Forest environmental service payment policy contributes to protecting and developing sustainable forests.

Comrade Dinh Viet Hong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee spoke at the conference. Photo: Hoang Vinh

Implementing Decree No. 99/2010/ND-CP dated September 24, 2010 of the Government on the policy of payment for forest environmental services (PFES) and Document No. 5337/BNN-TCLN dated June 27, 2016 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on piloting payment for FES for industrial production establishments, after a period of implementation and review, the Nghe An Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund (FPDF) advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue Decision No. 1856/QD-UBND dated May 9, 2017, Regulations on piloting payment for FES for industrial production establishments using water directly from water sources in the province.

And the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development advised the organization of a working group to work directly at 12 industrial production facilities selected for the pilot program, thereby directly conveying information and regulations of the State on the policy of payment for forest environmental services, especially the unification of the contents of the pilot implementation of payment for forest environmental services...

Mr. Pham Ba Hung - Deputy Director of Nghe An Forest Protection and Development Fund said: Nghe An is one of four provinces (Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh and Lao Cai) piloting the payment for forest environmental services for industrial production establishments. To effectively implement this program, the Fund has negotiated and signed a contract to entrust payment for forest environmental services with 10 industrial production establishments. The contract to entrust payment for forest environmental services for industrial production establishments will be piloted for one year.

Overview of the conference. Photo: Hoang Vinh

Through implementation, the amount of raw water used to calculate the payment for environmental services of industrial production establishments is mainly based on the data recorded in the surface water exploitation license licensed and managed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (7 establishments). Particularly for Saigon - Song Lam Beer Joint Stock Company and Yen Thanh Tapioca Starch Processing Factory, the water source used for production is provided by the Water Supply Joint Stock Company, so the amount of raw water used to calculate the payment for environmental services is based on the water meter and the water purchase contract.

For Trung Do Joint Stock Company, the amount of raw water to calculate the payment for environmental services is based on the actual commercial concrete output multiplied by the water mix standard used for commercial concrete production of 0.175m³water/1m³Payments for DVMTR are made every six months and the total amount collected to date has reached nearly 90 million VND.

Block tank system for clean water treatment at Nghe An Water Supply Joint Stock Company. Photo: Hoang Vinh

Because this is the first time implementing the policy of payment for forest environmental services for industrial production establishments in the province, determining the subjects of payment, the level of payment, the amount of payment, and the method of payment initially still faces difficulties. Some industrial production establishments do not clearly understand the policy and the importance of payment for forest environmental services. There are still cases of late declaration and late payment of forest environmental services payment...

The pilot content of payment for forest environmental services for industrial production establishments only applies to establishments using surface water from rivers, streams, lakes, etc., but not to establishments using groundwater through pumps. In addition, establishments subject to payment for forest environmental services are scattered across many districts in the province, so the cost of collection is large, while the amount of money collected from this source is small.

Saigon - Song Lam Beer Factory.

To effectively implement the policy of payment for forest environmental services for industrial production establishments in Nghe An, in the coming time, relevant levels and sectors need to clarify the criteria for determining between industrial production establishments and agricultural production establishments. In the surface water exploitation license granted by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, there is a requirement for companies to install meters to measure the flow of water exploitation and use, however, these industrial production establishments have not done so, leading to inaccurate determination of the amount of water used. The subjects of payment for forest environmental services for industrial production activities should not distinguish between the use of groundwater or surface water (use water directly from the water source) to ensure equality, avoid comparisons between production establishments and facilitate implementation at the grassroots level...

Mr. Nguyen Khac Lam - Director of Nghe An Forest Protection and Development Fund said: "In recent times, with the attention and direction of the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund, the Provincial People's Committee, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, especially the Fund Management Board, the pilot implementation of forest environmental service payments for industrial production activities has been carried out quite smoothly and identified as a potential to create a source of revenue contributing to the good implementation of forest protection and development to provide and regulate water resources for production in the following years".