Circular No. 38/2014/TT-BNNPTNT guiding the Sustainable Forest Management Plan

CIRCULAR

HGuidelines on Sustainable Forest Management Plan

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On the basis of Law on Protection and Development of Forests 2004;

Pursuant to Decree No. 199/2013/NĐ-CP dated November 26, 2013 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

Pursuant to Decree No. 23/2006/NĐ-CP dated March 3, 2006 of the Government on the implementation of the Law on Protection and Development of Forests 2004;

Pursuant to Decision No. 186/2006/QĐ-TTg dated August 14, 2006 of the Prime Minister on the Regulation on Forest Management; Decision No. 34/2011/QĐ-TTg dated June 24, 2011 of the Prime Minister on amending and supplementing certain articles of the Regulation on Forest Management issued together with Decision No. 186/2006/QĐ-TTg dated August 14, 2006 of the Prime Minister;

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development issues Circular guiding on the Sustainable Forest Management Plan as follows:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

1. Scope of Application: This Circular stipulates the establishment, examination, approval, inspection, supervision, implementation of the Sustainable Forest Management Plan and issuance of forest certification for natural forests and planted production and protective forests.

2. Applicability: It applies to state agencies and forest owners who are organizations related to the establishment, examination, approval, inspection, supervision, implementation of the Sustainable Forest Management Plan and issuance of forest certification.

Article 2. Principles of Sustainable Forest Management

1. The forest owner is an organization (hereinafter referred to as the forest owner) shall comply fully with the provisions of the law, international agreements to which Vietnam is a member, and the provisions on the Sustainable Forest Management Plan set forth in this Circular.

2. Ensuring long-term, continuous forest business operations and achieving high economic efficiency.

3. Respecting the right to use forests and lawful land use or customary practices of local people and communities. Implement joint forest management to attract labor, create jobs, improve the livelihood of local people and communities, ensuring social welfare.

4. Maintaining and developing biodiversity values and protective functions of forests; protecting the ecological environment.

Chapter III

SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN

Article 3. Content of the Sustainable Forest Management Plan

1. The Sustainable Forest Management Plan (hereinafter referred to as the Plan) includes: Description of the Plan and map system.

2. Basic contents of the Plan Description

a) Necessity;

b) Legal, scientific, and practical basis;

c) Natural conditions, socio-economic conditions; current status of land, forest resources and results of production and business activities affecting the activities of the forest owner;

d) General objectives, specific objectives;

đ) Land use planning, forest planning;

e) Activity plan, including: forest protection; enclosure and restoration of forest, nurturing of forest, enrichment of forest, forest improvement; afforestation; harvesting of forest products; combined agricultural and forestry production; community service activities; processing of forest products; construction of infrastructure serving production and living; forest environmental services and joint forest management;

g) Implementation measures;

h) Implementation organization;

i) Capital requirements and investment sources;

k) Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Plan;

Detailed contents of the Plan Description for natural forests are guided in Appendix II, for planted forests in Appendix III attached to this Circular.

3. Map system at scale 1/25,000 or 1/50,000 based on the VN 2000 reference system, including:

a) Current status map of forests, showing the following contents: code number, boundaries of compartments and boundaries of different forest statuses;

b) Forest protection and development map, showing the following contents: forest status, boundaries of high conservation value forest areas as prescribed in Appendix IV attached to this Circular and boundaries of each area planned according to production and business purposes.

Article 4. Responsibility for Drafting the Plan

1. The Forest Owner shall be responsible for organizing the drafting of the Plan on the forested land area assigned or leased by the State.

2. The entity drafting the Plan must have legal person status and be permitted to operate in the field of forest investigation, planning, or sustainable forest management.

Article 5. Requirements for Data and Documents Used in Drafting the Plan

1. Documents: must have clear origins and remain valid for application.

2. Data: must be collected directly through investigation or inherited from existing data. Inherited data must ensure clear origins, have been published within two (02) years prior to the time of drafting the Plan, and there should be no changes in forest or land area from the publication date to the drafting date; if changes occur, they must be adjusted and supplemented.

Article 6. Investigation of Forest Resources and Land

1. Method of investigation: carried out according to the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other current regulations.

2. Scope of investigation

a) Investigation of forest resources: the entire area with forests that have not yet been investigated or have been investigated but do not meet the requirements stipulated in Clause 2, Article 5 of this Circular;

b) Investigation of land: the entire area planned for new forest planting.

3. Survey Indicators

a) For forest resources: determine the area; state, stock of various types of forests; main forest products; regeneration situation;

b) For land investigation: determine the area of major types of land; indicator vegetation cover; soil layer thickness; height, slope.

