THE
PRIME MINISTER OF GOVERNMENT
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SOCIALIST
REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM
Independence - Freedom - Happiness
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No:
08/2001/QD-TTg
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Hanoi,
January 11, 2001
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DECISION
ISSUING THE REGULATION ON MANAGEMENT OF SPECIAL-USE FORESTS,
PROTECTION FORESTS AND PRODUCTION FORESTS, WHICH ARE NATURAL FORESTS
THE PRIME MINISTER
Pursuant to the September 30, 1992 Law on
Organization of the Government;
Pursuant to the August 12, 1991 Law on Forest Protection and Development;
Pursuant to the July 14, 1993 Land Law, the December 2, 1998 Law Amending and
Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Land Law;
Pursuant to the August 19, 1993 Law on Environment Protection;
Pursuant to Decree No. 17/HDBT of January 17, 1992 of the Council of Ministers
(now the Government) on the implementation of the Law on Forest Protection and
Development;
Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 245/1998/QD-TTg of December 21,
1998 on the discharge of the responsibility of all levels for the State
management over forests and forestry land;
At the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (in Report
No. 1047/BNN-PTLN of March 24, 1999),
DECIDES:
Article 1.- To issue
together with this Decision the Regulation on management of special-use
forests, protection forests and production forests, which are natural forests.
Article 2.- This
Decision takes effect 15 days after its signing.
All previous provisions contrary to this
Regulation are now annulled.
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FOR THE
PRIME MINISTER
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Nguyen Cong Tan
REGULATION
ON MANAGEMENT OF SPECIAL-USE FORESTS, PROTECTION FORESTS AND
PRODUCTION FORESTS, WHICH ARE NATURAL FORESTS
(Issued together with the Prime Ministers Decision No. 08/2001/QD-TTg of
January 11, 2001)
Chapter I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1.-
Regulations on forests and forestry land
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2. Forestry land includes:
a/ Land with forests;
b/ Land not yet covered with forests, land
without forests and natural Vegetational cover, which are planned for forestry
purposes.
3. Forests are classified into three categories
according to their main use purposes as follows:
a/ Special-use forests, which are determined for
the purpose of preserving the nature, standard specimens of the national forest
ecological system, gene sources of forest flora and fauna, conducting
scientific research, protecting historical and cultural relics and scenic
places, and catering for rest, recreation and tourism;
b/ Protection forests, which are determined
primarily for forest construction and development aiming to protect and
regulate water sources, protect soil, combat erosion, limit natural calamities,
make the climate equable, ensure ecological balance and environmental security;
c/ Production forests, which are determined
primarily for forest construction and development aiming to produce and trade
in forest products (particularly timber and forest specialties) in combination
with protecting the environment and ecological balance.
Article 2.- Principles
for organizing the management of three categories of forest
1. Special-purpose forests and protection
forests shall be placed under unified management by the State and established
into national system of special-use forests and protection forests;
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2. Organizations, households and individuals
(collectively called forest owners) shall be assigned or leased by the State
forestry land and production forests for production and business activities;
The areas of forestry land and production forest
assigned or leased to forest owners shall depend on the localities forest funds
and forestry land funds and the forest owners needs and capabilities to manage
and use land and to undertake forest production and business;
3. All organizations and individuals shall have
to protect, construct and develop forests according to law provisions. All acts
of encroaching upon forests and forestry land shall be handled according to
law.
Article 3.-
Competence to organize the management of forests of three categories
1. The Prime Minister shall approve the overall
planning on forests of all categories; and approve key national projects;
2. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the
concerned ministries, branches and the Peoples Committees of the provinces and
centrally-run cities (collectively called provincial-level) in making the
overall planning on nationwide systems of special-use forests, protection
forests and production forests, formulating key national projects and
submitting them to the Prime Minister for approval;
3. The provincial-level Peoples Committee
presidents shall have to manage, direct functional branches in their provinces
and the district-level Peoples Committees to make detailed planning on forests
of three categories in their respective localities, formulate projects and submit
them to their immediate superiors for approval;
At the same time the provincial Peoples
Committee presidents shall direct the assignment or lease of forests to
organizations and direct the district-level Peoples Committees to assign or
lease forests and forestry land to households and individuals for management,
protection, construction, development and use according to law provisions;
4. The competence to decide the establishment of
special-use, protection and production forests is prescribed as follows:
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The provincial-level Peoples Committee
presidents shall decide on the establishment of special-use forests of local
importance after obtaining the written evaluation from the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development;
b/ For protection forests: Basing itself on the
planning on protection forests already approved by the Prime Minister, the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall direct localities to
formulate investment projects on protection and development of protection
forests and submit them to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
for evaluation. Basing themselves on such evaluation opinions, the
provincial-level Peoples Committee presidents shall decide on the establishment
of protection forests;
c/ For production forests being natural forests:
Basing themselves on the planning on production forests already approved by the
Prime Minister, the provincial-level Peoples Committees shall decide on
policies to assign and lease land in accordance with the Land Law to
organizations, households and individuals for agricultural and forestry
production.
