Page 1 of 7 Report on FOREST LAND ALLOCATION AND GREEN BOOK ISSUING IN TUONG DUONG DISTRICT 1. Methodology of Forest Land Allocation Tuong Duong is a mountainous district of Nghe An province with a population of 63 000 inhabitants belonging to 6 different minority groups: Thai, H'Mong, Kho Mu. Tay Pong, O Du, King. Their livelihood is mainly dependent on slash and burn agriculture for food supply, and on collecting forest products, hunting and so on. Low education, and backward customs and habits create many difficulties for forest protection and land use. People tend to think of forests and forest land as an endless natural resources. For these reasons Forest Land Allocation to institutions and individual households is carried out in order that forest land will have its "owner". This activity will lead to long term sustainable forest use, create forestry production momentum, forest protection development, effective use of fallow land, improve environment conservation capability, and supply forestry products to meet people needs. It is a very urgent and important mater. Being allocated with forest land, institutions and individual households really feel assured to invest, having the right of utilization, management and protection of forests by themselves; such are beneficiaries' rights. Forest Land Allocation should be carried out on the basis of local agroforestry economic development planning. It should be appropriate to the capabilities of institutions and individual households. Forest Land Allocation followed the instructions provided by Land Laws, Forest Protection and Development Laws, Government Decree no 02/CP, guideline circular no 06 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Forest Land Allocation implementation has been based on the general planning of local agroforestry development. Thus the allocation activity should be in line with each district’s planning, which provides the guidelines for the long-term objectives of forest land allocation. During forest land allocation implementation the defects of the general planning process will be amended. Forest classification will be described in land use maps. Land parcel size should be appropriate to the land resources of each village, the number of households in the village, and management and utilization capabilities of participants (e.g. number of household members). Each allocated parcel must have its own boundaries, landmarks, signs in the field, with a well-defined areas and soil categories. All of these data are to be measured accurately and shown clearly on paper. Ownership certificates and Red Books will be issued by the State after forest allocation in order that farmers can use land as collateral to borrow loans for productive development. Recently people's demand for land receiving and land use have gradually increased. 2. Allocation process 2.1 Implementation process for Forest Land Allocation Forest Land Allocation and issuing certificates for the long-term, stable use of land are important policies of the Communist Party and State. For this reason, the process of Forest Land Allocation requires the close supervision of the Party, as well as the concrete management and administration of the local authorities and the direct coordination and participation of sectoral agencies and local people. A steering committee on Forest Land Allocation has been set up comprising the following members: Page 2 of 7 Vice - chairman of the District's People Committee, head of the steering committee Institutions including, among others: District Forest Protection District Agriculture and Rural Development District Land Administration District Fixed Cultivation and Sedentarization Committee The steering committee organizes forest land allocation groups, including professional staff, to support the commune People's Committees to allocate forest land to institutions and households. 2.2. Concrete phases of Forest Land Allocation a) At village level 1.a - Meeting of the Party Cell and village management committee: The purpose of the meeting is to thoroughly review the policies on forest land allocation and create a concrete plan for subsequent land allocation activities. 2.a - People's meeting No. 1 The meeting is held with the participation of all people in the village, to whom the Communist Party and State policies on forest land allocation are explained. Introduction: Summary of Land Use Planning Disseminate and distribute application forms to those who wish to receive forest land so that they themselves fill in the forms and submit them to the local authority. It should be clearly explained to the people that the State only allocates forest land to those who wish voluntarily to receive and submit application forms without any compulsion. 