| dc.description.abstract | In the 80’s Vietnam encountered serious problems of deforestation, partly due to the
devastating effects of the Vietnam War. As a reaction to these deforestation problems and the
internationally growing popularity of the concept sustainable development, the Vietnamese
Government reformed its forest management, and the Forest Land Allocation (FLA) policies
were developed. The main goals of the FLA policies were to protect the forest and to develop
rural livelihoods. The policies are focused on the decentralization of land rights from the
national to the regional and local level and on the allocation of land to different actors. Within
this thesis the focus lies on the allocation of land on a household level. The Land Law and the
Forest Protection Law form the basis of the policies as created and managed by the central
government. It is the task of the district and the commune to divide and allocate the land
among the different communes and villages. The research villages described in this thesis are
located in the Nam Dong district in the province of Thua Thien Hué in Central Vietnam and
are inhabited by the ethnic group called the Co Tu. In both villages researched, people
received forest production land and garden land, and in most cases field land. Through the
receiving of ‘Red Books’ people obtain their own documented land rights. The majority of the
people living in both villages are farmers with a low level of education, and a lack of
alternatives to find another occupation. In the past the Co Tu’s lifestyle was based on shifting
cultivation. After most people got resettled to the villages in the lower mountainous areas they
had to adapt to a sedentary lifestyle. Nowadays, most farmers are largely dependent on the
profits obtained from the products cultivated on their land for their daily income. After the
receiving of forest production land, people’s average incomes slightly increased and the
villagers became less dependent on the products from the natural forest. In addition, due to
the increased incomes and general economic development in Vietnam, people’s living
standard slowly increased. The increase in living standard can be seen in improved housing,
infrastructure and social and health services. The education level nowadays has improved and
there is more equality between boys and girls than in the past. However people can still be
considered poor and women do not have the same rights as men do. The Red Books are only
inherited through the male line and the men’s name is often the only one written down in the
Red Book, making the women dependent on their husbands.
Most of the FLA documents are written in the national Kinh language which is not familiar to
all Co Tu villagers making it hard to get access to clear information about the policies. Apart
from the information on the policies, the spreading of agricultural information has increased
since the implementation of the FLA. Whether the policies are actually fulfilling their goals in
a sustainable way remains debatable. | |