Article 4.- Competence
to approve investment projects, changes in the use purposes of forests of three
categories and re-classification of special-use forests
1. Competent bodies defined in Article 3 of this
Regulation shall be also competent to approve investment projects, forest
management, protection and development schemes or plans with investment capital
levels prescribed by law;
2. Competent bodies defined in Article 3 shall
be also competent to decide on changes in the use purposes of forests of three
categories provided that they obtain written consents from the concerned
ministries, branches.
3. For cases where the use purposes of the
forests of the above-said three categories are changed (not for forestry purposes),
they shall comply with the provisions of the Land Law and the Law on Forest
Protection and Development.
4. The re-classification of special-use forests
(from nature conservation zones, cultural, historical and environmental forests
into national gardens or vice versa):
a/ For special-use forests under the central
management, the managing ministries shall submit the re-classification to the
Government for decision;
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Article 5.- Division and
demarcation of forests of three categories
Special-use forests, protection forests and
production forests must be clearly demarcated on the map and on the field with
a system of marks and signboards, and statistic dossiers must be made for close
monitoring thereof.
To facilitate their management, special-use
forests, protection forests and production forests shall be divided into the
following acreage units:
- Sub-zones: With an average area of 1,000
hectares each, used as a basic unit for forest management; the ordinal numbers
of sub-zones within each province shall be inscribed in Arabian figures from
sub-zone 1 to the last one (for example: sub-zone 1, sub-zone 2,…);
- Plots: With an average area of 100 hectares
each, used as a statistical unit for forest resources and facilitating the
field location; the ordinal numbers of plots within a sub-zone shall be
inscribed in Arabian figures (for example: plot 1, plot 2, …);
- Lots: being divided units of plot, with the
same natural conditions and exposed to the same technical impact measures; the
average area of a lot shall be 10 hectares for natural timber forests and
bamboo forests; the ordinal numbers of lots within one plot shall be inscribed
in Vietnamese letters (for example: lot a, lot b,…);
For special-use forests and protection forests,
their division shall depend on concrete requirements, they may not be
necessarily divided in lots;
The ordinal numbers of sub-zones, plots and lots
shall be inscribed in the north-south, west-east order;
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development shall provide detailed guidance on the system of boundary marks,
signboards and the compilation of dossiers for management of these categories
of forest.
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SPECIAL-USE FORESTS
I. ORGANIZATION AND
MANAGEMENT OF SPECIAL-USE FORESTS
Article 6.- Types of
special-use forest
Special-use forests shall be divided into the
following three types:
1. National gardens, which are natural land
areas established to permanently protect one or several ecological systems,
ensure the following basic requirements:
a/ Natural land areas consisting of standard
specimens of various basic ecological systems (remaining intact or little
affected by man); specific characteristics of the habitats of different fauna
and flora species; forests of high scientific, educational and tourist values;
b/ Natural land areas large enough to
accommodate one or several ecological systems, having not undergone changes due
to man’s adverse impacts; the area of natural ecological systems to be
conserved must account for 70% or above;
c/ Relatively convenient traffic conditions;
2. Nature conservation zones, which are natural
land areas set up with a view to ensuring natural succession, and are divided
into two types as follows:
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- Having typical natural ecological system(s)
still characterized with basic attributes of the nature, seeing little adverse
impacts caused by man, having diversified fauna and flora systems;
- Having important geo-biological, geological
and ecological characteristics or other characteristics of scientific,
educational, scenic and tourist values;
- Having endemic fauna and flora species still
existing or being in danger of extinction;
- Being large enough to ensure the wholeness of
the ecological system; the area of the natural ecological system to be
conserved must account for 70% or above;
- Ensuring avoidance from direct bad impacts
exerted by man;
b/ Zones for conservation of fauna and/or flora
species or habitats, which are natural land areas managed and protected in order
to ensure habitats for one or many endemic or rare and precious fauna and/or
flora species and must meet the following conditions:
- Playing an important role in conserving the
nature, maintaining the life and growth of species, being reproduction, hunting,
operating or resting, sheltering grounds of animals;
- Having rare and precious plant varieties, or
being living or migration places of rare and precious wild animal species;
- Being capable of conserving the habitats and
species based on human protection, and, when necessary, exerting through man’s
action impacts on the habitats;
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3. Cultural, historical and environmental
forests (scenic place-protecting forests), which are areas containing one or
several scenic places of typical aesthetic value as well as cultural or
historical value, aiming to serve cultural, tourist activities or experimental
research, including:
a/ Areas with beautiful landscapes in the mainland,
coastal areas or islands;
b/ Areas with classified historical and cultural
relics or with scenic views like waterfalls, caves, rocks, marine views,
archaeological sites or separate zones characterized with historical traditions
of local inhabitants;
c/ Areas reserved for experimental research;
For special-use forests being islands, there may
exist both forest and marine ecological systems;
For national gardens or nature conservation
zones being submerged land areas, they will include all natural resources of
the ecological system of submerged land and aquatic creatures.
