5.1. Forest and forest lands
5.2. Forest cover in various areas/regions of Vietnam
5.3. Changes in forest resources and prospects in the year 2010
Statistics in Vietnam show that 19.2 million hectares are forest land of which 9.3 million hectares are forested area, and 10 million hectares are denuded hillsides and barren lands.
Total standing volume is reported to reach 584 million cu.m. of wood and 6.3 billion of bamboo calms. Out of 9.3 hectares of existing forests5, there are 8.3 million hectares of natural forests and 1.05 million hectares of man-made ones, details of which follow:
5 Figures assumed to apply around 1995 (Editor).
|
Description |
Total |
Forested |
Non-forested |
|
Forest land |
19.1 |
9.3 |
9.7 |
|
- Special-use forest |
1.2 |
0.9 |
0.3 |
|
- Protection forest |
8.0 |
3.5 |
4.5 |
|
- Production forest |
9.9 |
4.9 |
5.0 |
Besides, there exist over 1-2 billion scattered trees planted in and around home gardens, along roadsides, canals. That asset of scattered trees is going to increase by some 300 million trees established every year. When converted into full plantation area, scattered trees now being established are reported to reach over 1-2 million hectares. These "outside forest" resources are of much relevance to local farmers who can find in these plantation belts (or patches) a lot of ready fuelwood and small timber for daily uses in the countryside. These resources too can contribute to the lessening of the destruction of natural forests in many areas/regions of Vietnam.
The differences in climatic conditions from sub-equatorial areas to sub-tropical ones as noticed in Vietnam and its elevations from sea level to mountains of over 3,000 m high, have caused the indigenous plant and forest resources to differ in terms of tree composition, forest types and forest cover. There are the dominance of pine forests, broad-leaved forests, mixed coniferous stands, and even dipterocarp forests in the uplands; and the occurrence of lowland dipterocarp forests, mangroves, bamboos, and mixed stands of hardwoods and bamboos in lower areas, flats and wetlands. Forest resourses in Vietnam are not evenly distributed, covering in different areas different percentage of local total land mass:
|
Region |
% |
|
Nation-wide |
28 |
|
- North West |
14 |
|
- Paper raw material area (in the North) |
24 |
|
- North East |
20 |
|
- Red River Delta |
4 |
|
- North Central Vietnam |
35 |
|
- Coastal South Central Vietnam |
35 |
|
- Western High Plateaux |
56 |
|
- East South Vietnam |
21 |
|
- Mekong Delta |
5 |
The quality of forests varies in the same direction as their distribution in term of area, i.e. wherever the forest cover in lower, the quality of the forest resources (their composition and economic values as well), is also poorer.
Looking back to the year 1943, one can find that the forest cover at that time was not less than 43%. Satellite imageries obtained in 1973 thaw that the forest area amounted then to 9.5 million hectares, accounting for a cover of 29%. Statistics from the years 1981 and 1982, gained through the interpretation of photos from Landsat in 1979-1981 and from KATE 140 during the same period, show that the forested area was then 7.8 million hectares covering 28% of total land. The forested area in 1995 and the forest cover during the same year look almost the same as in 1989.
It is difficult to say that there are some real increases in the area of existing forests from 1980 to now, because before that year, forests were so rated when they got a standing volume of more than 28 cu.m. per hectare that criterion since then has changed and has become not applicable in the following year statistics.
However, the fact is that the forest area has shrunk, on the average at a rate of hundred thousands of hectares per year because of clearing for food production, shifting cultivation, of wild fires and careless wood and timber extraction, leading not only to losses in forest area but also to the degradation of forest resource with tree composition, precious genes and stand volume, are going to decline dramatically.
More recently, as due attention by the Government and consent by local farmers have been gained in forest management, the area of man-made forests has increases step by step from 625,000 hectares on 1989 to 1,049,700 hectares in 1995, at a rate of 125,000 hectares of plantation in 1991 being increased to 235,000 hectares of same in 1996. The quality of forest plantations has also increased, the forest plantations newly established are of mixed stands, their rate of survival of 40% in 1990 has been improved to over 75% in these last five years.
With the eventual ban on wood and timber extraction from natural forests and strong emphasis on forest plantation, protection, regeneration and restoration, it is to be hoped that in the year 2010, the state of forests of Vietnam will lock different with:
· A system of protection forests of over 8 million hectares being crested, in particular for the protection of the watershed areas of big rivers and water reservoirs for navigation and for hydroelectric power generation for the country as a whole, the protection of an extensive area along the coast and of farm crops cultivated at the foot of denuded hillsides and barren lands in the Deltas.· A system of special-use forests covering 1-1.2 million hectares of natural forests mainly, in which one can find a number of National Parks, Protected Areas, and Historic Sites being well managed for public welfare and cultural conservation.
· A system of production forests extending over 10 million hectares, of which after the year 2000 industrial (or commercial) forest plantations will play a key role, while natural forests there will be exploited at only a moderate rate. It is also planned to manage intensively at least 5 million hectares of production forests giving high yield and products of high quality to industries. The final outcome will be an effective management of all three (3) categories if forests providing a cover of not less than 40 % of the total land mass on which the area of denuded hillsides and barren lands will be kept to a minimum.
