Key Achievements in Quang Tri
Quang Tri province is a coastal province in the North Central region of Vietnam—a significant part of the East-West Economic Corridor connecting Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar via the ‘Lao Bao’ international border gate to ports in the central region. Quang Tri was one of the provinces most impacted by war destruction and has suffered from slash-and-burn cultivation for many years, especially in forests already degraded by chemical toxins. Therefore, the natural forest ecosystem is degraded, the area of natural forest reserve has been reduced, and forest quality is poor. Effective measures are needed to strengthen forest management and protection, and to restore natural forests. In 2023, the USAID Sustainable Forest Management Project (the Project) made progress on its 85 sustainable forestry activities in Quang Tri. The Project’s biggest achievements in the province were: developing a Community Forest Management (CFM) Plan for 212 households of Gia Gia village that jointly manage 1,614 hectares (ha) of natural forest; improving and systematizing cooperative forest protection and forest fire control at community forest management sites between 11 communities (1,234 households) to manage and protect 4,164 ha of natural forest; and lastly, supporting seven conservation friendly enterprises (CFEs) in the medicinal plants, coffee, and acacia value chains to jointly benefit 1,765 people and mobilize nearly USD 10 million towards sustainable forest value chains.
Reducing Emissions Through More Sustainable Management of Harvest Residue in Acacia Plantations: Quang Tri currently has 121,420 ha of planted forests (nearly 49% of the province’s total forested land area) of which 85,406 ha (70%) is planted production forests. The majority of these planted production forest owners (64%) are individuals and households. Currently, about 7,000 ha of production forests are planted annually in the province, mainly with the use of hybrid acacia planting material. In Vietnam in general, and in Quang Tri particularly, acacia plantation owners traditionally burn harvest residue—such as stumps, leaves, and bark—–to prepare the ground for new planting. This causes air pollution, soil fragmentation, biodiversity loss, and CO2 emissions. It can even lead to nearby forest fires. In Quang Tri, the Project launched a study on forest certification and management of harvest residue for acacia plantations that demonstrated the costs and benefits of different harvest residue approaches. As a result of this targeted intervention, 2,000 ha of acacia plantation in four districts of Quang Tri province will apply non-burning residue practices, which are proven to be more environmentally friendly. Secondary data shows that one hectare of acacia plantation (aged six years) will produce 32.4 tons of dried harvest residue, equivalent to 55.8 tons of CO2. The Project will contribute to reducing 5.5 -7.8 million tons of CO2 per year by promoting non-burning practices across 110,000 ha/year in Project areas.