Forest transition in Vietnam: A case study of Northern mountain region

Since the 1990s Vietnam has experienced forest transition, of which there are mainly two arguments to understand, one is ‘smallholder agricultural intensification pathway’, and the other one is ‘policy initiated pathway’. The former puts more emphasis on local initiatives and the latter emphasizes the role of the government in forest transition. The purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship between the two pathways. Based on a particular case study from Vietnam, we analyze historical forest transition data generated from remote sensing imageries and field research during the period from the 1950s until 2008. As a result, we found that after 1989 the forest area in the study area recovered and smallholder played an important role in forest transition. However, they did not engage in reforestation activities on their own. Rather, government support, technical expertise, a tree processing facility, traders and a research institute all supported reforestation. This broader institutional support from government and the private sector was important next to farmer driven reforestation to explain forest transition.

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