During a forest protection patrol with the people of Doan Ket village, Chung Chai commune (Muong Nha district), we heard many stories about the benefits and uses of the forest environmental service payment by the villagers. Currently, the Doan Ket community is contracted to manage and protect thousands of hectares of forest in the Muong Nha Nature Reserve; of which more than 2,600 hectares are eligible for forest environmental service payment. In 2023, Doan Ket village received over 2.8 billion VND in payments for forest environmental service payments.
Mr. Ly Go Ly from Doan Ket village shared: “After an advance payment of over 1 billion VND, Doan Ket village recently received the remaining payment for forest environmental services in 2023 from the Muong Nha Nature Reserve, totaling nearly 1.8 billion VND. Everyone in the village is delighted. Because the forest provides people with more jobs and increased income, everyone is more aware and responsible towards the forest. The village has assigned specific tasks to each household and group of households for patrolling and protecting the forest on a monthly basis to promptly detect any incidents of forest encroachment.”
Since the implementation of the Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) policy, forest management and protection in the Muong Nha Nature Reserve have seen significant improvements. Besides regularly coordinating with relevant agencies, the Management Board of the Muong Nha Nature Reserve has directed specialized teams protecting special-use forests to cooperate with contracted forest protection groups to organize patrols, inspect forests, and guard forest entrances to prevent people and vehicles from entering the special-use forest, promptly detecting illegal logging, timber harvesting, and deforestation. As a result, in the first six months of 2024, only 7 violations in the forestry sector occurred within the Muong Nha Nature Reserve. These positive changes are partly due to the timely, complete, and accurate payment of PES to local people.
Mr. Dao Cong Tien, Deputy Director of the Muong Nha Nature Reserve Management Board, stated: Implementing the policy on payment for ecosystem services based on Notice No. 221/TB-QBVR dated May 20, 2024, from the Forest Protection and Development Fund regarding the average payment per hectare of forest eligible for ecosystem services in the Da and Ma River basins in Dien Bien province in 2023, the unit issued Notice No. 317/TB-DTMN dated May 23, 2024, on the average payment rate per hectare and the coefficient (K) applied to calculate the payment for ecosystem services in the Muong Nha Nature Reserve in 2023. On June 4, 2024, the Muong Nha Nature Reserve Management Board paid the remaining amount of over 16 billion VND for forest protection services in 2023 through the bank's account. The management boards of the forest protection contract groups at the Social Policy Bank of Muong Nha District issued a notice on June 6, 2024, regarding the payment of forest protection wages for the 2023 forest ecosystem services, sending it to the contract groups for their information. Along with this, we also intensified efforts to urge the 40 forest protection contract groups to fulfill their contractual obligations to improve forest management and protection.
Through the Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) policy, awareness of forest management, protection, and development among individuals and communities contracted to protect forests has been gradually enhanced. To ensure the objectivity and accuracy of PES payments, the Forest Protection and Development Fund regularly inspects, reviews, and identifies changes in the area of forest providing PES during the year. It also coordinates with the Forest Ranger Stations in districts, towns, and cities to review and determine the area of forest eligible for PES based on forest change monitoring results.
Mr. Tran Xuan Tam, Deputy Director in charge of the Forest Protection and Development Fund, said: To ensure timely and accurate payment of forest environmental service fees to people, the Fund, together with relevant units, has inspected, reviewed, and verified the area of forest providing forest environmental services in 2023 throughout the province, with a total inspected forest area of 46,308.281 hectares. The area of forest eligible for payment of forest environmental service fees in 2023, applying the component K coefficients (K1, K2, K3, K4) as stipulated in Decree No. 156/2018/ND-CP, is 265,766.79 hectares; the remaining 75,906.20 hectares are not yet eligible for payment. From this, the Forest Protection and Development Fund has a basis to pay forest environmental service fees to people quickly and objectively. Recently, the unit paid forest environmental service fees for previous years to 239 eligible forest owners throughout the province, totaling over 6.7 billion VND. Payments for forest environmental service fees in 2023 were also made to 3,979 forest owners in districts, towns, and cities, amounting to nearly 122.1 billion VND…
The timely payment of forest environmental service fees to local people has significantly contributed to improving their lives and sustainably alleviating poverty for those participating in forest protection. Furthermore, it has led to more effective forest management and protection. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the forest environmental service payment policy in improving people's lives and raising awareness of forest protection; contributing to the successful achievement of forest management, protection, and development goals in the province over the past period.
Source: https://baodienbienphu.com.vn/tin-tuc/moi%20truong%20rung/217073/kip-thoi-chi-tra-tien-dich-vu-moi-truong-rung-cho-nguoi-dan
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