Linkage of Forest Policies and Programs with Land Coverand Land Use Changes in the Northern Mountain Region of Vietnam: A Village-level Case Study(<Special Issue>Land Use Changes in the Uplands of Southeast Asia: Proximate and Distant Causes)

Abstract

This paper examines the land cover and land use changes in one village in the Vietnam's northern mountainregion. It overviews the changing forest policies in Vietnam from the country's independence in 1954to 2005 and relates these changes to the management of forest land at the village level. Findings show thatuntil the late-1980s/early-1990s Vietnam's policies encouraged the harvesting of timber for nation buildingactivities and the expansion of cultivated land, leading to the decreased forest area within the village.After this, as government policies changed to encourage forest protection and the planting of trees by localpeople, tree covered forest land area increased. The trigger for the change in land cover and land use atthe village level in both periods is a consistent political intention represented in a series of laws and decreesand consequent extension activities. These established a strong linkage between national and the villagelevel forest governance and led to the almost simultaneous occurrence of national policy change and forestrecovery. It is concluded that it is important to recognize the multiple channels that link the governmentagencies with people and the intensive learning process needed for local people to understand the politicalintentions behind laws and regulations promulgated at the central government level.