Vietnam focuses on afforestation to capitalise on carbon credits

QUANG Binh: With a vast forest area of 590,000ha, Quang Binh central province ranks second in the country in terms of forest coverage with 68%, representing significant potential for generating forest carbon credits and giving the opportunity for the province to participate in the forest carbon credit market.

Director of the provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Department Mai Van Minh said Quang Binh will receive 235 billion dong for reducing more than 2.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from 2023-2025.

This is the amount that the province will receive under the emissions-reduction agreement between the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry and the World Bank, with Quang Binh being one of the six provinces in the northern central region participating in the agreement.

The money it received in late 2023 will be used for paying forest owners, local people and communities to manage, protect and develop forests, he said.

Participating in the forest carbon credit market will help forest owners enhance the productivity of planted forests, improve sustainable livelihoods, contribute to the protection of existing forest areas, and increase forest coverage, Minh said, adding that this opens up new opportunities for local residents to develop the economy through forest conservation, especially when the exploitation of forest products under the canopy is challenging.

With more than 469,300ha of forest to claim carbon credits for, he said that the province will review the forest area and forest coverage to work with its partners who want to purchase carbon credits, to increase income for local people.

Nguyen Duc Su, a resident from Cao Quang Commune, Tuyen Hoa District, said he cares for the trees in his forest every day.

Five years ago, he decided to green the hills in Cao Quang Commune with native tree species.

Currently, the young trees have grown well, with over 5,000 large trees covering more than 3ha of previously vacant land and bare hills.

“I feel very happy whenever I enter the forest and see the trees growing well. It takes 20-30 years to have such native forests, and our future generations will benefit from them,” Su told Tin Tuc newspaper.

“Planting trees, especially medicinal plants under the forest canopy, contributes to the biodiversity of the forest. As the trees grow, the forest becomes greener, the humidity increases, and the source of water becomes more abundant.

“We need clean water to drink and clean air to breathe, so we must care for and protect the forest.”

According to Nguyen Quang Huy, vice chairman of the People’s Committee of Cao Quang Commune, the location has a large forested area and high forest coverage.

While the forests are not planted for timber sales, many households engaged in forest planting have achieved good incomes from harvesting non-timber forest products by planting short-day crops and medicinal plants under the forest canopy.

The commune aims to achieve 90% forest coverage, gradually increasing the natural forest area and reducing the planted forest area.

The locality is also encouraging residents to protect and develop sustainable forests, planting native trees for longterm sustainability and generating carbon credits for the market.