Forest carbon credits becomes 'green gold' in Quang Tri

Speaking about income from forest carbon credits, Mr. Tran Quoc Hen, Head of the Cu Lac residential group (Phong Nha commune, Quang Tri province), said that the total amount villagers have received from forest protection activities has exceeded VND 3.2 billion.

According to him, this income has not only helped improve livelihoods but also strengthened local people’s awareness and commitment to forest conservation. “As income increases, people become more conscious of protecting the forest. The taller and healthier the forest grows, the more money people receive. That shows the belief that forests are a valuable ‘treasure’ is truly real among our community,” Mr. Hen added enthusiastically.

Protecting the forest like keeping money in a safe

People living in the buffer zone of Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park have mostly been assigned forest protection contracts under the greenhouse gas emission reduction program in the North Central region. According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh, Deputy Director of the Forest Protection and World Heritage Management Center (under Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park), up to now, 40 villages with nearly 5,400 households have participated in and benefited from the program.

“To date, we have disbursed more than VND 59 billion to local people from the sale of carbon credits. This is income that people receive through forest protection contracts,” Mr. Vinh said.

Since joining the greenhouse gas emissions reduction program, residents of the Cu Lac residential group (Phong Nha commune) have become more motivated to protect forests. Nearly 400 households in the area have been trained in forest protection duties and have unanimously agreed to participate in forest protection contracting.

Mr. Tran Quoc Hen, head of the residential group, said that after meetings and training sessions, the community established forest protection teams composed mainly of local households. These groups are organized into several teams that rotate patrols and coordinate with Forest Protection Station No. 6 and the Forest Protection and World Heritage Management Center to conduct forest patrols and inspections.

After receiving payments from the program several times, local residents have accumulated nearly VND 10 million. “This money helps improve their livelihoods and ensures food security so they no longer worry about hunger. Now, people feel secure in protecting the forest, like keeping money safely stored in a cabinet,” Mr. Hen said with a smile.

Mr. Tran Van Son is also a member of a forest protection team. In the past, he went into the forest to exploit resources for a living. Now, he enters the forest to protect it and chase away outsiders with harmful intentions. “There are still people who secretly enter the forest. We go to their homes to persuade them not to do so anymore, so that the community can properly carry out the contracted tasks and maintain good village relations. Gradually, they understand and even join the program,” Mr. Son shared.

Thanks to participation in the program, the livelihoods of people in Ho Rum village (Kim Ngan commune) have become increasingly stable. According to village head Mr. Ho Van Anh, nearly 100 households in the village are now part of community forest protection groups. On average, each household is assigned to protect more than 20 hectares of forest and receives nearly VND 10 million. In the past year and this year, villagers have also received income from carbon credit sales, equivalent to about VND 600,000 per hectare of forest.

To improve local livelihoods, the Dong Chau Nature Reserve has coordinated with Kim Ngan commune authorities to encourage livestock farming, particularly pig raising. Accordingly, villagers have been trained in building shelters, animal care, and disease prevention. The project has also provided breeding pigs and feed support.

Mr. Ho Van Lai, a resident of Ho Rum village, rides his motorbike to collect breeding pigs to raise at home. He said the motorbike was purchased thanks to income earned from forest protection work. The two most recent payments alone amounted to over VND 10 million, of which he spent only a small part and saved the rest to buy cattle for further livestock development.

Great potential…

According to Mr. Tran Xuan Duong, Director of the Quang Tri Forest Protection and Development Fund, the results of ERPA show that, cumulatively by the end of March 2026, the total amount disbursed had reached over VND 352 billion, equivalent to 87.61% of the approved funding.

“Of this amount, nearly VND 337 billion has been paid to beneficiaries. The policy on emission reduction payments in the North Central region implemented in the province has helped create an important financial source for forest management and protection, while supporting livelihood development and improving living standards for households, individuals, and communities in the area,” Mr. Dưỡng noted.

Thanks to ERPA, local households have gained additional income to invest in livelihoods, infrastructure, and rural cultural facilities. To date, Quang Tri province has 11,910 forest owners who are households, individuals, and community groups, along with 28 organizational forest owners and 93 commune-level People’s Committees assigned or temporarily assigned to manage natural forests, covering more than 532,400 hectares under ERPA scheme.

Currently, around 4,000 hectares of forest in Quang Tri are not yet eligible for payments due to unclear boundaries, unidentified management responsibilities, or forest owners not residing locally. Mr. Tran Xuan Duong emphasized: “The potential of forests participating in greenhouse gas emission reduction programs in Quang Tri is very large. This is also an endless resource for organizations and individuals to integrate forest protection and development with economic growth and livelihood stabilization.”

The additional funding from ERPA has helped institutional forest owners strengthen their forest protection capacity by contracting local communities living near forests to support protection activities. At the same time, it has provided additional resources for forest development through silvicultural activities, thereby improving natural forest quality.

According to Mr. Truong Thanh Khai, Deputy Director of Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, relevant units have stepped up patrols and inspections and effectively implemented forest protection at the grassroots level. They have also carried out timely, synchronized, and efficient forest fire prevention and firefighting measures while applying information technology in forest protection and management.

$ 1 = VND 26,367 (source: Vietcombank).