Community-nurtured ecosystems: [4] First village empowered to protect forests in Hue

Community develops its own forest protection plans

15 years ago, in 2011, residents of Tan My village (Phong My commune, Phong Dien district, Thua Thien-Hue province, now Tan My residential area, Phong Dien ward, Hue City) were entrusted by the Phong Dien District People's Committee with the management and protection of 560 hectares within the local protection forest planning area for a 50-year period. At that time, Tan My was among the first community groups in Hue to be empowered to care for and protect forests, making the community the genuine forest owner.

This empowerment gave the community confidence and a sense of responsibility. As they understood that the forest had become a community asset, with every member sharing both the responsibility to protect it and the right to benefit from the outcomes of their collective efforts.

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Immediately after taking over the allocated forest area, the Phong My Commune People's Committee assisted the village in establishing the Tan My Community-Based Forest Management Board, developing its organizational structure, and preparing forest management and protection plans. This institutional framework has helped the community carry out forest management, protection, and development activities under annual and five-year plans.

The community also adopted forest protection and development regulations. Their overarching long-term objective is to improve forest quality and value, maintain its protective functions, and safeguard the ecological environment, thereby contributing to economic growth, helping local households reduce poverty, ensuring social security, and enhancing forest biodiversity. These regulations serve as a flexible governance mechanism, aligning the rights, obligations, and responsibilities of every member.

The Tan My village community comprises 218 participating households out of a total of 382, organized into four patrol teams that conduct forest patrols on a weekly and monthly schedule. Each patrol lasts two days, with members divided into separate teams to cover the entire allocated forest area. The Community-Based Forest Management Board consists of 10 members and is overseen by a Board of Supervisors, which monitors all activities.

Revenue from the Forest Environmental Services Payment Fund is used to cover the operating costs of the community organization and forest patrol activities. Each year, a portion of the revenue is also allocated as loans to local households to support livelihood development and poverty reduction. Greater economic self-reliance enables local people to focus on protecting the forest, eliminating the need to encroach on it or depend on forest resources for their livelihoods.

"When the community first took over the forest, it was largely degraded and still undergoing natural regeneration. At the time, local residents still followed the long-standing practice of entering the forest to harvest rattan and palm leaves for handicraft production, or of using vacant land to cultivate crops. The State initially allocated 547.2 hectares of forest to the community. With subsequent additions, the managed area has now expanded to 560.19 hectares, covering two forest sub-compartments comprising four forest compartments. Of the total area, 493.57 hectares are protection forest and 66.62 hectares are production forest," said Mr. Tran Duc Loc, a member of the Community-Based Forest Management Board.

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Over the past 15 years, members of the Tan My Community-Based Forest Management Board have joined hands to effectively protect the allocated forest, ensuring that no illegal logging or forest encroachment has occurred while planting indigenous tree species to enhance the forest's natural regeneration. Forest patrols have become systematic and well organized. Annual patrol plans are prepared at the beginning of each year, with weekly and monthly patrol teams assigned to specific areas, including Sang Cua Stream, O Lung Stream, Mai Rua Stream, O Sau Stream, and Do Gao Stream, where they conduct regular field inspections.

According to Mr. Tran Duc Loc, a member of the Tan My Community-Based Forest Management Board, 15 years of community stewardship have enabled the village's forest to recover steadily and grow vigorously. The natural forest is now well developed, with high species diversity and abundant tree populations. Many large timber trees, measuring 60-90 cm in diameter, form a dense canopy typical of tropical evergreen rainforest, including species such as Dipterocarpus, Arrietia javanica, Magnolia, Canarium, Jamblon, and White Milkwood. The understory consists of small timber trees, shrubs, vines, and grasses. Forest density remains high, natural regeneration has been rapid, and trees with diameters exceeding 70 cm are now commonly found.

Each year, the Management Board assigns patrol teams to conduct forest inventories and to measure and update monitoring records to assess forest conditions over time. Based on existing reference materials from surrounding areas, community interviews, and field surveys, the Tan My forest is currently characterized by multiple vegetation layers. The upper canopy consists of large timber trees such as garcinia, magnolia, canarium, jamblon, schefflera, and knema. The lower layer, below 5 meters, comprises small trees, regenerated trees, and other species. The ground vegetation layer, generally less than one meter high, is rich in species and varies according to site conditions, including ferns, grasses, vetiver, homalomena, morinda root, tacca chantrieri, and wild pandan, as well as rattan and palm leaves.

As the forest has recovered, so too have its flora and fauna. During forest patrols, teams have observed the return of many wildlife species, including serow, barking deer, monkeys, wild boars, cobras, Burmese pythons, turtles, frogs, and other reptiles. These are positive signs showing that the Tan My forest is becoming increasingly rich in biodiversity and is no longer at risk of becoming a degraded forest with an imbalanced ecosystem, as it was many years ago.

According to surveys conducted among households in the community, local residents now harvest a variety of non-timber forest products from the community forest each year, including palm leaves, medicinal plants such as Homalomena, Reishi mushrooms, Lingzhi mushrooms, and seasonal wild honey. In particular, rattan has developed vigorously, with each household harvesting several hundred kilograms annually.

"The forest is an integral part of the lives of people living in the buffer zone, providing them with essential material and spiritual values. For generations, the Tan My people have lived in close harmony with the forest. Beyond sustaining livelihoods, protecting water sources, and conserving wildlife, the forest also holds traditional cultural values, exemplified by the sacred forests of 9 Mom Mountain. These forests have long been voluntarily managed, protected, and used by the community in accordance with long-standing customary practices, allowing them to remain intact.

Every community has its own customs and traditions. Before entering the forest, villagers always choose a respected member to perform a ritual offering to the forest spirits. They also observe long-standing taboos, refraining from saying inappropriate words in sacred forest areas such as  9 Mom Mountain. At the beginning of each harvesting season, thanksgiving ceremonies are still held to express gratitude to the forest spirits, pray for favorable weather, and seek blessings for safe journeys into the forest," said Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thong, Head of the Tan My Residential Area.

Beyond patrolling and protecting the forest, the Tan My village community has also newly planted an additional 10.7 hectares of forest to enrich and develop forests, including valuable species such as ironwood, chukrasia tabularis, and especially green ironwood. The community's dedication, perseverance, and sustained efforts have produced positive results. In 2025, the community received more than VND 147 million through the Payment for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) scheme and over VND 143 million under the Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA). These two funding sources have enabled the Community-Based Forest Management Board to confidently implement its annual work plans and provide a stable financial foundation for the long-term management, protection, and development of the forest.

In July 2025, the Tan My Community-Based Forest Management Board received support from the MIB-GBF Project, implemented by WWF-Viet Nam, to promote community participation in achieving the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and Viet Nam's National Biodiversity Strategy in Hue City. On 29 July 2025, the project organized an awareness-raising meeting for community members on GBF while collecting community members' recommendations and aspirations regarding forest protection, livelihood development, and measures to minimize dependence on hunting and forest resource extraction.

In October 2025, the project installed 21 camera traps in Forest Sub-Compartments 49 and 36, capturing 2,190 images, including 580 photographs of mammals. Notably, one endangered species classified under Group IB was recorded. The Tan My community now meets the eligibility requirements to prepare a nomination dossier for recognition under the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

$1 = VND 26,466 - Source: Vietcombank.