Cooperatives Meet to Discuss the Potential for PEFC in Thua Thien Hue Province, Viet Nam

23 October 2013 News

“Trees can sustain livelihoods and provide families with a secure income, but being trapped in a circle of poverty means that people are forced to make decisions based on short-term needs rather than longer term prosperity,” said Mr. Ngo Viet Quyt in relation to the short cutting cycle often employed by forest owners throughout Viet Nam.

While short cutting cycles may contribute to household income, consideration to forest product optimization and sustainability requirements can increase the social, environmental and economic benefits derived from forest resources.   

As Director of the Thua Thien Hue Cooperative Alliance (HCA), an alliance of over 200 cooperatives scattered throughout the Thua Thien Hue province in Viet Nam, Mr. Quyt’s comments concluded the workshop held in Hue, Viet Nam on 9 September which introduced PEFC certification to representatives from HCA, the provincial Department of Forestry, cooperatives, private companies and NGOs. 

“If we can share the vision with our members and show them the way towards sustainable forest management, we can help them find a way to capture the real value of their trees,” Mr. Quyt continued.  “We must not forget our main objective: increase the living standard of our members by increasing their long-term profit from forestry.” 

The workshop was one activity within the ongoing twinning support program between Finnish forest owners and cooperative alliances in Viet Nam. The program seeks to share experiences between small forest owners from drastically different parts of the world. Drawing on the Finnish experiences, the program supports the strengthening of forest owner organizations – cooperative alliances (operating at the provincial level) and individual cooperatives (operating at the local commune level). Moreover, the project is aiming to increase the capacity of cooperatives and smallholders to implement sustainable forest practices and build stronger business models around their forest resources

“Despite the many differences between forests in Finland and Vietnam, as forest owners we actually have a lot in common,” commented Rauno Karpinnen, forest expert and Finland’s representative to the project. “We want to know where to get seedlings, how to best plant them, and when to harvest them to ensure the best value for our resources. In Finland PEFC is the solution for affordable forest certification for smallholders.”

Following on from the introduction and discussions around PEFC certification amongst stakeholders in Thua Thien Hue Province, project partners will continue working together to design a certification approach that could deliver more cost-effective solutions to what is currently available in Viet Nam. 

“Forest certification should help people gain more value and benefits from their forest resources – not take it away,” stated Sarah Price, PEFC’s Head of Projects and Development, commenting on PEFC involvement in the project and PEFC pilot testing. “By cooperating on this pilot project, we hope to inject some new ideas and approaches into how certification can be affordable and profitable for companies and family forest owners alike, while safeguarding the environmental benefits that forests provide. Clearly, forest resources have the potential to lift people out of poverty in Vietnam and it is our imperative to make certification an opportunity and not a market barrier.” 

To discuss how you can get involved in this project or other PEFC International development projects, contact development@pefc.org. New supporters and partners are always welcome.