Article 7. Land Use Planning and Forest Planning

1. Land use planning: determine the area, boundaries, place names (plots, sub-plots) of agricultural land, forestry land, infrastructure construction land, and other types of land.

2. Forest planning: determine the area, place names (plots, sub-plots) of production forests, protective forests, special-use forests (if any); areas with high conservation value and areas for: forest protection, encirclement and nurturing forest recovery, forest maintenance, enriching forest, forest improvement, afforestation, timber harvesting, agroforestry production.

Article 8. Content of Activity Plans

1. Forest Protection

a) Object: the entire current forest area and newly planted forests;

b) Determination indicators: area, place names (plots, sub-plots, communes, districts) implemented annually during the first five-year period and each subsequent five-year period throughout the rotation cycle;

c) Measures applied: decided by the forest owner;

d) Needs and sources of funding: decided by the forest owner.

2. Encirclement and Nurturing Forest Recovery, Forest Maintenance, Enriching Forest, and Forest Improvement

a) Object and technical measures applied: carried out according to the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

b) Determination indicators: area; place names (plots, sub-plots, communes, districts) implemented annually during the first five-year period and each subsequent five-year period throughout the rotation cycle; volume of wood and firewood available for utilization (if any);

c) Needs and sources of funding: decided by the forest owner.

3. Afforestation

a) Afforestation land object: vacant land without forests, replanted forest land after harvesting, and poor natural forest land requiring improvement approved by competent authorities;

b) Determination indicators: area; place names (plots, sub-plots, communes, districts) for new planting and annual care during the first five-year period and each subsequent five-year period throughout the rotation cycle;

c) Planting method, density, main tree species: decided by the forest owner;

d) Needs and sources of funding: decided by the forest owner.

4. Timber Harvesting

a) Object of timber harvesting: for natural forests and protective planted forests, carried out according to the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; for production planted forests, decided by the forest owner;

b) Determination indicators: area, place names (plots, sub-plots), volume of timber harvested; number, area of timber storage sites, and transportation distance. These indicators are determined annually during the first five-year period and each subsequent five-year period throughout the rotation cycle. The volume of wood harvested is determined according to the provisions in Appendix V attached to this Circular. The volume of non-wood forest products harvested is determined according to the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

c) Harvesting techniques and methods: carried out according to the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

d) Needs and sources of funding: decided by the forest owner.

5. Agroforestry Production

a) Production methods (agricultural crop cultivation; industrial crop cultivation; livestock and poultry breeding; aquaculture or other methods): decided by the forest owner;

b) Determination indicators: area, place names (plots, sub-plots of forests) implemented annually during the first five-year period and each subsequent five-year period throughout the rotation cycle;

c) Applied technical measures: carried out according to the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and other current regulations;

d) Needs and sources of funding: decided by the forest owner.

6. Community Service Activities

a) Types of services (provision of seedlings, fertilizers, plant protection chemicals, purchase, processing, and consumption of products, or other services): decided by the forest owner;

b) Determination indicators: quantity, type of each service implemented annually during the first five-year period and each subsequent five-year period throughout the rotation cycle;

c) Needs and sources of funding: decided by the forest owner.

7. Timber Processing

a) Types of processed products: decided by the forest owner;

b) Determination indicators: location, place name of factory construction; raw material volume; volume, type of processed products; number of workers annually during the first five-year period and each subsequent five-year period throughout the rotation cycle;

c) Needs and sources of funding: decided by the forest owner.

8. Infrastructure Construction for Production and Living

a) Construction items, structure of works: decided by the forest owner based on the needs of the unit according to legal regulations;

b) Determination indicators: type of work; scale in terms of quantity and area; location of construction in specific years;

c) Needs and sources of funding: decided by the forest owner.

9. Forest Environmental Services

a) Basis for determining types of services: carried out according to the regulations of the Government and other current regulations;

b) Determination indicators: total forest area providing environmental services; amount of revenue received; plan for using the payment amount; forest area protected annually from environmental service payments during the first five-year period and each subsequent five-year period throughout the rotation cycle.

10. Joint Forest Management

a) Basis for determination: decided by the forest owner based on voluntary and mutual agreement between the forest owner and participating entities.

b) Implementation content: carried out according to regulations approved by the People's Committee of the province or centrally governed city (hereinafter referred to as the provincial People's Committee) or in accordance with current laws.

c) Determination criteria: number of participants (number of organizations or households); anticipated benefits (money or in-kind) shared annually by the forest owner with participants during the first five-year period and each subsequent five-year period throughout the entire rotation cycle.

d) Needs and funding sources: determined by the forest owner based on agreements with participating entities.

