State of the Environment Vietnam - issues\pressure\forest

Before 1960, natural forests in Vietnam were widely distributed throughout the country with more than 40% forest cover. It was a valuable natural resource playing an important role in environmental protection. However, under the impact of many factors over the last half a century, natural forests have drastically declined in both quantity and quality with approximately 5 million ha of natural forest having been cleared.

It is a matter of serious concern that in most essential protection zones (watersheds of big rivers, coastal areas, steep mountains and hills etc.) forests were also intensively exploited. Though forest plantations are considered an important strategy to increase the forest cover, the rate and extent still does not conform to the rate and scale of loss of natural forests.

During the period from 1956 to 1986 natural forests in Vietnam were exploited extensively to meet socio-economic demands for timber, fuel-wood, and for use as land for agricultural development. The consequences of this reckless exploitation are evident in the large barren land areas throughout the country, soil erosion, and landslides, drying up of water resources and floods. Selective cutting for timber exploitation and clear cutting for reclaiming land for agriculture (especially in the old system of establishing state agriculture enterprises without survey and planning) have caused loss of large forests areas in a short time and brought about serious consequences. Most endemic species have been cut and mother trees destroyed. Virgin forests that were rich in timber stocks have been degraded and turned into secondary forests of poor quality.

However, deforestation is not taking place evenly across the country and consequently it is important to discuss regional patterns

Regions	Change on forest area And forest coverage			Impact on Environment
Regions	1990	1995	1998	Impact on Environment
Forest area Forest cover, % Natural forest Forest plantation	9,175 27.7 8,430.7 744.9	9,302.2 28.1 8,252.5 1,047.7	9,432.9 28.8 8,238 1,194.9	In the late 1990's forest cover tends to increase thanks to forest plantations, however its role in environmental protection is still very low.
Forest cover of Da river basin	14.8	14.3	13.2	Increase in soil erosion, land slide, flood and drought threatening life duration of Hoa Binh reservoir
Red and Lo, Gam rivers basin	23.3	24.2	25.7	Forest plantation increase significantly, but protection effects still low
North Central region	34.3	35.1	35.8	Forest is protected better than other regions
Southeast region	23.6	20.7	18.5	Forest decreases drastically causing soil erosion

Mekong river delta . This region has experienced rapid deforestation of its coastal mangroves, with little natural forest remaining. Currently, the forest cover in Mekong river delta has dropped down from about 23% in 1943 to only 5%.

Central coastal regions . The north and south central coastal regions located between the two major deltas have experienced steady population growth over the past century, with forests receding as agriculture and industry has expanded. While forest cover has declined by 50% since the end of World War II, the hill tracts bordering Laos still retain some intact well-stocked old growth forest, covering approximately 35% of the total land area. Majority of the virgin forest area with high timber capacity is located in the mountainous regions on the Vietnam-Laos border.

The Uplands . The north west, north, north east and central highland plateau regions together possess 87% of Vietnam's uplands. For centuries, the uplands have been the primary source of raw material for the commercial timber industry. Logging and milling operations have been operated by hundreds of public managed state forest enterprises (SFE) . In the Northwest, forests have been cleared through centuries of shifting cultivation and fires, leaving small fragments of natural forests and bamboo groves on ridge-tops and steeper slopes. Logging in the Northwest intensified during the 1960's and 1970's to supply timber and accommodate settlers from the lowlands.

Deforestation is also widespread in the central north and Northeast where a growing rural population remains heavily dependent on subsistence use of forestlands and products, often competing with industrial demands. Estimates of forest cover for these regions in 1943 range from 50 to 95 % of total land area, while currently most provinces in the northern mountainous estimate between 20 to 30% of forest land. Demands for fuel-wood, raw material for pulp and industrial timber has accelerated tree plantation establishment in areas with viable market access.

The central highlands plateau possesses the nation's best and most extensive forests: about 33.1% of Vietnam's total forest cover and its most valuable timber reserves. In the 1960's, up to 90% of the central highlands plateau possessed natural forest cover, However, the forests had receded to 57% by 1998 with much of the cleared land classified as barren.

Forest Pressure