Household opportunity costs of protecting and developing forest lands in Son La and Hoa Binh Provinces, Vietnam

Vietnam has pilot-tested a payment for forest environmental services (PFES) program in an effort to restore and protect forest areas, some of which have been severely degraded by the excessive cutting of trees by small-scale farmers planting annual crops on steep, sloping lands. The pilot program im...

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Main Authors: Lan, Le Ngoc, Wichelns, Dennis, Milan, Florence M., Hoanh, Chu Thai, Duy Phuong, Nguyen
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Uopen Journals 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78055
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author Lan, Le Ngoc
Wichelns, Dennis
Milan, Florence M.
Hoanh, Chu Thai
Duy Phuong, Nguyen
author_browse Duy Phuong, Nguyen
Hoanh, Chu Thai
Lan, Le Ngoc
Milan, Florence M.
Wichelns, Dennis
author_facet Lan, Le Ngoc
Wichelns, Dennis
Milan, Florence M.
Hoanh, Chu Thai
Duy Phuong, Nguyen
author_sort Lan, Le Ngoc
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Vietnam has pilot-tested a payment for forest environmental services (PFES) program in an effort to restore and protect forest areas, some of which have been severely degraded by the excessive cutting of trees by small-scale farmers planting annual crops on steep, sloping lands. The pilot program implemented in southern Vietnam seems to be successful, yet the program in northern Vietnam has not produced the desired rates of planting and maintaining forest areas. The reasons for these mixed results include differences in socio-economic characteristics and also the production and marketing opportunities available to rural households in the project areas. To gain insight regarding program participation, we examine the household-level opportunity costs of planting and -maintaining small plots of forest trees in northern Vietnam. We find that small-scale farmers in Hoa Binh Province, with limited financial resources, prefer the annual revenue stream provided by crops such as maize and cassava, rather than waiting for 7 years to obtain revenue from a forest planting. Farmers in Son La Province, with limited access to markets, prefer annual crops because they are not able to sell bamboo shoots and other forest products harvested from their small plots. In both provinces, the payments offered for planting and maintaining forest trees are smaller than the opportunity costs of planting and harvesting annual crops. Thus, most households likely would choose not to participate in the PFES program, at current payment rates, if given the opportunity to decline.
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spelling CGSpace780552025-03-13T09:44:05Z Household opportunity costs of protecting and developing forest lands in Son La and Hoa Binh Provinces, Vietnam Lan, Le Ngoc Wichelns, Dennis Milan, Florence M. Hoanh, Chu Thai Duy Phuong, Nguyen bamboos cassava feasibility studies maize smallholders agricultural economics bambúes mandioca estudios de factibilidad maíz economía agrícola opportunity costs household expenditure forest land use forest management forest protection payment agreements services planting farmers ecosystem services Vietnam has pilot-tested a payment for forest environmental services (PFES) program in an effort to restore and protect forest areas, some of which have been severely degraded by the excessive cutting of trees by small-scale farmers planting annual crops on steep, sloping lands. The pilot program implemented in southern Vietnam seems to be successful, yet the program in northern Vietnam has not produced the desired rates of planting and maintaining forest areas. The reasons for these mixed results include differences in socio-economic characteristics and also the production and marketing opportunities available to rural households in the project areas. To gain insight regarding program participation, we examine the household-level opportunity costs of planting and -maintaining small plots of forest trees in northern Vietnam. We find that small-scale farmers in Hoa Binh Province, with limited financial resources, prefer the annual revenue stream provided by crops such as maize and cassava, rather than waiting for 7 years to obtain revenue from a forest planting. Farmers in Son La Province, with limited access to markets, prefer annual crops because they are not able to sell bamboo shoots and other forest products harvested from their small plots. In both provinces, the payments offered for planting and maintaining forest trees are smaller than the opportunity costs of planting and harvesting annual crops. Thus, most households likely would choose not to participate in the PFES program, at current payment rates, if given the opportunity to decline. 2016 2016-11-28T15:55:09Z 2016-11-28T15:55:09Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78055 en Open Access Uopen Journals Lan, L. N., Wichelns, D., Milan, F., Hoanh, C. T., & Phuong, N. D. (2016). Household opportunity costs of protecting and developing forest lands in Son La and Hoa Binh Provinces, Vietnam. International Journal of the Commons, 10(2), 902. https://doi.org/10.18352/ijc.620
spellingShingle bamboos
cassava
feasibility studies
maize
smallholders
agricultural economics
bambúes
mandioca
estudios de factibilidad
maíz
economía agrícola
opportunity costs
household expenditure
forest land use
forest management
forest protection
payment agreements
services
planting
farmers
ecosystem services
Lan, Le Ngoc
Wichelns, Dennis
Milan, Florence M.
Hoanh, Chu Thai
Duy Phuong, Nguyen
Household opportunity costs of protecting and developing forest lands in Son La and Hoa Binh Provinces, Vietnam
title Household opportunity costs of protecting and developing forest lands in Son La and Hoa Binh Provinces, Vietnam
title_full Household opportunity costs of protecting and developing forest lands in Son La and Hoa Binh Provinces, Vietnam
title_fullStr Household opportunity costs of protecting and developing forest lands in Son La and Hoa Binh Provinces, Vietnam
title_full_unstemmed Household opportunity costs of protecting and developing forest lands in Son La and Hoa Binh Provinces, Vietnam
title_short Household opportunity costs of protecting and developing forest lands in Son La and Hoa Binh Provinces, Vietnam
title_sort household opportunity costs of protecting and developing forest lands in son la and hoa binh provinces vietnam
topic bamboos
cassava
feasibility studies
maize
smallholders
agricultural economics
bambúes
mandioca
estudios de factibilidad
maíz
economía agrícola
opportunity costs
household expenditure
forest land use
forest management
forest protection
payment agreements
services
planting
farmers
ecosystem services
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/78055
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