From green forests to carbon value in Dien Bien

Dien Bien is gradually laying the groundwork to study and develop forest carbon credits. With a large area of natural forests, the northwestern province has a favorable foundation. However, turning its forest potential into value in the carbon market will require simultaneous efforts to protect forests, improve data systems, and raise awareness among communities directly involved in forest management and protection.

Natural forests offer carbon potential

According to forest status data as of December 31, 2025, Dien Bien had 438,178 hectares of forest, with a forest coverage rate of 45.52%. Natural forests accounted for 427,758 hectares, or approximately 97.6% of the province’s total forest area.

The large area of natural forests is an advantage for Dien Bien in exploring projects to reduce emissions and enhance carbon sequestration and storage. At a workshop on the forest carbon credit market held in early August, Dien Bien was assessed as having potential to explore several approaches, including REDD+, afforestation, improved forest management, and agroforestry.

In addition to its existing forest area, Dien Bien has around 154,000 hectares of forestry land with potential for afforestation, agroforestry, and other suitable carbon projects. This gives the province room to further review and identify areas that meet the requirements of each project type.

However, a large forest area does not mean that a locality immediately has a corresponding volume of carbon credits. To generate carbon credits, a project must meet requirements related to land and forest management and use rights, boundaries, data, calculation methodologies, measurement, reporting, and verification.

Ms. Chu Thi Thanh Xuan, Deputy Director of the Dien Bien Department of Agriculture and Environment, said forest resources are one of the province’s key advantages. In exploring the carbon market, Dien Bien has a foundation for studying projects to reduce emissions and sequester and store carbon, with more than 438,000 hectares of forest, most of which is natural forest.

According to Ms. Xuan, Dien Bien is currently at the research and preparation stage, working to gradually establish and implement forest carbon credit projects. As a first step, the province needs to continue improving data on forests, forestry land, current forest status, boundaries, and management entities. It also needs to assess which project types best suit local conditions.

Dien Bien also has a foundation from implementing the forest environmental services payment policy. In 2025, the Dien Bien Forest Protection and Development Fund collected VND 275.949 billion. About VND 250 billion was paid to nearly 8,000 forest owners, covering more than 400,000 hectares of forests providing environmental services, equivalent to over 91% of the province’s total forest area.

This mechanism has gradually helped local communities gain a clearer understanding of the economic value associated with forest protection. However, carbon credits remain a new field. Therefore, to participate in the market, Dien Bien needs not only extensive forest areas but also reliable data, clearly identified management entities, and carefully selected areas capable of meeting project requirements.

One current bottleneck is data on forests and forestry land. An assessment of the potential for forest carbon projects showed that Dien Bien does not yet have complete data classifying the condition of natural forests into rich, medium, poor, severely degraded, and recovering categories. As of mid-2025, about 68.8% of communes formed after the administrative merger had not yet completed cadastral mapping and surveying of forestry land.

Improving the data is therefore an important step. Once forest areas, boundaries, and management entities are clearly identified, the province will have a basis to calculate emission reductions, develop projects, and protect the rights and interests of participating stakeholders.

From protection to carbon credits

In Muong Phang Commune, the story of carbon credits begins with the most familiar task for local communities: protecting forests. Forests not only provide water and sustain habitats but also have the capacity to absorb and store carbon. Therefore, protecting existing forest areas is the foundation for pursuing new values from the carbon market.

Mr. Bac Cam Quoc Thanh, a forest ranger responsible for Muong Phang Commune under the Dien Bien Phu Forest Protection Unit, said forest protection is a continuous task that requires coordination among forest rangers, local authorities, and communities. People living near forests are directly involved in protecting natural resources, helping maintain the forests’ capacity to absorb and store carbon.

“To protect forests over the long term, professional forces alone are not enough; community awareness and responsibility remain decisive,” Mr. Thanh said.

Based on his experience in the area, Mr. Thanh said forest protection needs to be linked to local people's long-term interests. When communities understand the value of forests and recognize their own responsibilities, forest protection becomes more proactive. This also gives local people a basis to access new values generated by forests, including carbon value.

As someone directly involved in forest protection, Mr. Lo Van Tinh, a resident of Yen Village, Muong Phang Commune, said local people have long been closely connected with the forest. Forests play an important role in water resources, the living environment, and livelihoods. Protecting forests therefore also means safeguarding values that are essential to community life.

According to Mr. Tinh, local people are interested in the long-term benefits that forests can provide. If forest protection can both preserve the living environment and generate additional economic value, the community will be more motivated to participate.

“If protecting forests can help safeguard water resources and the living environment while also creating economic value, people will certainly pay attention. But they want to know clearly how that income is generated, who benefits, and what they are required to do,” Mr. Tinh said.

This is also an issue that needs to be addressed in efforts to raise awareness about carbon credits. Local people need to understand that carbon credits are not an automatic source of income generated simply from having forest areas. To quantify emission reductions and convert them into recognized carbon credits, a project must go through processes including project development, measurement, calculation, reporting, and verification.

Therefore, raising community awareness should go beyond explaining the concept of carbon. People need access to information on how projects are implemented, the responsibilities of forest owners and communities, and benefit-sharing mechanisms once a project meets the required conditions.

$ 1 = VND 26,260 - Source: Vietcombank.