Sustainable livelihood model helps Que Phong earn tens of billions of dong each year

The conference was chaired by Mr. Bui Van Hien - Vice Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee; Nguyen Thanh Nham - Director of Nghe An Forestry Development Consulting Center.

Attending the conference were Dr. Hua Duc Nhi - former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, member of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP),President of Vietnam Forest Owners Association; Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen - National Coordinator of Global Environment Facility, Small Project Grant Program, United Nations Development Program; representative of Biodiversity Department (General Department of Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment); businesses and communes benefiting from the project.

Que Phong is a mountainous border district with Pu Hoat Nature Reserve covering an area of ​​84,000 hectares, including 34,000 hectares of special-use forest and 50,000 hectares of protective forest. The district also has rare and valuable medicinal and specialty plants with high economic value such as linden, yellow tea, bon bo, etc. Therefore, since January 2022, based on the proposal of Nghe An Forestry Development Consulting Center, UNDP has approved and funded the implementation of a project to replicate sustainable livelihood models from yellow tea, linden, meter and bon bo trees.

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The UNDP project funded 1.22 billion VND, aiming to protect, supplement and sustainably exploit nearly 1,487.3 hectares of sycamore forest; conserve and develop, sustainably exploit 134.7 hectares of yellow tea trees, conserve and develop, sustainably exploit 92.9 hectares of bon bo trees; develop 20 hectares of meter trees in the protective area along the Ban Na hydroelectric lake... in 2 communes in the buffer zone of Pu Hoat Nature Reserve.

After more than 2 years of project implementation with weekly implementation steps from communication to mobilize people and support from localities and organizations, 421/421 households in 8 villages and 2 communes have participated and been accepted, reaching 100%.

Specifically, 19/20 hectares have been planted, reaching 95%; 90.8 hectares of bon bo trees have been additionally planted and sustainably exploited, reaching 97.7%; 138.8/134.7 hectares of yellow tea have been enclosed, protected, cared for and sustainably exploited, reaching 99.3%; 1,487.3 hectares of linden forest have been enclosed, protected and sustainably exploited, reaching 100%.

Along with contributing to reducing pressure on biodiversity and forest ecosystem functions in 2 buffer zone communes of Pu Hoat Nature Reserve, the project has improved knowledge and capacity to develop sustainable livelihoods for ethnic minorities; successfully replicated 5 livelihood models in Dong Van and Thong Thu communes.

However, through assessing the significance and long-term effectiveness of the project, forestry and local experts also pointed out some advantages and difficulties in implementing the project; at the same time, they recommended that the Project Management Board continue to have a capital rotation mechanism to replicate sustainable livelihood models; establish cooperatives, community support groups, and link to consume products so that when the project ends, these livelihood models will continue to be maintained and replicated.

At the conference, on the basis of appreciating the significance of the project, Mr. Bui Van Hien - Vice Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee shared the strengths of developing rare and precious tree varieties and medicinal plants under the forest canopy. The district has a large area of ​​natural forest but the resources and livelihood models for people living from and thanks to the forest are still limited. Thanks to the efforts of the people and the support of the project, people's awareness of preserving natural forests has been raised. From bon bo trees to yellow tea flowers, they all bring economic value to the district of tens of billions of VND each year.

Receiving opinions and proposals, the representative of Que Phong district's leadership said that they will continue to direct, apply, and integrate with national target programs and other resources so that sustainable livelihood models in the buffer zone of Pu Hoat Nature Reserve can be continued and expanded./.