Article 7.- Functional
sub-zones of national gardens and nature conservation zones
National gardens and nature conservation zones
shall be divided into the following functional sub-zones:
- Strictly-protected sub-zones, which are
preserved in their wholeness and placed under strict management and protection
so as to monitor natural evolution; all acts of changing the natural landscape
of the forests are strictly forbidden;
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- Service-administrative sub-zones, which are
areas for construction of working and living facilities of the management
boards, research and experimentation establishments, tourist, recreation and
entertainment services.
In national gardens and nature conservation
zones, there may be constructed tourist service points and lines which must be
determined in feasibility projects approved by competent authorities.
Article 8.- Buffer zones
for national gardens and nature conservation zones
There must be buffer zones to prevent
undesirable impacts on national gardens and nature conservation zones.
1. Buffer zones are forest areas, land areas or
land areas with water surface situated adjacent to national gardens or nature
conservation zones, with the function of preventing or restricting encroachment
upon special-use forests. All activities in buffer zones must be for purposes
of supporting the conservation, management and protection of special-use
forests; evacuation of people from outside into buffer zones shall be
restricted; hunting and trapping of animals and cutting and destruction of wild
plant varieties in need of protection shall be banned.
2. The area of buffer zones shall not be
included in the area of special-use forests. Investment projects on construction
and development of buffer zones shall be approved together with investment
projects of special-use forests.
3. Investors of buffer zone projects shall have
to coordinate with the Peoples Committee of different levels and agencies,
units and socio-economic organizations based in buffer zones, especially with
the special-use forest management boards, in formulating forestry, agricultural
and fishery production and sedentarization schemes on the basis of the
participation of local inhabitants communities, submit them to competent
authorities for approval and organize their implementation so as to stabilize
and raise the peoples living standards.
Article 9.- Assignment
of responsibility to manage special-use forests
1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development shall be responsible to the Prime Minister for assigning the
responsibility to manage special-use forests regarding the following
activities:
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b/ Directly managing national gardens, which are
of special importance or stretch over two or more provinces;
c/ Coordinating with the Ministry of Aquatic
Resources in organizing professional and technical guidance, inspecting and
supervising the management and protection of natural resources being aquatic
creatures in national gardens and nature conservation zones where exist water
ecological systems;
2. The Ministry of Culture and Information shall
directly manage and organize the construction of cultural, historical and
environmental forests classified as of national level or internationally
recognized so as to serve the purposes of cultural and historical sight-seeing
tours. At the same time, the Ministry of Culture and Information shall have to
coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in organizing
the construction, management and protection of these forests:
3. The provincial-level People’s Committees shall
directly manage the remaining special-use forests in the system of special-use
forests; depending on the scope and significance of each of such forests, the
provinces shall issue decisions on assigning them to the district level for
management, construction and exploitation thereof for sightseeing and tourist
purposes.
Article 10.-
Formulation of investment projects for special-use forests
1. For each special-use forest there must be a
development planning on which investment projects shall be formulated and
submitted to competent authorities for approval; for large-scale projects, they
shall be phased into different implementation periods, and shall be considered
and evaluated for supplements when necessary; apart from investment projects on
construction of special-use forests, when a need arises, one or several buffer
zone projects may be formulated in conformity with the local social and
economic conditions;
2. The State shall invest with the budgetary
capital and at the same time attract aid capital sources from foreign countries
and international organizations in constructing the system of special-use
forests according to the approved investment projects.
Article 11.- The
managerial apparatus of special-use forests
1. For each special-use forest with a
concentrated area of 1,000 hectares or above (or under 1,000 hectares in
special cases), a management board shall be set up and operate according to the
mechanism of revenue-generating economic public-service units. Such a
management board shall be the forest owner, assigned with forestry land and
granted a land use right certificate, take responsibility for managing,
protecting and constructing the forest assigned to it;
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3. For special-use forests with an area of under
1,000 hectares each (except special cases), management boards shall not be set
up. Instead, they shall be assigned to organizations, households and
individuals (collectively called forest owners) for management, protection and
construction according to law provisions;
Where special-use forests have not yet been
assigned to any specific owners, the district-level Peoples Committees shall be
responsible for directing the Peoples Committees of communes where such
special-use forests exist to organize the management, protection and
construction of these forests; at the same time carry out procedures to submit
to competent State bodies for approval the assignment of land and forests to
the above-said forest owners for management, protection and construction of
special-use forests;
4. The payroll quota of a special-use forests
management board shall depend on the scope, value and conditions of each
forest; there may be a staff member on average for every 1,000 hectares (for
forests which are of important significance regarding conservation of species
or habitats, of cultural and historical values, and which are isolated from
large forest areas, there may be a staff member for every 500 hectares); each
management board shall have at least five members;
5. For special-use forests prescribed in Clause
3 of this Article, funding shall be also allocated for discharge of the forest
management and protection tasks defined in Clause 4 of this Article.
