Policy brief: Assessing forest management in Viet Nam: Identifying key challenges and interventions to strengthen governance

Vietnam is the country where still has many poor and vulnerable people, especially in rural and ethnic minority communities - most of whom is living depending on forest resources. Meanwhile, the forest is facing a lot of pressure, including illegal logging, infrastructure development and agricultural development. RECOFTC - The Center for People and Forests, in cooperation with the partner organizations of Mekong Voice Project (V4MF) funded by the European Union, is making efforts to identify challenges and management opportunities in Vietnam forest sector. It also proposes programs to address these issues through the promotion of effective participation of non-state actors (NSAs). To achieve that goal, a participatory forest governance assessment was conducted at the end of 2017 and early 2018. The findings of this review reflect the perceptions of the participants. It is clear that forest management in Vietnam is facing a number of challenges, especially in relation to participatory processes, but there are also opportunities to improve forest management. The project partners will work with a variety of stakeholders, especially non-state actors, including social organizations, to implement a program to address the challenges and take advantage of these opportunities.