Timber Supply and Demand and Growth Potential of Fast Growing Tree Species in the Northwest Region of Vietnam
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Timber supply and demand and growth potential of fast growing tree species in the northwest region of Vietnam AFLI Technical Report No. 6 Summary The northwest region of Vietnam has a very environmentally important role for development of northern Vietnam. However, the alarming deforestation due to illegal logging, and land use change to agricultural crops on steeply sloping sites in the northwest has subsequently resulted in critically environmental threats such as floods, land slides and soil erosion. Plantation forestry and farm woodlots are options to increase forest coverage for environmental protection and minimizing effect of soil erosion. The objectives of this study were to: (i) understand local demand and wood supply in the northwest; (ii) examine possibilities of fast growing tree species or planted tree species as alternatives to timber from natural forest; (iii) evaluate growth and adaptability of fast growing tree species in the northwest and recommend suitable planting species for different altitudes and regions in the northwest. The study was conducted in 3 provinces in the northwest: Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau. In each province: (i) 5-6 sawmills in 3 different size capacities (large, medium and small) were investigated; (ii) 4-6 villages from 2 main ethnic groups were selected for investigations; (iii) 7-12 sites at 3 altitudes (<400 m, 400 – 700 m, above 700 m) where available plantations were selected for evaluation. Results from the study showed that: (i) There were strong round wood and fuel wood demands in the northwest. The difference in timber demand between groups of people or provinces was not statistically significant; (ii) Sawmills in the northwest were mostly privately owned with log input capacity ranged from 15 to 500 m3 of wood per year in all 3 provinces. Most sawmills mainly used wood from natural forest either from local sources or imported from Laos; (iii) The trend of switching from highly valuable wood to lower grade wood from natural forest or plantations was recorded in all provinces for sawmills and/or households; (iv) For elevations below 700 m, Acacia mangium, acacia hybrid and tropical/subtropical eucalypt species were best performing with MAI of successful plantations ranging from 11 to 23 m3/ha/year at age 4-5 years followed by Melia azedarach and teak with mean annual volume increment (MAI) ranging from 15 to 17 m3/ha/year at age 15 years old. Other native species Manglietia glauca, Vernicia montana and Betula alnoides also grew well at the elevations from 550 to 700 m in Lai Chau province; (v) For elevations from 800 m to 1000 m, Eucalyptus grandis showed good growth with MAI reaching 16 m3/ha/year followed by B. alnoides and Pinus massoniana with MAI ranging from 9 – 11 m3/ha/year. Recommendations for sustainable development of forest plantations in the northwest are discussed. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere thanks to ICRAF-ACIAR project “Agroforestry for Livelihoods of Smallholder Farmers in North-West Vietnam” for giving me an opportunity to conduct this intensive study. My personal thanks to Dr. Delia Catacuntan and Dr. Hoang Thi Lua at ICRAF Ha Noi for supporting me during this study. My sincere thanks to Mr. Ha Van Tiep at North West Forestry Science and Production Centre of Forest Science Institute of Vietnam for supporting me during the survey. I would like to thank my colleagues in Institute of Forest Tree Improvement and Biotechnology, Vietnam Academy of Forest Science for helping during data collection, analysis and commenting during the work. Finally, my special thanks to Dr. Chris Harwood at CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Australia for his valuable comments and suggestions over successive drafts of the report. ABBREVIATION OF SCIENTIFIC NAME OF TREE SPECIES A. auriculiformis Acacia auriculiformis A.Cunn. ex Benth. A. mangium Acacia mangium Willd A. nepalensis Alnus nepalensis D.Don B. alnoides Betula alnoides Buch-Ham B. ceiba Bombax ceiba L. B. hsienmu Burretiodendron hsienmu Ching et Hu C. axillaris Choerospondias axiliaris (Roxb.) Burtt et Hill. C. indica Castanopsis indica (Roxb. ex Lindl.) A.DC. C. nigrum Canarium nigrum (Lour.) Engler C. tabularis Chukrasia tabularis A. Juss. D. duperreanum Dracontomelon duperreanum Pierre D. grandiflora Duabanga grandiflora (Roxb. ex DC.) Walpers D. retusus Dipterocarpus retusus Bl. E. camaldulensis Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnhardt E. fordii Erythrophloeum fordii Oliver E. grandis Eucalyptus grandis W.Hill E. urophylla Eucalyptus urophylla S.T.Blake F. hodginsii Fokienia hodginsii Henry and Thomas L. fissus Lithocarpus fissus Champ. ex benth M. azedarach Melia azedarach L. M. fordiana Manglietia fordiana Hu. M. glauca Manglietia glauca Dandy M. mediocris Michelia mediocris Dandy M. pasquieri Madhuca pasquieri H.Lec. M. stipulata Markhamia stipulate (Wall.) Seem. ex K. Schum M. thunbergii Machilus thunbergii Sieb. Et Zucc. P. chinensis Parashorea chinensis