Article 12.- Tasks and
powers of the special-use forest management boards
1. To be responsible to the State for managing,
protecting, constructing and using special-use forests according to this
Regulation and law provisions; to organize management and protection of natural
resources; to restore and conserve the intactness of various ecological
systems; to preserve the bio-diversity of special-use forests, including:
taking measures to sustainably develop biological resources, soil resources,
water resources and at the same time coordinating with the local
administrations in protecting other natural resources; taking measures to
prevent and fight forest fires, prevent and control insects harmful to forests,
prevent acts of damaging special-use forests;
2. To elaborate additional investment projects
on construction of special-use forests together with annual cost estimates for
their activities and submit them to competent authorities for approval; to
manage the use of investment funding allocated from the State budget according
to current regulations;
3. To organize the implementation of activities
of special-use forests investment projects already approved by competent
authorities; to organize international cooperation activities as assigned by
competent bodies according to the State’s current regulations in this regard;
4. To elaborate and organize the implementation
of, regulations on operation of special-use forests under the guidance of the
managing bodies;
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6. To carry out scientific research, cultural,
social and eco-tourism service activities according to law provisions.
II. PROTECTION, CONSTRUCTION
AND USE OF SPECIAL-USE FORESTS
Article 13.- Management,
protection and development of natural resources in special-use forests
1. All natural resources in special-use forests
must be further surveyed meticulously and recorded in monitoring dossiers;
To regularly monitor the evolution of forest
natural resources, particularly rare and precious species, adjust statistical
data and maps accordingly; to conduct re-assessment of natural resources once
every five years;
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development shall have to deploy implementation thereof according to the
provisions in Clause 1, Article 9 of this Regulation.
2. In strictly-protected sub-zones the following
activities are strictly prohibited:
a/ Activities that may change natural
landscapes;
b/ Activities that may affect the natural life
of wild animal and/or plant species;
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d/ Exploiting biological resources;
e/ Exploiting other natural resources;
f/ Grazing cattle;
g/ Causing environmental pollution;
h/ Bringing noxious chemicals, explosives or inflammables
into forests, lighting fires in and at the edge of forests.
3. In ecological rehabilitation sub-zones the
following activities are strictly prohibited:
a/ Exploiting biological resources;
b/ Exploiting other natural resources;
c/ Causing environmental pollution.
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a/ The major measure to be taken to rehabilitate
the ecological system of special-use forest is to zone off for tendering and
natural regeneration.
- To limit forest re-planting, if forest is to
be re-planted, correct technical measures must be applied, with to be-planted
trees being aboriginal, according to projects approved by competent
authorities; particularly for strictly-protected sub-zones, the provisions in
Item c, Clause 2 of this Article shall be complied with;
- The protection and restoration of wild animals
in special-use forests:
All wild animal species must be strictly protected,
their hunting, trapping or chase shall be prohibited;
To protect the living environment and feed
sources of wild animals, feed and drinking water sources may, when necessary,
be additionally created for them;
To release only healthy and disease-free wild
animal species into special-use forests with a suitable ecological area; the
quantity of each species must be suited to their habitats and feed sources;
b/ The protection, restoration and development
of aquatic biological resources and bio-diversity of the submerged ecological
systems within special-use forests located in islands, coastal or submerged
areas shall comply with the already approved contents in investment projects
and the law provisions on aquatic resources.
Article 14.- Full exploitation,
full use of timber in special-use forests
Full exploitation and full use of timber shall
be only carried out in special-use forests that are cultural, historical and
environmental forests according to the following provisions:
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The procedures for dossier compilation,
management of the full exploitation and full use of timber shall comply with
the regulations guided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Article 15.- Scientific
research activities in special-use forests
1. Basing themselves on the regulations on
scientific research in special-use forests, issued by the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development, the special-use forest management boards
shall have to make annual scientific research plans and submit them to
competent authorities for approval, organize their implementation and report
the results to the superior managing body.
2. Scientific research, teaching or practice
visits made by domestic organizations or individual Vietnamese scientists,
pupils, students must comply with the following provisions:
a/ They must be permitted by the special-use
forest management board and comply with its guidance and supervision;
b/ When scientific research activities are
carried out in special-use forests, a location rental and charges for necessary
services must be paid to the special-use forest management board;
c/ A report on the research results already
tested and publicized must be sent to the special-use forest management board.
3. The scientific research conducted by foreign
organizations or individual foreign scientists themselves or in coordination
with Vietnamese organizations or scientists must comply with the following
provisions:
a/ They must be permitted by the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development and comply with the guidance and supervision
of the special-use forest management board;
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c/ A report on the research results already
tested and publicized must be sent to the permitting body and the special-use
forests management board.
4. The collection of specimens in special-use
forests for any purposes must be permitted by the Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Development and expenses there for must be paid to the special-use forest
management boards;
The collection and taking of specimens abroad
shall be subject to a separate regulation.
Article 16.-
Organization of tourist activities in special-use forests
1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the
concerned ministries and branches in promulgating regulations on the
organization of tourist activities (ecological, cultural, historical,
convalescent) on the principle that development of tourist activities shall be
strongly encouraged without adversely affecting the objective of nature and
environment conservation.
2. The organization of tourist activities within
special-use forests must be formulated into separate projects and shall be
permitted by the special-use forest-managing level on the principle that it
must not adversely affect the special-use forests conservation objective.
3. The special-use forest management boards may
organize by themselves, lease out or contract the provision of ecological
tourism services to organizations, households and individuals.
It is forbidden to lease out, contract or
contribute as joint venture capital land and forests belonging to
strictly-protected sub-zones of national gardens, which may cause change in the
forests natural succession.
