Vietnam to charge forest protection fees By Thoa Nguyen - The Saigon Times Daily HANOI - The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is seeking ways to calculate forest-preserving charges for power and water users in the country to contribute money to water regulation and forest soil protection. Under the policy, visitors and water and power users in the localities pay for forest rangers via water companies, hydropower plants and travel agents operating at special-use forests. The fees are VND40 for each cubic meter of water and VND20 for a kilowatt of electricity. Customers of Dai Ninh, Da Nhim and Hoa Binh power plants in Hoa Binh Province and hydropower plants in Son La Province also pay for rangers of watershed forests. Visitors have the fees included in tourism products. Vietnam is the first nation in Southeast Asia to carry out such a program to pay for forest protection services and plans to expand it. The ministry will set aside 10% of the fees collected for the forest … [Read more...] about Vietnam to charge forest protection fees
Forests protection
Forest protection agency accused of illegal logging
Thousands of trees in central Quang Nam Province were recently cut down illegally, allegedly by a local forest protection association. The local forest protection agency has been accused of hiring the loggers who cut these trees at Quang Nam Province's Tien Phuoc Forest. … [Read more...] about Forest protection agency accused of illegal logging
Forest protection scheme benefits 10,000 highland families
The experiences and successes of Vietnam's Payments for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) scheme, which has generated significant resources to support forest protection and local livelihoods, were shared at a workshop in Da Lat last Friday. The Asia Regional Biodiversity Conservation Program (ARBCP), a project of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), helped Vietnamese officials pilot PFES in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. … [Read more...] about Forest protection scheme benefits 10,000 highland families
Vietnam forest protection project under threat
A Vietnamese forest protection scheme that requires water supply and hydropower plants to pay local communities that protect forests is in trouble since the former are not paying up. A man points at a forest section in northern Vietnam that he protects under a national project. A local utility that has to pay him and others like him for the service has defaulted. … [Read more...] about Vietnam forest protection project under threat
Building 2 forest protection centers in Sao La Biodiversity Center
On February 11, in A Luoi District, Mr. Le Truong Luu, Deputy Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and representatives of the Provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Department, A Luoi District People's Committee, German Development Bank (KfW), WWF, Xe sap National Biodiversity Center of Sekong and Salavan (Lao PDR) attended the ground-breaking ceremony of west Sao La forest protection center and A Tep forest protection center in Huong Nguyen Commune, A Luoi District within the framework of the Carbon and Biodiversity project (Carbi for short) sponsored by the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) via WWF Vietnam. … [Read more...] about Building 2 forest protection centers in Sao La Biodiversity Center