shareholding for forestry trading companies, creating favorable conditions for production and business under market mechanisms. Develop and expand community-based forest protection management models. Establish national forestry extension systems at all levels and support mechanisms for voluntary forestry extension organizations in communes and villages with significant forest areas.

- Establish specialized units responsible for monitoring and evaluation, linked to the improvement of forestry planning systems at all levels.

7. Estimate capital needs and sources for the period 2006 - 2010

                                                                                (unit: billion VND)                                                                                                  

Article 2. Implementation

Coordinate with relevant ministries, sectors, and localities to evaluate the implementation of the strategy annually, report to the Prime Minister. The content on forest protection and development must be considered an important component in the annual report of the Government to the National Assembly.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance will coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to balance and calculate to ensure funding sources for the effective implementation of the strategy's contents.

- 3. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to guide localities in reviewing land use plans and allocating or leasing forestry land in accordance with the objectives and tasks of the forestry strategy; develop proposals linking forest inventories with nationwide land inventories conducted every five years.

- 4. The General Statistics Office will cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and related parties to determine the content and indicators for monitoring and evaluating the forestry sector; direct and guide localities in conducting statistics, forest inventories, and research on the contributions of the forestry sector to the economy, environment, etc., according to criteria suitable for sectoral reforms and trends towards international economic integration, to submit to the Government for amendments and supplements to the forestry sector classification in Decision No. 75/CP dated October 27, 1973.

2. Relevant ministries, agencies equivalent to ministries, government agencies, heads of related agencies, and provincial people's committees directly under the central government shall be responsible for implementing assigned tasks in the strategy, and report annually to the Prime Minister in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

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

||| 5. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies under the Government, heads of related agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities are responsible for implementing the assigned contents and tasks in the Strategy, regularly reporting annually to the Prime Minister in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

||| This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 3. This Decision shall take effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 4. The Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Heads of government agencies, Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities, and Heads of related agencies are responsible for implementing this Decision./.