The role of forest in people's livelihood: A case study in north-eastern Vietnam

This paper was formed to determine contribution of forest to income of different economic-conditioned households, as a way to see how important forest has still played in a forest-related community, after implementation of the new forest allocation policy in Vietnam. It was formed based on personal questionnaire-interviewed data of a Dao-ethnic community in north-eastern mountain region of Vietnam, where the policy has been implemented since 2000. The interview was conducted in April 2007 to all 41 households in the community. These households were then divided into three groups based on their per capita annual income, for purpose of comparison. The paper showed that despite the policy that limited local people from overuse of forestland for cropping, all households in the study community still used large proportion of forest to cultivate subsistence and cash-income crops. Four-fifths of production forest land allocated to the community's households was used for swidden practices and cultivation of cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia). Protection forest was also used to plant another cash income crop of cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum). Overall, forest contributed large part in total income of the community's households, regardless they are better-off or poor. Income from cinnamon was especially important to the living of most of the households. However, forest-derived income of the richer households was considerably higher than that of the poorer ones. Data indicated that 83% in total annual income of the better-off households, 76% of the moderate, and 70% of the low income or poor households, were from forest. Since cinnamon is forest tree species that is beneficial for local people as well as good for the improvement of forest quality, the paper suggests expand cinnamon cultivation to other similar-conditioned places.