All revenues and expenditures related to tourist
services shall comply with the current financial management regulations;
earnings from tourist services shall be mostly left for investment in the work
of managing, protecting and developing special-use forests.
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Article 17.-
Socio-economic stabilization and development for inhabitants living in
special-use forests and buffer zones
1. Planning options and investment projects on
building and organizing the life for the population in special-use forests and
buffer zones must be approved by the competent authorities together with
decisions on the establishment of such forests.
2. The population currently living in
special-use forests shall be stabilized. It is forbidden to relocate people
from elsewhere into special-use forests and buffer zones.
In special cases where it is necessary to
evacuate people from strictly-protected sub-zones of special-use forests, the
special-use forest management board shall have to make a plan thereon and
submit it to the competent authorities for approval according to current
regulations.
3. Fixed areas of dwelling land, rice fields,
gardens and milpa of inhabitants living in special-use forests shall not be
included into the area of special-use forests but must be reflected on the map
and have boundary markers posted openly on the field.
4. Inhabitants living in special-use forests and
buffer zones must strictly observe the Law on Forest Protection and
Development, abide by the provisions in this Regulation as well as regulations
issued by the special-use forest management board.
Chapter III
PROTECTION FORESTS
I. ORGANIZATION AND
MANAGEMENT OF PROTECTION FORESTS
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1. Headwater protection forests, aiming to
regulate water sources for currents and reservoirs so as to limit flooding,
reduce erosion, protect soil and limit the heightening of lake and river beds;
2. Protection forests to shield against harmful
winds, blown sand, protect agriculture, protect residential quarters, urban
centers, production areas and other construction works;
3. Coastal protection forests to shield against
waves, prevent landslides and protect coastal construction works.
4. Protection forests to protect the ecological
environment and landscapes in order to make the climate equable, prevent
pollution in populous areas, urban centers and industrial zones, in combination
with providing tourist and relaxation services.
Article 19.-
Classification of protection forests by their degrees of importance
1. Very important areas: covering headwater
areas, which are highly steep, close to rivers, lakes, prone to strong erosion,
have the highest demand for water regulation; places of vigorous sand movement;
coastal places prone to landslides and sea waves regularly threatening
production and the peoples life, in direst need of protection, specialized
protection forests therefore must be planned and invested for construction,
ensuring a forest coverage of above 70%.
2. Important areas: including areas with a fair
degree of slantingness, erosion and demand for headwater regulation; places
where the threat of sand movement and sea waves is lesser and conditions permit
combined development of forestry production, with high demand for land
protection and use, where protection forests must be constructed in combination
with production, ensuring a forest coverage of at least 50%.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development shall specify the criteria for very important and important forest
areas in order to guide the implementation thereof.
Article 20.-
Organization of the protection forest management apparatus
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2. For protection forests with a concentrated
area of 20,000 hectares or more, ranger sections may be set up, which are
attached to the protection forest management boards and also submit to the
professional guidance of the provincial Ranger Services.
3. For protection forests with an area (whether
or not concentrated) of under 5,000 hectares, management boards shall not be
set up. Instead, they shall be assigned to other organizations, households and
individuals for management, protection and construction. The funding for the
performance of this task shall be allocated from the provincial budgets.
Where such forests have not yet been assigned to
specific forest owners, the People’s Committees of the communes where such
forests exist shall be responsible for managing, protecting and constructing
such forests and, at the same time, working out plans on step-by-step
assignment of land and forests to the above-said forest owners and submit them
to competent State bodies.
4. The payroll quota of a protection forest
management board shall be determined depending on the area of the protection
forest assigned by the State; for every 1,000 hectares of forest there shall be
one staff member on average and each management board shall be staffed with at
least 7 persons.
Article 21.- Tasks and
powers of the protection forest management boards
1. To be responsible to the State for managing,
protecting, constructing and using protection forests according to law
provisions.
2. Basing themselves on investment projects for
protection forest construction and development already approved by competent
authorities, the protection forest management boards shall work out annual
plans of activity and send them to competent authorities for approval before
organizing their implementation.
3. To receive investment capital from the State,
coordinate with the People’s Committees of different levels and concerned
agencies in the localities in organizing the implementation of the plans on
contractual assignment of such capital to organizations, households and
individuals for protection and construction of protection forests; manage and
use investment capital according to the current regulations;
4. To conduct production and business activities
on production forest land lying interspersed with the protection forests
according to the regulations on managing production forests in combination with
doing business in activities of agricultural production, planting industrial
trees, fruit trees, eco-tourism, fully exploiting forestry products, exploiting
and using forests under Article 25 of this Regulation;
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6. To propagate and educate people in their
respective localities to take part in protecting and constructing protection
forests;
7. To periodically report to the superior
authorities on the situation of the evolution of forest resources and
activities of managing, protecting, building and developing protection forests
according to the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development.
II. CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF
PROTECTION FORESTS
Article 22.- Formative
criteria for each type of protection forest
In each protection forest, the land area covered
with forests must be protected while the area not yet covered with forests must
be zoned for regeneration or afforestation with a view to ensuring the
following formative criteria for each type of forest:
1. Headwater protection forests must form a
concentrated area with a structure of mixed varieties of different ages and
multiple layers, for deeply and strongly-rooted plant varieties, the degree of
their canopy must be above 0.6;
2. Protection forests shielding against harmful
wind and blown sand must comprise at least one main forest belt with a minimum
width of 20 meters, combined with subsidiary forest belts forming a closed
area; protection forests for agricultural production and economic works are
planted in bands and lines, each forest belt or band consists of multiple lines
of trees crown-contacted both horizontally and vertically;
3. Coastal protection forests shielding against
sea waves must comprise at least one forest belt with a minimum width of 30
meters, consisting of multiple lines of crown-contact trees; different forest
belts must have alternate entrances in the direction of big waves.
4. Protection forests to protect the ecological
environment and landscapes are systems of forest belts and bands and systems of
green trees intermingled with population areas, industrial zones or tourist
resorts, ensuring prevention of air pollution, creating a clean environment in
combination with recreation, entertainment and sight-seeing activities.
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The State shall allocate investment funding for
the management, protection, construction and development of very important and
important protection forests according to projects, schemes and plans approved
by competent authorities and for payment of expenses for the operation of the
protection forest management boards apparatus.
The State shall encourage organizations,
households and individuals to invest in constructing protection forests.
Article 24.- Benefits
of households contracted with and participating in the investment in
constructing protection forests
1. Where the State invests capital and assigns
it under package contracts to organizations, households and individuals (called
collectively as contracting households) for protecting forests, zoning for
forest restoration or afforestation, the contracting households shall be
obliged to correctly carry out the plans and contents required in the package
assignment contracts and be entitled to the following benefits (excluding kinds
of Group I forestry products specified in Decree No. 18/HDBT of January 17,
1992 of the Council of Ministers (now the Government):
a/ To be entitled to receive remuneration for
protecting, zoning off and regenerating forests, or afforestation, depending on
the results of the performance of the package assignment contracts signed with
the forest management board;
b/ To be entitled to exploit dry wood and
subsidiary forestry products under the forest canopy;
c/ Households contracted to zone off and
regenerate forests in combination with planting additional forests shall be
entitled to enjoy all thinly-pruned products, products not infringing upon to
the forest canopy (flowers, fruits, resins, baamboo shoots), and subsidiary
forestry and agricultural products under the forest canopy;
d/ Depending on each particular project, at the
expiry of the contractual term if the contracting households so wish and have
performed correctly the contents of their contracts during the contractual
term, they may receive other contracts for the next period.
2. Where households invest their own capital in
zoning and regenerating forests, planting new forests on land not yet covered with
forests, they shall be entitled to enjoy 100% of the agricultural and forestry
products when their forests meet the criteria for exploitation;
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Article 25.- Full
exploitation of timber, bamboo and forestry products in protection forests
1. For protection forests being natural forests:
- The exploitation aims to get rid of old and
stunted trees, diseased trees, thereby raising the forests regenerability and
quality;
- It is permitted to fully exploit dry dead
trees, diseased trees, topless trees, old and stunted trees, trees in
over-density areas, at a rate not exceeding 20%, except for kinds of timber of
Group IA specified in Decree No. 18/HDBT of January 17, 1992 of the Council of
Ministers (now the Government); it is permitted to fully exploit fallen trees,
timber left on the ground for years, so as to create conditions for natural
regeneration;
- It is permitted to fully exploit forestry
products other than timber, bamboo if such exploitation does not affect the
forests protection capacity, except Group I forestry products (specified in
Decree No. 18/HDBT of January 17, 1992 of the Council of Ministers (now the
Government);
- For bamboo forests that have met the
protection requirements (with a coverage of above 80%), it is permitted to
exploit them at a maximum rate of 30% and to exploit bamboo shoots.
In parallel with the full exploitation and full
use of timber, bamboo, forestry products, the forest owners must manage,
protect and develop forests through such measures as afforestation, zoning for
regeneration, and enriching forests.
2. For protection forests being planted forests:
a/ For protection forests planted with the
States investment, it is permitted to exploit subsidiary trees, thinly-pruned
trees when planted forests reach a density higher than the prescribed one, at
the exploitation rate not exceeding 20% and ensure that, after being thinly
pruned, forests should have a canopy degree of above 0.6.
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b/ For forests planted with the investment by
the management boards or heads of contracting households, when they have
reached the exploitable age, it is permitted to exploit each year at most one
tenth of the area with forests planted by forest owners by the mode of felling
in bands or small patches under 2 hectares in important areas or under 1
hectare in very important areas covered with headwater protection forests, and
under 1 hectare for other types of protection forest.
c/ After exploitation, forest owners must
proceed with regenerating or re- planting forests immediately in the next
afforestation season and continue the management and protection thereof.
3. For protection forests which are restored
through zoning for natural regeneration on land without forests, Clause 1 of
this Article shall apply.
4. The exploitation procedures, the exploitation
and the exploitation supervision and monitoring must comply with this
Regulation, regulations, technical processes and procedures of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development.
