Circular No. 56/2012/TT-BNNPTNT stipulates the reforestation of depleted natural forests as productive forests.

CIRCULAR

Provisions on the rehabilitation of depleted natural forests are production forests

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BASED ON Decree No. 01/2008/NĐ-CP dated January 3, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Decree No. 75/2009/NĐ-CP dated September 10, 2009 of the Government amending Article 3 of Decree No. 01/2008/NĐ-CP dated January 3, 2008 of the Government;

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

Based on Decision No. 186/2006/QĐ-TTg dated August 14, 2006 of the Prime Minister promulgating the Forest Management Regulations;

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development shall stipulate provisions on the rehabilitation of depleted natural forests.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

1. Scope of regulation: This Circular stipulates conditions, investigation, design, documentation, review, and approval of the design for the rehabilitation of depleted natural production forests throughout the country.

2. Applicability: domestic agencies, organizations, households, individuals, and village communities; foreign organizations and individuals involved in the rehabilitation of depleted natural forests.

Article 2. Interpretation of Terms

In this Circular, the following terms are understood as follows:

1. Reclamation of depleted natural forests refers to the conversion of depleted forests that no longer have the potential for effective recovery through natural regeneration by planting trees and multi-purpose timber trees with canopy cover similar to forest trees to restore them into forests with higher productivity, quality, economic, social, and environmental benefits.

2. Partial reclamation refers to the reclamation of depleted natural forests through afforestation methods in strips or patches within a forest compartment.

3. Comprehensive reclamation refers to the reclamation of depleted natural forests through afforestation methods across the entire area of a forest compartment.

Article 3. Conditions for applying rehabilitation measures to depleted natural forests

Natural forest compartments in a state of depletion that require reclamation measures must meet the following conditions:

1. It must be included in the approved planning of production forests by competent state authorities.

2. There must be a project and plan approved by competent state authorities.

3. Criteria:

a) Broadleaf evergreen and semi-deciduous forests: the number of regenerating timber trees with a height of at least 1 meter is less than 800 trees/hectare, unevenly distributed over the area of a forest compartment; the volume of wood from all trees with a diameter at breast height of 8 centimeters or more is less than 50 cubic meters/hectare.

b) Deciduous broadleaf forests: the number of regenerating timber trees with a height of at least 1 meter is less than 700 trees/hectare, unevenly distributed (for resprouting from a single mother tree with multiple sprouts, only the best one is counted) within a forest compartment; the volume of wood from all trees with a diameter at breast height of 8 centimeters or more is less than 40 cubic meters/hectare within a forest compartment.

c) Coniferous forests: the number of trees with an average diameter at breast height of 8 centimeters or more is less than 80 trees/hectare, unevenly distributed over the area of a forest compartment.

d) Mangrove forests: the number of trees with an average diameter at breast height of less than 6 centimeters is less than 2,500 trees/hectare; from 6 to 10 centimeters is less than 1,500 trees/hectare; from above 10 to 14 centimeters is less than 1,500 trees/hectare; above 14 centimeters is less than 1,000 trees/hectare within a forest compartment.

e) Saltwater forests: the number of trees with an average diameter at breast height of less than 12 centimeters is less than 1,000 trees/hectare; from 12 to 18 centimeters is less than 600 trees/hectare; from above 18 to 24 centimeters is less than 400 trees/hectare; above 24 centimeters is less than 200 trees/hectare within a forest compartment.

f) Bamboo and reed forests: the number of trees with a diameter at breast height of 5 centimeters or more is less than 3,000 trees/hectare within a forest compartment; in cases where the forest compartment consists solely of bamboo and reeds with smaller diameters, density is not dependent on it.

g) Mixed forests of bamboo and reeds with timber trees: the volume of wood from all trees with a diameter at breast height of 8 centimeters or more is less than 25 cubic meters/hectare; the number of bamboo and reed trees with a diameter at breast height of 5 centimeters or more is less than 1,500 trees/hectare within a forest compartment.

