5 years of implementing forest environmental service payments

(Baonghean) - Payment for forest environmental services is a new policy, the implementation process has encountered many difficulties and obstacles, but with the common efforts, especially the active and drastic participation of the Forest Protection and Development Fund, it has initially created a driving force to contribute to the protection and sustainable development of forests...

Nghe An has a total natural area of ​​1,649,853.2 ha, of which the forestry land area is 1,176,150.3 ha (accounting for 71% of the natural area) and a dense river and stream system, with all ecological zones such as: mountainous, midland, coastal plain... which are great favorable conditions for the provision of forest environmental services (FES). However, payment for FES is a unique policy, unprecedented in Vietnam, so implementing it to achieve good results is not simple.

Planted forest of Song Hieu Forestry Company in Nghia Mai commune (Nghia Dan).

Anticipating these difficulties and complexities, the Provincial People's Committee has paid close attention and directed the implementation of the above work. In conjunction with the establishment of the fund, the province has organized an Executive Board, a Management Board, a Control Board and assigned the responsibility to the Forest Protection and Development Fund to implement the policy of payment for forest environmental services.

To put the fund into effective operation and successfully complete its tasks, the province has selected qualified, capable, young, enthusiastic and responsible cadres to participate in the Executive Board, Management Board and Control Board; at the same time, it has built and strictly implemented the charter and operating regulations; assigned the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to preside over, develop and issue guidelines for implementing the policy on payment for forest environmental services.

Thanks to that, the fund's operation has had many creative discoveries, and implemented many positive and effective measures. Most notably, the fund has coordinated well in propaganda and guidance work; proactively advised the Provincial People's Committee and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to issue appropriate directives; actively mobilized and used revenue sources to promptly serve the work of forest protection and development.

Regarding the work of mobilizing resources, the fund considers this a key step in performing its tasks. Because only by doing a good job of mobilizing resources can there be funds to implement the payment policy and vice versa, the fund regularly follows the plan, seriously implements the instructions of superior agencies; applies many forms, and strengthens the urging of units that have signed the trust contract to declare and pay DVMTR money to the fund.

Although “both marching and lining up”, with that approach, over the past 5 years, the Forest Protection and Development Fund has directly negotiated and successfully signed trust contracts with 15 facilities using forest environmental services, including 10 hydropower production facilities and 5 clean water production and supply facilities. In addition, the Forest Protection and Development Fund regularly reviews to expand revenue sources, especially facilities using forest environmental services that are under construction to promote and negotiate to sign trust contracts when the plants come into operation such as: Chi Khe Hydropower Plant, Xoong Con, Khe Thoi, Ban Ang, Tien Phong, Ca Nan, Nhan Hac, Dong Van, Chau Thang...

At the same time, we are continuing to review and research to expand revenue sources from aquaculture, industrial production facilities and services using water resources... Therefore, annual revenue not only increases rapidly but also ensures increasingly sustainable policy implementation.

Primary forest in Pu Hoat Nature Reserve.

The payment work is given special importance by the Forest Protection and Development Fund. In reality, payment must not only be timely but also ensure fairness and accuracy to avoid many unpredictable consequences, such as easily causing conflicts among the people, making it difficult for forests to be protected and developed.

To do a good job of payment, in addition to coordinating with districts to build a payment network to the grassroots level and guiding the implementation of the MTR service payment policy, the fund strengthens inspection, urging and supervision.

Every year, the fund has put the inspection and supervision regime into order. In 2015 alone, the fund coordinated the implementation of more than 20 inspections and supervisions of programs and projects supported by investment from the fund's budget and in the first 6 months of 2016, it organized working groups to inspect forest protection activities associated with payment for forest environmental services in many key districts... Thereby helping the fund to promptly detect, handle and correct shortcomings and shortcomings in policy implementation, especially the management and use of forest environmental services money at the grassroots level, communes, villages and hamlets.

Through inspection and survey by working delegations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the General Department of Forestry, and the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund, the activities of the Nghe An Forest Protection and Development Fund are assessed as one of the units that have well implemented the policy of payment for forest environmental services nationwide.

Apart from the budget arrears in 2011 and 2012, which at that time had no payment records (now approved by the Prime Minister for disbursement in Official Dispatch 1820/TTg-KTTH dated October 13, 2015), the remaining years basically had the collection and disbursement carried out simultaneously. Accumulated to the end of the 2015 disbursement plan (April 30, 2016), the fund had disbursed a total of VND 174,098 million.

Disbursement results have increased steadily over the years, specifically as follows: 2012: 17,564 million VND (spending on forest environmental services); 2013: 20,494 million VND (spending on forest environmental services); 2014: 29,137 million VND (forest environmental services: 27,336 million VND, support for reforestation: 1,801 million VND); 2015: 106,903 million VND (forest environmental services: 97,874 million VND, support for reforestation: 9,030 million VND).

Leaders of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development inspected the field work of forest protection contracting. in My Ly commune (Ky Son).

Notably, the payment was not only timely and reached the contractors, but also contributed to job creation, hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and livelihood improvement, helping mountainous people feel secure in their attachment to the forest, actively contributing to stabilizing political security and social order and safety in localities in mountainous and border areas.

According to the statistics, the number of forest owners and people benefiting from the payment for forest environmental services increases every year, along with the number of organizations, households and individuals participating in forest protection contracts increases. Specifically: In 2012, the number of forest owners benefiting from forest environmental services was 3 units with 765 contracts; by 2015, the number of forest owners benefiting was 6,026 cases, including 10 forest owners who were organizations, 40 commune People's Committees, 5,976 households and individuals who were allocated land for a long time, with over 10,000 contracts.

Many households participating in forest protection contracts with large areas and good quality have received tens of millions of VND/year in forest environmental service payments. For example, in the Hua Na and Cua Dat hydropower basins, in 2015, each household contracted to protect 30 hectares of forest, and the income from forest environmental service payments reached 12,000,000 VND/year.

Benefiting from the policy, people enthusiastically participate in forest management, protection and development, actively contributing to preventing illegal deforestation. Forests are better protected, violations of legal regulations on forest protection, development, forest fire prevention and fighting have gradually decreased over the years.

In 2011, the number of forestry law violations in the province was 1,366, but by 2015 the number of violations had decreased to 695. The policy has gradually contributed to stabilizing and ensuring forest area, maintaining forest cover, improving forest quality and contributing to improving the quality of the ecological environment.

In 2014, the total area of ​​BVR contracted in hydropower basins in Nghe An province (according to the BVR technical design documents approved by competent authorities) was 97,258.38 hectares, while in 2015 the total area of ​​BVR contracted for which documents were prepared and payments were made was 228,106.85 hectares.

Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund staff inspect the implementation of forest environmental service payments. in Que Phong district.

Although important results have been achieved, the fund's leaders still identify that there are still many issues that need attention, resolution and removal. Among them, there are many issues that require the participation of the province and the Central Government. Therefore, in the coming time, in addition to its own efforts to strive to improve, the Nghe An Forest Protection and Development Fund hopes to receive more attention, direction and close attention from the Provincial People's Committee, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as relevant sectors, levels and authorities. Only then can the policy of paying for forest environmental services become more practical and effective, contributing to creating motivation to promote the province's forestry sector to develop rapidly and sustainably.

For all information about the Forest Environmental Services Payment Policy, readers can visithere!

Hai Yen