Article 9. Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Plan

1. Economic aspect: total revenue achieved; value paid to the state budget and annual profit generated during the first five-year period and throughout the entire rotation cycle.

2. Environmental aspect: area covered by forests and forest coverage achieved annually during the first five-year period and throughout the entire rotation cycle.

3. Social welfare aspect: total number of workers employed, average income of workers; number of households benefiting from the production and business results of the forest owner; reduction rate of poor households; construction projects providing benefits to people and local communities.

Chapter III

REVIEW, APPROVAL AND MONITORING,

SUPERVISION OF PLAN IMPLEMENTATION

Article 10. Review of the Plan

1. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development organizes the review of the Plan.

2. Documents submitted for review include:

a) A request for Plan review by the forest owner according to the model attached as Appendix VI to this Circular;

b) An explanation of the Plan according to guidelines provided in Appendix II (for natural forests) and Appendix III (for planted forests) attached to this Circular;

c) Map system;

d) Copies of investigation and collection data and figures.

3. Review process

a) The forest owner directly sends or sends via postal service one (01) set of documents to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;

b) After receiving the documents requesting Plan review from the forest owner, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for examining the validity of the documents according to Clause 2 of this Article;

In case the documents are not valid, within three (03) working days from the date of receipt of the documents, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will notify in writing and return the documents to the forest owner for completion;

In case the documents are valid, the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development decides to establish a Review Board. Members of the Review Board include: the leadership of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development as Chairman of the Board; members of the board are the Heads of the Forestry Inspection Service, the Forest Protection Service, and representatives of relevant departments and sectors appointed by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;

Within twenty (20) working days from the date of receipt of valid documents, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development completes the review of the documents and returns the review document to the forest owner.

Article 11. Approval of the Plan

1. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development approves the Plan.

2. Documents submitted for Plan approval include:

a) A request for Plan approval by the forest owner according to the model attached as Appendix VI to this Circular;

b) An explanation of the Plan;

c) Map system;

d) A document incorporating and explaining comments from the review.

3. Approval process

a) In case the documents are valid, within ten (10) working days from the date of receipt of valid documents, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development approves the Plan and returns the result to the forest owner;

b) In case the documents are not valid, within three (03) working days from the date of receipt of the documents, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development notifies the forest owner; after the forest owner completes the documents meeting requirements, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development approves the Plan according to Point a of this Clause.

Article 12. Internal Inspection and Supervision

1. The forest owner shall organize the implementation of activities according to the approved Plan and conduct self-inspection and supervision during the implementation process.

2. At the end of each planning year, the forest owner shall report to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on the results of implementing sustainable forest management goals and plans according to Model No. 1, Appendix VII issued with this Circular.

Article 13. Inspection and Supervision by State Agencies

1. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall organize inspection and supervision of the implementation of the sustainable forest management plan by the forest owner.

2. Frequency of inspection and supervision: once a year.

3. Content of inspection and supervision: based on the objectives and activity plans approved in the Plan.

4. Report the results of inspection and supervision according to Model No. 2, Appendix VII issued with this Circular.

5. Post-inspection handling

a) If the forest owner has not fully implemented all tasks in the approved Plan, they shall be required to supplement missing activities;

b) If the forest owner violates regulations on forest management, protection, and timber management, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development may consider suspending activities under the approved Plan decision for the forest owner to rectify violations.

Chapter IV

SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATE

Article 14. Issuance of Sustainable Forest Management Certificate

1. Types of Sustainable Forest Management Certificates to be issued

a) Vietnam Sustainable Forest Management Certificate;

b) International Organization Sustainable Forest Management Certificate.

The forest owner voluntarily and independently decides the type of Sustainable Forest Management Certificate (hereinafter referred to as the forest certificate) to be issued.

2. Conditions for the forest owner to be issued a forest certificate

a) Having a Plan approved by the competent authority in accordance with this Circular;

b) Meeting all principles, criteria, and indicators in the Vietnam Sustainable Forest Management Principles at Appendix I issued with this Circular, or international sustainable forest management standards, criteria, and indicators;

c) Submitting a request for issuance of the forest certificate.

3. Conditions for organizations authorized to issue forest certificates (hereinafter referred to as Certification Organizations) in Vietnam

a) For domestic Certification Organizations: independent agencies or organizations with legal personality designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development or authorized by international Certification Organizations;

b) For international Certification Organizations: obtaining permission from the competent Vietnamese authority to issue forest certificates within Vietnam.

Article 15. Procedures for Issuing Forest Certificates

1. The forest owner submits a request for issuance of the certificate to the Certification Organization. Information accompanying the request includes: name, address, telephone number, fax, email, and website of the forest owner (if available); name of representative; location (sub-district, commune, district, province) and area of the forest requiring certification; type of forest; annual harvest volume; time requested for issuance of the certificate.