4. The canopy layer structure of the forest has been disrupted; target trees are unevenly distributed within the forest compartment; the canopy cover of trees with a diameter at breast height of 8 centimeters or more is less than 0.3 within a forest compartment;

5. Site conditions suitable for the growth and development characteristics of the planted tree species for reforesting depleted forests. In cases of comprehensive reforestation, the maximum area to be reforested at once does not exceed 200 hectares within a forest sub-district, and such reforestation can only proceed when the planted area meets the criteria for becoming a forest before moving on to adjacent areas of depleted forests.

Article 4. Technical Design for Forest Reclamation

1. Field Survey

a) Determining boundaries and area of the forest compartment requiring reclamation measures: marking the boundaries of the surveyed forest compartment on-site; calculating the area and preparing a current status map of the forest at a scale of 1/5,000 or 1/10,000, appropriate to the size of the forest compartment.

b) Establishing standard plots for measuring wood volume and tree counts (the total area of standard plots must be at least 2% of the designed forest compartment area), specifically as follows:

For broadleaf evergreen, deciduous, and coniferous depleted natural forests, establish standard plots of 1,000 square meters to collect data: name, quality grade of forest trees (excellent, medium, poor); measure the diameter at breast height and height of all trees in the standard plot with a diameter of 8 centimeters or more. Each standard plot is recorded on a survey form. Calculate the average standing volume per compartment by summing up the determined standing volume of trees using the formula: Vtree = G.Htop.f, where: Vtree is the trunk volume; G is the cross-sectional area of the tree at breast height; Htop is the top height of the tree; f is the taper factor (for natural forests, f = 0.45). Based on the results of the standard plot surveys, calculate the wood yield, utilization rate, projected wood products, and firewood for each compartment and the entire designed area.

For mangrove and saltwater forests, establish standard plots of 1,000 square meters. Count the number of trees in the standard plot with a diameter of 6 centimeters or more at breast height, based on the aggregated results in the standard plot, determine the density and average diameter per hectare of the compartment and the entire designed area.

For bamboo and reed forests, establish standard plots of 100 square meters. Count the number of trees in the standard plot with a diameter of 5 centimeters or more at breast height, based on the aggregated results in the standard plot, determine the average density per hectare of the compartment and the entire designed area.

2. Office Work

The technical design for reforesting depleted natural forests shall be carried out according to the Afforestation Design Procedure 04TCN 128-2006 issued together with Decision No. 4108/QĐ-BNN-KHCN dated December 29, 2006 of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. The contents of the design include:

a) The description shall detail the following: the forest owner and address; the objectives of reforestation; location, position, boundaries, and compartments, sections, and sub-sections of the reforestation forest; climate, topography, soil conditions; current state of the forest; reforestation methods; tree species; technical standards, contents, and measures; harvesting and utilizing forest products on land for natural forest reclamation in accordance with Circular No. 35/2011/TT-BNN dated May 20, 2011 issued by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; expected productivity and yield of the planted tree species; construction works to be built; labor and budget estimate; completion deadline.

b) Design map

Each reforestation area shall have a design map at a scale of 1/5,000 or 1/10,000, appropriate to the size of the reforestation area. The map shall fully display the location, boundaries, number, status of the forest, area of compartments, sections, and sub-sections of the reforestation forest, and construction works to be built.

3. The forest owner shall be responsible for organizing the preparation of the reforestation design plan or hiring a consulting organization to ensure compliance with the provisions set forth in Article 21 of Decision No. 73/2010/QĐ-TTg dated November 16, 2010 issued by the Prime Minister; submitting the plan to the competent state agency for review and approval as stipulated in Article 5 of this Circular.

