(ĐCSVN) - For years ago, Hanh Dich communal authorities and people particularly, Que Phong district (Nghe An province) in general have faced the consequences of ‘hanging’ and overlapping land use planning. The peoples who lack of land for production have not been allocated land, while some organizations are assigned beyond their management capabilities.



Hanh Dich is a mountainous commune located in the border between Laos and Vietnam, in the northwestern region of Que Phong, Nghe An province. According to the statistics of Que Phong, until June 2012, the entire commune has 11 villages, 691 households with 3,294 people, of which over 98% of the population is the Thai ethnic. With the resident characteristics and rice production practices, 11 remote villages of the Thai ethnic in Hanh Dich all settle along the Nam Viec River, a tributary of the Hieu River.

As well as many indigenous ethnic minority communities in the upland regions, the survival and development of the Thai in Hanh Dich have closely attached with forest and land resources. Although, the land and forests are abundant, the people here are still daily struggling with many difficulties and challenges. According to Mr. Lang Van Minh - Deputy Chairman of Que Phong district, most of villages do not have sufficiency of food; the poverty rate of commune is 68.8% (statistics of the commune until June 2012). Although, the land of entire commune is still much, households still lack of productive land.

To sustain the life, in addition to growing rice on the small area along streams, people clear forest for cultivation to grow maize, potatoes, cassava, and vegetables as well as gather herbal medicine, bamboo shuts and other types of non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Even, many of them go on the forests of Pu Hoat National Conservation Area to cut and transport timbers for illegal timber traders. As reported by the participants in the Workshop: Community Forest Management - Policies and Practices organized by the Social Policy Ecology Research Institute (SPERI) and Nghe An Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on October 9 2012, the situation of overlapping and hanging land use planning, as well forest still does not have proper owners are seen as the primary causes leading to the above problem.

According to presentation at the workshop, Mr. Lang Van Minh shown that the total forestland of entire Hanh Dich is 16,887.7 ha, however according to the official document on land planning and allocation from the District Office of Natural Resources and Environment, until now up to 20,065.7 ha have decisions to allocate to different entities to manage and use. Specifically, 10,533.7 ha is planned for the Pu Hoat National Conservation Area, appropriately 6,000 ha for Nghe An Youth Association Division 7 - now merged into the Que Phong Rubber Plantation Farm of the Nghe An Joint Stock Company on Rubber Investment, but because of insufficient land, only 1,400 ha is just allocated, Que Phong Management Board of Protection Forest and Hanh Dich Communal People’s Committee manage nearly 6,000 ha, and 2,132 ha of forest land has been allocated to 203 households in 2003 under the Decree 163/1999/ND-CP.

Suspended Land Use Planning

To ensure the stability of life and economic development for the mountainous residential community, in recent years, the government has issued many legal documents and policies on re reorganization and renewal of state agriculture and forestry enterprises, then reallocation for local communities to ensure residential and productive land for ethnic minorities. However, it is a paradox which remains in Hanh Dich as well as other communes in Que Phong, although the peoples lack of arable land but not be allocated land. This is due to the forestland is already planned to allocate to state and economic organizations. Although the Que Phong Rubber Plantation Farm has not been officially yet granted land use right certificate, but according to the plan and reality it is holding a large number of land areas for development of rubber production. However, from the date of the decision on land allocation, as reflected by the people, the Que Phong Rubber Plantation Farm has not yet deployed any activity on those areas. Other example is that, families in Na Xai, Hua Muong and Chieng villages in Hanh Dich are still not yet allocated forestland. The reason is due to the first two villages are in the management area of the Pu Hoat National Conservation Area which has been suspended planning for many years ago. Meanwhile, Chieng village has been "trapped" by the management of Que Phong Rubber Plantation Farm, so that the village does not have land to allocate for villagers.

Suspended planning is the very complicated problem not only in Hanh Dich, but also happened in other communes in Que Phong. Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung - Chairman of Que Son Commune expressed, according to the statistics on land in 2010, the commune currently has an area of 3,724.55 hectares with 3,569 people in which productive land is only 218.9 ha including water area (about 60.7 ha). In 2003, Nghe An provincial People's Committee issued a decision to grant the land use right for the Que Phong Forest Enterprise with an area of 5,000 ha, including part of Muong Noc and Tien Phong, and the entire Que Son commune. Even then, the Nghe An Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and Que Phong District People's Committee have agreed to return about 1,000 ha for the communes to reallocate for people. However, the land allocation has not been completed due to cumbersome procedures requirements and no financial support of the government, while the communes do not have the money to complete all procedures of land allocation; so, the Que Phong Forestry Enterprise still continues to manage and use those areas for planting hybrid acacia trees.

Recent years, the government has issued many documents and policies to prioritize the local ethnic minorities who live near the forests to be allocated forestland for production, contributing to stabilize the life. However, there remain many obstacles during the implementation of the policies in reality. Overlapping and hanging land use planning are creating inequalities in the receipt of land and forests in Que Phong.

If per capita on the actual land area is great, in reality local people received not many. As reported by the Que Phong Office of Forest Protection in 2011, while average one people is allocated 0.65 ha (in Hanh Dich) and 0.06 ha (in Que Son), one staff of Que Phong Management Board of Protection Forest received 1,243 ha and 583.5 ha per employee of the Que Phong Rubber Plantation Farm. Things that anyone can immediately realize that it would be difficult to those who are wage workers could manage effective such a large forest area. Yet, it still happens!

Above issue has led to the situation that forest and land almost do not have proper managers / users. While, the real users/manager and those who lack of land to stabilize life - its local residents had not been allocated forest and land.

Thus, the government should take timely measures in monitoring and reviewing the land use planning in upland ethnic minority areas; quickly withdraw land from organizations which operate not effectively in order to reallocate for local ethnic minorities. Just to do so, it is likely to contribute to poverty alleviation, socio-economic development, stability of national security in upland areas where ethnic minorities live.

Source: ĐCSVN