Article 26.- Management
and use of other types of forest and land lying intermingled with protection
forests
For production forest areas lying intermingled
with protection forests, the forest management boards may organize production
according to the provisions in Chapter IV of this Regulation.
Inhabitants fixed residential land, rice fields,
gardens and milpa lying intermingled with protection forests shall not be
included in such protection forests and shall be managed by the local
administrations themselves. The Peoples Committees of competent levels shall
assign and grant land use-right certificates to households, individuals
according to law provisions.
Chapter IV
PRODUCTION FORESTS BEING
NATURAL FORESTS
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Article 27.-
Classification of production forests being natural forests
Natural forests are forests of natural origin,
including existing natural forests and forests restored through zoning for
natural regeneration on land no longer covered with forests. Natural forests
shall be classified by their products as follows:
a/ Timber forests;
b/ Bamboo forests;
c/ Specialty forests (cinnamon, amomum,
pharmaceutical materials of all kinds).
Article 28.-
Organization and management of production forests being natural forests
1. Production forests being natural forests
under unified State management shall be organized into the following production
and business units:
- State-run forestry farms tasked to manage, protect
forests and conduct forest production and business activities within the
assigned areas of forests and forestry land;
- Sub-farms or production teams, which are units
attached to forestry farms and tasked to manage and implement production plans
of their forestry farms, forestry sub-farms.
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3. Inhabitants fixed agricultural land,
residential land, rice fields, gardens and milpa lying intermingled with
production forests shall not be included in production forests; the local
administrations shall assign the right to use these types of land according to
law provisions to households and individuals lawfully residing in their
localities.
Article 29.-
Responsibilities of State-run forestry farms for managing the business in
production forests being natural forests
1. Directors of forestry farms shall be responsible
to the State for the assigned forest funds and the effectiveness of the forest
business management, shall have to organize the management, protection,
tendering and rational use of these forest funds with a view to maintaining and
developing them according to the approved overall planning, plans and schemes
on forest production and business.
a/ To abide by the policies, regimes, laws,
technical processes and procedures related to land use and management, forest
use and forest production and business activities;
b/ Annually to report to State management bodies
on the situation of the evolution of forest resources in their assigned areas.
2. Every five years, to re-assess the forest
resources and forestry land so as to evaluate the effectiveness of the forest
business management, which shall serve as basis for the formulation of
production plans in the next period.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development shall guide in detail the annual and five-year reporting on forest
resources.
Article 30.- Benefits
of State-run forestry farms in managing the business in production forests
being natural forests
1. To be entitled to exploit, process and sell
timber and forestry products according to the provisions in Article 35 of this
Regulation.
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- Payment of expenses for production (including
various phases from forest preparation, exploitation designing, evaluation of
exploitation designs to exploitation, export, transport, preservation and sale
of products);
- Payment of taxes to the State as prescribed;
- Investment in forest regeration with the
application of biological forestry measures like zoning for regeneration,
contracting out the forest protection, enriching forests, periodically
re-assessing forest resources;
- Deductions for setting up other funds of
forestry farms according to law provisions.
2. To be entitled to organize the collection,
processing and sale of agricultural and forestry products.
3. To be entitled to use at most 20% of the
assigned land area not yet covered with forests for agricultural production and
fishery;
4. To be entitled to enter into joint venture
with organizations and individuals inside and outside the country for
cultivation and processing of agricultural and forestry products;
5. To contract organizations, individuals and
households to participate in the protection, zoning for tendering and planting
of forests according to the Government’s Decree No. 01/CP of January 4, 1995 on
the contractual assignment of land for use for agricultural production,
forestry and aquaculture at State enterprises;
6. To be entitled to compensation for damage to
works constructed with forest owners investment capital on the assigned land
which is recovered by the State.
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Article 31.- Benefits
of other forest owners in managing the business in production forests being
natural forests
1. To be provided support by the State for
production and business development such as loans at preferential interest
rates, technical services, forestry promotion, product processing and sale
services.
2. To be entitled to financial support for
building of infrastructures in service of production like transportation roads,
forest fire prevention and fight, forest disease prevention and elimination,
construction of nursery gardens, and reassessment of forest resources once
every five years.
3. To be entitled to exploit timber and forestry
products according to the provisions in Article 35 of this Regulation, enjoy
100% of incomes after repaying all principal capital and interests thereon (if
any) and pay all taxes as prescribed by law; and to invest in forest
regeneration according to current regulations.
4. To be entitled to use at most 20% of the
assigned or leased land area not yet covered with forests for agricultural
production and fishery.
5. To be entitled to compensation for damage to
works built with forest owners’ investment capital on the assigned or leased
forestry land areas that are recovered by the State.
Article 32.-
Responsibility of other forest owners for managing the business in production
forests being natural forests
1. To strictly abide by the States policies and
laws, relevant regulations, technical processes and procedures related to the
land use management, forest use management and forest business.
2. To ensure the use of forestry land for right
purposes and the stable and permanent use of forests.
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4. To annually report to the State management
bodies on the situation of the evolution of forest resources in their assigned
areas; once every five years to re-assess forest resources with a view to
evaluating the effectiveness of the forest business management, which shall
serve as basis for formulating production schemes and plans in the next period.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
shall guide in detail the annual and five-year reporting on forest resources.
