Reforestation Loan for Vietnam
4/1/97
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Headline: Reforestation Loan for Vietnam
Source: The Environment News Service is exclusively hosted by the
EnviroLink Network.
Date: 4/1/97
Copyright c 1997 ENS, Inc.
MANILA, Philippines, Apr. 1, 1997 (ENS) - Degraded forests and bare lands
in Viet Nam will be rehabilitated as a result of an interest-free US$33
million equivalent loan approved in late March for the Forestry Sector
Project by the Asian Development Bank.
Vegetative cover will be restored in three vital mountain watersheds that
feed river systems which in turn provide water for downstream farmlands.
The watersheds feed the Chu River in Thanh Hoa province in the north, the
Truc Kinh Reservoir in Quang Tri province in central Viet Nam and the Ba
river in the southern central provinces of Gia Lai and Phu Yen.
This is the first time a major reforestation project in Viet Nam will be
carried out with the participation of forest communities. Plans will be
drawn up with the villagers on how to use the degraded lands. Most of the
114,000 affected hectares (281,700 acres) will be reforested. Ten per cent
will be allocated for crops and a lesser amount set aside for livestock
grazing land. This is aimed at reducing slash-and-burn cultivation
practices which jeopardize forests.
Some 80,000 families, mostly among forest communities and including ethnic
minorities, will be project participants and will be granted long-term
land tenure.
The project's innovative aspects will be explained to forestry officials
at seminars.
Forests cover 30 per cent of Viet Nam's land area, but this share is
dwindling rapidly, with an estimated 100,000 hectares (247,100 acres)
being lost annually. Forests meet 75 per cent of the country's fuelwood
needs and 25 per cent of the timber used for construction. But forests are
also vitally needed as watershed protectors - a role critical in a land
with many narrow plains bounded by mountains and the sea.
Protecting the forests ensures a steady supply of much-needed water for
the farmland on which 80 per cent of the population depends for their
livelihood. On the other hand, Viet Nam's rural people are mostly poor and
depend on hillside cultivation for food and trees for fuelwood.
The project seeks to balance these conflicting needs in a way that ensures
sustainable development. As well as undertaking land surveys and land use
classification, the project will establish and maintain tree plantations
and will provide minor irrigation civil works and village access roads.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will be the executing
agency for the project, which is scheduled for completion by mid-2003.
The total project cost is US$53.2 million. The ADB is financing 62 per
cent with the remainder coming from the Dutch government (13 per cent),
the Viet Nam government (10 per cent) and the beneficiaries, who will
contribute 15 per cent through their labor.
The direct economic benefits expected from the project will accrue from
the net value of incremental output of fuelwood, timber, and agroforestry
products. While control of soil erosion is a direct project benefit, it
has not been included for lack of needed data for quantifying it. About
112,000 person-years of employment will be generated by the Project over
the six-year implementation period. The economic internal rates of return
for the core subprojects range from 13 per cent to 27 per cent.