Wang Hsie. P. macrocarpus Pterocarpus macrocarpus Kurz. P. massoniana Pinus massoniana Lamb. P. persica Prunus persica (L.) Batsch P. pinata Pometia pinata Frost. S. aromaticum Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merrill & Perry S. wallichii Schima wallichii Choisy Teak Tectona grandis L. f. V. montana Vernicia montana Lour. Introduction The Northwest region of Vietnam includes four provinces: Hoa Binh, Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau. The total area of the region is nearly 4,000,000 ha with total population about 4,000,000 people. There are 2,100,000 ha of forest land (52%) in which only 1,500,000 ha have forest cover equating to 39% forest coverage (FIPI, 2011). The northwest region has a very environmentally important role for development of northern Vietnam because it incorporates the catchments of the two main rivers in northern Vietnam, the Da and Hong Rivers. There are two big hydro-power plants on the Da River in Hoa Binh and Son La provinces which contribute 20% of the total electricity production of Vietnam. Because of its environmental importance, about 60% of total natural forest area (882,000 ha) in the northwest was allocated to protective and special use forest. According to FIPI (2011), most of forest land areas in the northwest are located on steep slope sites with 65% of total area having slopes above 26%. In the period 2006 – 2010, about 18,000 ha of natural forest in the northwest was lost mainly because of logging, land use change to agriculture and hydro-power plants. In addition to decreasing total area of natural forests, standing wood volumes of existing natural forests have decreased by 10 – 30% in different forest types (FIPI, 2011). The loss of natural forest and agricultural cultivation on steep slope sites has caused serious flooding and soil erosion in the northwest. On the steep slope sites in the northwest above >20%, about 0.8 cm of top soil was lost after 1 rotation of maize cultivation under current cultivation scheme, equivalent to 120-130 tons of top soil loss per hectare (Vietnam Soil Association, 1996). The loss of top soil through erosion involves major loss of soil nutrients, soil degradation and subsequently decreasing crop yields as well as reduction in the life of hydro-power plants because of siltation of storage dams. Forest covered land has been proved to reduce the surface water flow significantly and therefore minimize effect of flood and soil erosion (Vietnam Soil Association, 1996). Therefore, one of the sustainable solutions to minimize severity of flood and soil erosion in the northwest is to increase forest coverage in the region, especially on the steeply sloping sites. Plantation forest can be an alternative to natural forest to increase forest coverage for environmental protection and minimizing effect of soil erosion provided that all activities from planting to harvesting are carefully managed to minimize negative effects to soil. Correct selection of tree species for planting is essential for the success of any planting programs. Selected species for plantations in the northwest should meet important criteria: (i) suitable for the need of local people and bringing good benefit to plantation growers; and (ii) fast growing to increase returns to growers as well as quickly fulfill environmentally protective functions of the plantation through foliar coverage and litter return. The success of any planting programs will depend on adaptability of planting species and profitability of plantation to growers. Fast growing plantations for pulp and woodchip in the northwest region especially provinces Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau and part of Yen Bai may not be economically viable as the region is far from main markets for pulp and woodchip. Plantation development for high value products such as high quality timber and veneer that can be used locally or transported economically to main markets may be a more economically viable alternative. In order to develop sustainable plantation in the northwest, it is important to understand local wood demand and its supply as well as acceptability to local people of fast growing species and adaptability of different fast growing species in different altitudes. The objectives of this study were to: (i) understand local demand and wood supply in the northwest; (ii) evaluate prospects of fast growing planted tree species as alternatives to timber from natural forest; and (iii) evaluate growth and adaptability of fast growing tree species in the northwest and recommend suitable planting species for different altitude and regions in the northwest. Methodology Survey of wood demand and processing in Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau Information on total plantation areas and number of wood processing mills in the 3 provinces of Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau as of 2011 were provided by provincial departments of forestry. In each province, 5-6 mills were selected for survey on products produced, tree species used, wood volume utilized, source of wood, trend in wood supply (volume, species) and plans for future development.