Article 5. Forest reclamation files, review, and approval

1. Dossier for reforestation proposal.

a) For organizational forest owners, the file includes: Application for reforestation according to the model attached as Appendix 1 to this Circular; technical design for reforestation as specified in Clause 2, Article 4 of this Circular; field inspection report according to the model attached as Appendix 3 to this Circular.

b) For household, individual, and community village forest owners: Application for reforestation, specifying the address; reforestation objectives; location, position, boundaries, and compartments, sections, and sub-sections of the reforestation forest; current state of the forest; reforestation methods; tree species; completion deadline according to the model attached as Appendix 2 to this Circular. Field inspection report according to the model attached as Appendix 3 to this Circular.

c) Method of filing the application: organizations, households, individuals, and community villages must submit one original application file as prescribed in Points a and b of this Clause directly or by mail to the competent authority as stipulated in Point a, Clause 2 of this Article.

The Forestry General Department shall review and approve the reforestation dossier for the Vietnam Forest Company and other organizational forest owners under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall review and approve the reforestation dossier for other organizational forest owners and households, individuals, and village communities.

b) Review Organization

The Forestry General Department shall review and approve the reforestation application file for the Vietnam Timber Corporation and other organizational forest owners under the management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall review and approve the reforestation application file for other organizational forest owners and households, individuals, and community villages.

Immediately after completing the review, the chairman shall submit the dossier to the head of the agency for consideration and approval or disapproval.

The competent authority as stipulated in Point a of this Clause shall organize the establishment of a Review Board for reforestation application files. The Review Board shall include representatives from relevant scientific agencies with a minimum of five members; the representative of the reviewing authority shall be the chairman of the Board. The results of the review must be recorded in a minutes document signed by the chairman and the secretary member.

Within 20 working days from the date of receipt of the complete reforestation proposal dossier, the approving authority must establish a Review Board, conduct the review, approve or provide reasons for non-approval of the dossier, and return the result to the organization, household, individual, or village community that submitted the proposal. In cases requiring on-site verification, the reforestation dossier approval period may be extended by up to 15 working days.

If the dossier is incomplete, within 3 working days from the date of receipt of the dossier, the receiving authority must notify the organization, household, individual, or village community.

Within twenty working days from the date of receipt of the complete reforestation application file, the competent authority approving the file must establish the Review Board, organize the review and approval or provide reasons for not approving the file, and return the result to the organization, household, individual, or community village that submitted the application. If on-site verification is required, the approval period may be extended by up to fifteen working days.

2. Organizations designing the reforestation of depleted natural forests must comply with the provisions of this Circular and bear legal responsibility for the accuracy of the design dossier.

Article 6. Responsibilities for Implementation

1. Organizations, households, individuals, and community villages reforesting naturally depleted production forests must strictly follow the procedures and formalities stipulated in this Circular; they must immediately replant the forest and complete replanting across the entire reclamation area within twelve months from the date of harvesting and clearing the naturally depleted forest.

1. Repeal Clause 2, Part II, Circular No. 99/2006/TT-BNN dated November 6, 2006 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Forest Management Regulation issued together with Decision No. 186/2006/QĐ-TTg dated August 14, 2006 of the Prime Minister; Circular No. 56/2012/TT-BNNPTNT dated November 6, 2012 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on the reforestation of depleted natural forests as productive forests.

2. This Circular takes effect from July 1, 2013.

3. During the implementation process, if there are difficulties, organizations and individuals should promptly report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for examination, revision, and supplementation./.

Article 7. Effective Date

1. Repeal Clause 2, Section II, Circular No. 99/2006/TT-BNN dated November 6, 2006 issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development regarding guidance on implementing certain provisions of the Forest Management Regulations promulgated by Decision No. 186/2006/QĐ-TTg dated August 14, 2006 issued by the Prime Minister; Clause 3, 4, Article 4, and Article 5 of Circular No. 58/2009/TT-BNNPTNT dated September 9, 2009 issued by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development regarding guidance on rubber planting on forestry land.

2. This Circular takes effect from December 21, 2012.

3. During implementation, if there are any difficulties, organizations and individuals should promptly report them to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for consideration, amendment, and supplementation./.