Forest Economy - Green Pillar

Thai Nguyen province after the merger has a high forest cover rate nationwide (reaching about 60%).

After the merger, Thai Nguyen province has a high forest cover rate nationwide (about 60%).

Shift from “getting wood” to “getting value”

Thai Nguyen province currently has a total natural area of over 838 thousand hectares, of which, according to the forestry land planning, Thai Nguyen province (old) has more than 172 thousand hectares, forest coverage reaching 45.72%; Bac Kan (old) has about 405 thousand hectares, forest coverage reaching 72.18%. The average annual timber exploitation output of the province reaches over 600,000m3. After the merger, the forest coverage of the whole province reached about 60%, one of the localities with the highest forest coverage rate nationwide.

Previously, the forest economic development model in Thai Nguyen mainly relied on afforestation for raw wood and small-scale exploitation.

However, in recent years, the province has proactively shifted to sustainable forest economic development, using forests as a livelihood, creating a stable source of income for people; converting the forest development model towards multi-value forestry, including: Planting large timber forests, developing medicinal herbs under the forest canopy, exploiting ecotourism and paying for forest contracts and protection.

Many models of growing medicinal herbs under the forest canopy, such as: purple Morinda officinalis, Polygonum multiflorum, purple Amomum, Ligusticum wallichii, Cynomorium lappa, Chinese clematis, Desmodium styracifolium, Desmodium styracifolium, Golden Flower Tea... are being replicated in some localities.

Ms. Trieu Thi Khen, a resident of Na Ri commune, said: In the past, forests were only used for firewood and timber. Now, along with planting production forests, my family plants more than 1 hectare of cardamom under the canopy of acacia forests, earning more than 60 million VND every year. Compared to planting acacia trees for timber alone, the efficiency is much higher, and it also prevents erosion and retains soil moisture very well. This is a clear double benefit.

Mr. Duong Van Chan, Na Khau village, Dong Phuc commune, who participated in the model of growing medicinal plants under the forest canopy, shared: Purple velvet tree is planted for about 4 - 5 months to harvest the first batch of leaves, harvested 3 - 4 times a year, with the selling price ranging from 150-180 thousand VND/kg of dry leaves. As for yellow flower tea tree, after 3 years of planting, the leaves can be harvested, after 4 to 5 years, the flowers will be harvested. With the current selling price of 400-600 thousand VND/kg of fresh flowers, the leaves can be sold for about 25 thousand VND/kg, each yellow flower tea tree can bring in about 1 million VND.

Not only focusing on effectively exploiting forest resources, Thai Nguyen also promotes the process of zoning, regeneration, and forest protection contracting.

In 2024, the total amount of money paid for forest protection and contracting for people in Thai Nguyen province (old) will be about 62 billion VND, paid directly to nearly 16,000 households; Bac Kan province (old) will pay over 65 billion VND to more than 14,000 households and forest management communities. This is a stable source of income and highly encourages people to stick with the forest, considering it a valuable asset.

Carbon credits – the “green gold mine” is being awakened

Part of the area of purple velvet anise planted under the forest canopy of Mr. Duong Van Chan's family, Na Khau village, Dong Phuc commune.

The concept of carbon credits is no longer strange to the Thai Nguyen Forestry sector. This is a unit of measurement for the amount of greenhouse gases reduced or absorbed, which can be bought and sold on domestic and international markets, creating a new source of finance for forest growers and forest keepers.

According to estimates from the Department of Agriculture and Environment, if about 50,000 hectares of production and protection forests can be mobilized into the carbon credit payment program, the province can absorb about 300,000 - 500,000 tons of CO2 each year (price is about 5-8 USD/ton of CO2).

Currently, Thai Nguyen has completed the initial survey and prepared a dossier to participate in the North Central Region Emission Reduction Program (ER-P) under the cooperation between Vietnam and the World Bank Carbon Fund. In particular, Dinh Hoa, Vo Nhai and Dai Tu communes were selected as key areas, with the goal of building a forest area that meets MRV (measurement - reporting - verification) standards to implement carbon credit payments in the period 2025-2030.

Particularly for the communes in the northern region of the province, there is a high and stable forest cover rate, where there are hundreds of thousands of hectares of natural forests and production forests, many areas of special-use forests with high ecological value are assessed as the area with the largest forest carbon reserves in the country, up to about 21 million tons per year.

To effectively exploit carbon resources from forests, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 3019/QD-UBND dated September 24, 2021, approving the Sustainable Forestry Development Program of Thai Nguyen province for the period 2021-2025, with a vision to 2030. Currently, the Provincial Forest Protection Department is also implementing the Project on forest reserves and forest carbon reserves, which has been approved by the People's Committee of Bac Kan province (old) in terms of outline and budget; investigating forest reserves in the province...

According to Mr. Nguyen My Hai, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Thai Nguyen province: Developing the forest economy associated with carbon credits is not only a new financial solution, but also contributes to helping Thai Nguyen achieve the goal of green growth, developing a circular economy and being carbon neutral by 2050.

Forest economy is not only the "livelihood" of tens of thousands of households in the mountainous areas of Thai Nguyen, but also an important solution to respond to climate change, protect biodiversity and build a green circular economy.

To date, Thai Nguyen province has developed about 16,000 hectares of large timber forests and more than 9,000 hectares of cinnamon. It is expected that by the end of 2025, the total area of FSC-certified forests will reach 26,580 hectares. This is a favorable condition for sustainable forest economic development, and at the same time, a great potential for Thai Nguyen to participate in the domestic and international carbon credit market.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/tin-noi-bat/202508/kinh-te-rung-tru-cot-xanh-5491e35/