Key Achievements in Thanh Hoa
In 2023, with technical support from USAID’s Sustainable Forest Management Project (the Project), Thanh Hoa province implemented Sustainable Forest Management Plans to better manage a total area of 25,044 hectares (of which 8,745 ha are production forests). The Project engaged with Biomass Fuel Nghi Son through a partnership agreement to improve knowledge and promote participation in forest certification groups for households with the goal of certifying 4,500 ha of forest by 2024 and 14,000 ha of certified forest by 2026. The Project helped two Forest Protection Management Boards to build and deploy Forest Management and Monitoring Systems using technology, such as satellite imagery to check and detect changes and fluctuations in forest areas, using smartphones to gather field data and to quickly synchronize, and using QGIS to update changes in forest/ plantation status and to generate reports. The Project provided technical assistance to improve the capacity and produce high-quality seedlings for six selected nurseries and supported building 15 big-timber plantation models using the forest-thinning method and more than 40 forest-tending models using the branch-pruning method. The Project worked with 11 communities spanning 12,600 ha to enhance their management and protection of community forests, and initiated forest and forest land allocation associated with connecting forests to residential communities. The Project worked with Thanh Hoa province to upgrade Xuan Lien Nature Reserve to National Park status for better forest resource protection and biodiversity conservation. Once it is designated as a national park, Xuan Lien will have more opportunities for forest landscape and biodiversity conservation, and 32,000 members of forest-dependent communities in the buffer-zone will have enhanced international-domestic resource mobilization and better livelihoods through education, recreation, and ecotourism activities. The Project also developed the bamboo and rattan value chain, establishing four bamboo and rattan cooperative groups and organizing trainings to improve their skills and products based on market requirements. The Project also supported 54 female representatives of companies/ cooperatives/ production groups to improve their capacities in entrepreneurship and business planning related to forest protection and development for improved livelihoods and reduced pressure on forests. At the “Women’s Start-up Contest to Promote Local Resources” organized by Thanh Hoa Provincial Women’s Union, 11 Project-supported women won prizes and one businesswoman won the consolation prize at the national level for her idea of using indigenous medicinal plants to make healthcare products.