II. DOING BUSINESS IN AND
USE OF PRODUCTION FORESTS BEING NATURAL FORESTS
Article 33.- Conditions
for putting forests into production and business
1. Forest owners must have land use-right
certificates granted by competent State bodies; where they have not yet
obtained such certificates, they must have decisions issued by competent State
bodies to assign or lease forestry land for forest production and business.
2. Forest owners being forestry farms or other
organizations must have dossiers approved by competent authorities, including:
- Investment projects;
- Forest production and business, protection and
management schemes;
- When exploiting production forests being natural
forests, there must be forest restoration schemes.
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Article 34.-
Regulations on zoning for tendering of production forests being natural forests
The zoning for tendering of production forests
being natural forests must comply with the plans, investment projects or
production and business schemes or plans already approved by competent
authorities.
1. For projects on zoning forests for tendering,
which are funded with budgetary capital, non-refundable aid capital, domestic
and foreign concessional loans, the forest owners or project owners must make
cost estimates therefor and submit them to the following competent authorities
for approval:
- The provincial/municipal Agriculture and Rural
Development Services, if they are units attached to the provinces;
- The managing ministries or branches, if they
are units attached to the ministries or branches;
- The corporations or companies, if they are
units attached to the corporations or companies.
2. If the forest owners make investment with
their own capital, they may make their own decisions on the zoning for
tendering of forests
Article 35.-
Exploitable objects, procedures for exploitation of timber and forestry
products from production forests being natural forests
1. Exploitable objects shall include:
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b/ Timber from production forests being natural
forests under the management of households, individuals, including also natural
forests marked off for tendering and restoration on land no longer covered with
forests, except those types of Group 1A (specified in Decree No. 18/HDBT of
January 17, 1992 of the Council of Ministers (now the Government);
c/ Other forestry products, except those types
of Group 1A (specified in Decree No. 18/HDBT of January 17, 1992 of the Council
of Ministers (now the Government);
d/ Exploiting products while tendering,
enriching, thinly pruning forests, and exploiting dead standing trees;
e/ Fully exploiting timber lying on the ground
(dry dead trees, removal of pith, bark’).
2. Procedures for exploitation of timber from
natural forests:
- For timber exploitation, there must be designing
dossiers approved by competent bodies;
- Annual exploitation sites and outputs must be
compliant with forest restoration schemes or forest production and business
schemes or plans already approved by competent authorities;
- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development shall coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment in
submitting to the Government for approval the annual plan’s total quota for
exploitation of timber from natural forests.
- On the basis of the total exploitation quota
approved by the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development shall allocate the quotas for exploitation of timber from natural
forests in the subsequent year to the localities and units for proceeding with
the exploitation designing;
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- The provincial-level Peoples Committees shall
approve the exploitation designing dossiers, sum up and submit them to the
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for evaluation;
- On the basis of the results of the dossier
evaluation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall issue to
the localities decisions on opening forests for timber exploitation, which
shall serve as basis for the provincial-level Peoples Committees to make
decisions to grant exploitation permits to enterprises.
3. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development shall issue concrete regulations on the compilation of dossiers,
exploitation procedures, organization and supervision of exploitation as well
as regulations, technical processes and procedures for exploitation of timber
and forestry products:
- After being exploited, natural forests must be
cleaned up and closed, protected and tendered throughout the next period.
- For products exploited under permits from
production forests being natural forests, after completion of procedures to
prove that they are exploited lawfully according to current regulations, they
may be freely circulated on the market, except forestry products of Group I
((specified in Decree No. 18/HDBT of January 17, 1992 of the Council of
Ministers (now the Government).
Chapter V
IMPLEMENTATION
PROVISIONS
Article 36.- Inspection
and supervision of the forest management and forest production and business
1. The presidents of the Peoples Committees of
all levels shall have to perform the State management over all forest areas and
forestry land areas in the localities under their management; direct the
organization of all activities related to the management, protection,
construction, development and business of production forests in their
localities according to law provisions.
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3. The ranger offices shall have to supervise,
inspect and monitor the observance of the legislation on forest management and
protection in their localities, and at the same time guide and help forest
owners to manage and protect forests according to the provisions in Clause 4,
Article 7 of the Prime Ministers 187/1999/QD-TTg of September 16, 1999 and this
Regulation.
4. The forest owners shall manage and protect
forests and forestry land areas assigned or leased to them; oversee and carry
out production activities, prevent mistakes and timely detect violations for
interception and handling, or report them to competent authorities for handling
according to law provisions.
5. The law enforcement bodies of all levels
shall, when conducting inspection and supervision, make written records on and
handle violations, or report them to the superior authorities for handling
according to law provisions.
Article 37.-
Organizations, households and individuals shall have to abide by the provisions
in this Regulation. If they commit any violations, they shall, depending on the
nature and seriousness of their violations, be administratively sanctioned,
disciplined or examined for penal liability according to law provisions. If
they record achievements, they shall be commended and rewarded by the State.
Article 38.- All
previous regulations contrary to this Regulation are now annulled.