2. The forest owner and the Certification Organization sign a contract to carry out the assessment and issuance of the forest certificate.

3. The Certification Organization is responsible for inspecting and assessing the forest owner's compliance with the conditions stipulated in Clause 2, Article 14 of this Circular. They prepare a report on the field assessment results and issue the certificate to the forest owner.

4. In cases where the conditions for issuing the certificate are not met, the Certification Organization must notify the forest owner to rectify and improve; then re-inspect, review, or reassess to issue the certificate to the forest owner.

5. The validity period of the certificate is five (5) years.

6. Annually, the Certification Organization conducts inspections and assessments to maintain the certificate for the forest owner. If the conditions are not met, the forest owner will have their certificate revoked.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 16. Responsibilities of State Management Agencies at all levels

1. The General Department of Forestry

a) Carry out consultation activities to perfect the Vietnamese Principles for Sustainable Forest Management to ensure international effectiveness;

b) Submit to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development proposals to amend and supplement legal documents and related regulations in the field of sustainable forest management and issuance of forest certification;

c) Organize training and guide the establishment, review, approval, and issuance of forest certification throughout the country;

d) Take the lead in inspecting and proposing solutions to address issues arising during the implementation of sustainable forest management and forest certification according to assigned functions and tasks.

2. Provincial People's Committees

a) Direct the review and reorganization of forestry companies, on this basis determine which forestry companies will develop Plans as stipulated in this Circular;

b) Direct specialized agencies to coordinate with People's Committees at district level to organize land allocation, forest allocation, land leasing, and forest leasing to forest owners in accordance with the law;

c) Direct the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to implement guidance on the establishment, review, and approval of Plans for forest owners within the province;

d) Direct specialized agencies to allocate and guide the use of funds for the establishment of Plans and the implementation of sustainable forest management activities for forest owners within the province in accordance with the law;

3. Provincial Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development

a) Submit to the provincial People's Committee a list of natural forest managers who will develop Plans as stipulated in this Circular;

b) Guide forest owners to establish Plans and organize the implementation of sustainable forest management activities and issuance of forest certification in accordance with this Circular;

c) Organize the review and approval of Plans for forest owners. Bear responsibility before the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the law regarding the accuracy of the Plans approved by themselves;

d) Coordinate with specialized agencies and People's Committees at district level in inspecting the implementation of Plans and handling violations according to the law;

e) Annually report to the provincial People's Committee and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on the situation and results of Plan implementation and issuance of forest certification within the province;

4. District People's Committee

a) Coordinate with provincial specialized agencies to organize land allocation, forest allocation, land leasing, and forest leasing to commercial forestry owners within the county in accordance with the law;

b) Coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to identify natural forest-managing forestry companies that will develop Plans to be submitted for approval by the provincial People's Committee;

c) Coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to review Plans for forest owners within the county; inspect, supervise, and handle issues arising from Plan implementation within the county according to the law;

d) Annually report to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development the results of Plan implementation and issuance of forest certification within the county;

5. The People's Committee at the commune level

a) Supervise the use and management of forest and forestry land; forest protection and development work of forest owners; take the lead or propose competent authorities to resolve land disputes between forest owners within the area according to the law;

b) Supervise the implementation of sustainable forest management activities of forest owners within the area according to the content and plan determined in the Plan approved by competent authorities;

c) Take the lead in compiling and reporting to the People's Committee at the county level on the results of sustainable forest management and issuance of forest certification activities of forest owners within the area, including any difficulties and issues encountered.

Article 17. Responsibilities of the Forest Owner

1. Organize the development of the Plan and implement its contents and progress according to the approved plan.

2. Regularly self-monitor and evaluate sustainable forest management activities that have been approved.

3. Comply with all responsibilities of the forest owner as stipulated in this Circular.

Article 18. Responsibilities of the Organization Issuing Forest Certification

1. Adhere strictly to Vietnamese laws during the process of evaluating and issuing forest certification to forest owners.

2. Be responsible for the quality and results of forest certification issued to forest owners; report on implementation results when requested by competent authorities.

Article 19. Implementation Provisions

1. A forest owner whose approved Plan complies with the guidelines set out in this Circular shall continue to implement the approved Plan; if it does not comply, the forest owner shall review, supplement, and redevelop the Plan for review and approval in accordance with Articles 10 and 11 of this Circular.

2. Forest owners permitted to harvest natural timber must include plans for harvesting natural timber in their Plan; other types of forest owners are not required to do so.

3. This Circular takes effect from December 20, 2014.

4. In case of difficulties during implementation, localities and units shall report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for timely consideration and resolution./.