3.a - Technical and professional preparation and activities on the field: Field survey: Forest land allocation groups and voluntary farmers coordinate to assess the current status of forest resources Define the scope and boundaries of allocated land, using landmarks for in the field; measure the area of parcels (using hand compass) Produce maps scaled 1/5000. Sign protection contracts with participants for allocated land with forest cover. The most important aspect is that people voluntarily and fairly take part in allocation activity in the field. They divide and receive parcels of their own accord, solving problems that may arise by themselves. Forest land allocation groups provide farmers only with technical assistance. Only in this way can complaints and long-standing conflicts regarding boundaries, soil categories etc. be avoided. 4.a - People's meeting No. 2 Inform household heads who have submitted application forms regarding forest land allocation results. This includes data on parcel location, area, soil categories, forest types, and proposed production and protection management plans. The actually allocated land, especially parcels of neighboring households, should be compared with the map through households going to the field (confirmation should be obtained from adjacent households in order to avoid disputes in the future). People who act in violation of the Forest Protection and Development Law should be subjected to administrative procedures and appropriate punishments. 3. Professional work Page 3 of 7 3.1 Maps: Based on the result of land allocation in the field and according to the plots, land parcel and hand maps scaled 1:5000, a map of the whole village with a scale of 1: 10 000, covering boundaries of plots and compartments for each household, will be produced. Contents of the map should reflect location, form, status and area of the allocated land. 3.2 Issuing Green Book Certificate Application form for forest land allocation Land allocation decision signed by Chairman of District's People's Committee Mapping the allocated plots with a scale of 1:5000 Signed contracts for allocated land with forest cover. To prepare summary sheets, which together with the green books, will be the basis for issuing Red Book and land ownership certificates. This assures that the activities are in line with Land Law 3.3. Results of Forest Land Allocation a. Forest Land Allocation Files consists of: Application forms for forest land allocation of households: 3 Minutes for land allocation on the field: 3 1: 5000 scaled maps of forest land allocation to households Land allocation decisions: 3 b. Recent commune land use map scaled 1:10 000 c. Commune Land use planning map scaled 1:10 000 d. Commune Forest land allocation map scaled 1: 10 000 e. Result lists, including area statistics 4.3. Costs of Forest land allocation The district has made a statement of estimated cost of forest land allocation, placing it at 20,000 - 30,000 VND/ha. But only the cost of 15,000/ha is approved. Budget distribution and balance for implementation as follows: Page 4 of 7 Allocation fund (VND/ha) No Activities Natural forest Plantation Fallow hill forest 1 Rapid rural appraisal 1 700 1 500 1 000 2 Data collection 6 500 4 800 3 000 3 Land allocation in the field 2 600 2 500 1 300 4 Desk work 2 000 200 2 000 5 Mapping 1 700 1 700 1 700 6 Stationers, travel costs 1 500 1 500 1 200 7 Checking, evaluation, approval 1 000 1 000 800 Total: (VND/ha) 15 000 15 000 11 000 4. Results of Forest Land Allocation in Tuong Duong District: (1995 - 1997). 4.1 Results of Forest Land Allocation: After 3 years (1995 - 1997) of forest land allocation implementation, applying Government Decree 02 CP, the following results have been achieved: Total area of allocated forest land: 15 551 ha including: land with forest cover 6 653.8 ha land without forest cover 8 897.6 ha Participants: 781 households Household groups: 60 households Implementing villages: 14 (a result sheet enclosed hereafter) 4.2 Some initial results of land use and forest protection after forest land allocation First of all it should be asserted that all allocated land and contract forests should see improved protection. Agroforestry production should provide an effective basis for land development. After only 3 years of land allocation, some initial results have been achieved: Rational land use, agroforestry and intensive production, less shifting cultivation, on allocated land Page 5 of 7 No land conflicts are evident among shifting cultivators competing for each other’s land at the beginning of each planting season. Forest contracts for regeneration are being implemented well in areas covered by the 327 project; land with forest and vegetation cover falls under good protection; slash and burn have considerably decreased. Sedentary areas of cultivation: fallow land is allocated for agroforestry cultivation and alternative crops. Take as an example Khe Chi village (Thach Giam commune). There are 117 households. Their cultivation takes place only on 10 ha against 100 ha in the past. In Cua Rao village (Xa Luong commune), 28 households are allocated with 368 ha of forest land, composing: Land with forest cover: 329 ha Land without forest cover: 39 ha 31.8 ha has been planted with the implementing of 327 project 329 ha falls under protection.