Chapter I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Scope
This Law deals with management, protection, development and use of forests; forest products processing and trade.
Article 2. Definitions
For the purposes of this Law, the terms below shall be construed as follows:
1. “forestry” is the economy and technology including management, protection, development and use of forests; forest products processing and trade.
2. “forestry operations” include one or some activities related to management, protection, development and use of forests; forest products processing and trade.
3. “forest” is an ecosystem including forest flora and fauna, fungi, microorganisms, forestland and other environmental factors in which the main component is one or some species of trees, bamboo or arecaceae whose height is determined according to the flora of the soil or rocky mountain, submerged land, sandy land or other typical flora; with inter-regional area of at least 0.3 ha; canopy of at least 0.1.
4. “canopy” is the portion of coverage of forest crowns vertically on a unit of forest area expressed in tenths.
5. “forest cover percentage” is the percentage of forest area over total natural land area in a particular geographic area.
6. “natural forest” means a forest that is available in nature or restored by natural regeneration or regeneration with additional afforestation.
7. “planted forest” means a forest that is newly planted on non-forested land, improved, replanted or regenerated after harvesting by human.
8. “holy forest” is a forest that is associated with beliefs or customs of a forest-dependent community.
9. “forest owner” may be an organization, household, individual or community that is allocated or leased out a forest by the State; allocated or leased out land for afforestation, forest regeneration or development; receives transfer of the forest, receives the forest as a gift or inherits the forest according to regulations of law.
10. “planted production forest ownership” includes the right to own, the right to use and discretion of the forest owner towards plants, animals and other property in the forest invested by the forest owner during the allocation/lease term of afforestation.
11. “forest use rights” means the rights of the forest owner to utilize the forest and enjoy benefits arising therefrom.
12. “forest value” is the total value of components of the forest ecosystem and forest environment values at a given time and on particular forest area.
13. “value of forest use rights” is the total value of money in forest use rights at a given time and on particular forest area.
14. “endangered/rare forest plant and animal species” are forest plant and animal species of special economic, scientific, medical, ecological, landscape and environmental values. Such species are only a few in nature or under threat of extinction.
15. “specimens of forest plant and animal species” are living or dead forest plants, animals, eggs, larvae, parts or derivatives thereof.
16. “forest product” means a product that is utilized from the forest including forest plants, animals and other forest organisms consisting of timbers, non-timber forest products, rattan and bamboo products after being processed.
17. “document on forest products” means an official paper or book that provides information about forest products retained at a forest products factory or store and used in the course of utilization, sale, export, import, transport, processing or storage or forest products.
18. “legal timber” means timber or timber products that is used, traded or produced under regulations of Vietnam law.
19. “sustainable forest management” is a method of forest management that ensures the achievement of forest protection and development objectives without declining values and enhancing the forest value, improving livelihoods, protecting the environment and contributing to maintain the national security.
20. “certificate of sustainable forest management” is a document that recognizes certain forest area satisfying criteria for sustainable forest management.
21. “forest leased out by the State” means an act of the State deciding to transfer forest use rights to an organization, household or individual that wishes to use the forest under a forest lease agreement.
22. “hiring forest environment” means that an organization or individual negotiates with a forest owner to use the forest environment for a certain period of time through a forestland lease contract in accordance with the law.
23. “forest environment services” are activities that provide value for the use of the forest environment.
24. “community” is a Vietnamese community living in the same village, hamlet, or residential area and having the same customs.
25. “buffer zone” is a forest area, land area or water surface area close to the boundary of a reserve forest which serves to prevent or reduce negative impacts on the reserve forest.
26. “strictly protected sub-zone of the reserve forest” means an area that is fully preserved in a national park, natural reserve or species – habitat reserve.
27. “ecological restoration sub-zone of the reserve forest” of a special-use forest is an area where it is strictly managed and protected so that the forest may restore natural ecosystems of the national park, natural reserve or species – habitat reserve.
28. “service and administrative sub-zone of the reserve forest” is a regular operating area of the reserve forest management unit, research and experiment institution, area providing tourism, hospitality or entertainment services combined with construction works to manage services of the national park, natural reserve or species – habitat reserve.
29. “closing of the natural forest” means an act of stopping the utilization of timbers from the natural forest for a certain period of time under a decision made by a competent state authority.
30. “opening of the natural forest” means permission to continue using timbers from the natural forest under a decision made by a competent state authority.
31. “forest degradation” is a decline in the forest ecosystems resulting in reduction in the function of the forest.
Article 3. Rules for forestry operations
1. Manage forest area and quality sustainably to ensure the harmony with targets for socio-economic development, national security, biodiversity conservation, to enhance the forest canopy and forest service value and preparedness to climate change.
2. Have private sectors involved in forestry operations in order to ensure the compliance of the state interests with interests of forest owners and entities involving in forestry operations.
3. Ensure connection of chains from forest protection, development and use to forest products processing and trade to enhance the forest value.
4. Ensure publicity, transparency and participation of organizations, households, individuals and communities involving in forestry operations.
5. Comply with international agreements related to forestry to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a signatory; or conform to other international agreements to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a signatory unless otherwise stated herein or if legislative documents have not specified.
Article 4. Forestry policies of the State
1. The State shall develop investment policies and mobilized private sectors to involve in forestry operations in compliance with socio-economic development and national security policies.
2. The State shall ensure resources for management, protection and development of reserve forests and protection forests.
3. The State shall protect legitimate rights and interests of organizations, households, individuals and communities involving in forestry operations.
4. The State shall organize and assist the management, protection and development of production forests; forestry varieties, forest restoration and forestation; research and apply science, high and state-of-the-art technology; provide training for personnel; provide forest environmental services; large-scale timber forestation, conversion from small-scale timber to large-scale timber forestation; infrastructure; sustainable forest management; forest products processing and trade; international cooperation in forestry.
5. The State shall encourage combined forestry-agricultural-fishery production; organic forestry production; and provide planted production forest insurance.
6. The State shall allocate forest and land to ethnic minority people and communities whose income mainly comes from forests for combined forestry-agricultural-fishery production; facilitate cooperation in forest protection and development with forest owners and benefit sharing arising from forests; facilitate practice in culture and beliefs associated with forests according to the Government’ regulations.
Article 5. Forest classification
1. According to their primary use purposes, natural and planted forests shall be divided into three following types:
a) Reserve forests;
b) Protection forests;
c) Production forests.
2. Reserve forests shall be mostly used to conserve natural forest ecosystems, genetic resources of forest organisms, carry out scientific research and preserve historical - cultural relics, beliefs, places of scenic beauty associated with ecotourism; hospitality and entertainment except for strictly protected sub-zones of reserve forests; and provide forest environmental services including:
a) National parks;
b) Natural reserves;
c) Species – habitat reserves;
d) Landscape protection areas including forests used for preserving historical - cultural relics and places of scenic beauty; belief forests; forests protecting environment of urban areas, industrial parks, export-processing zones, economic zones and high-tech zones;
dd) Forests used for scientific research or experiment purposes; national botanical gardens; national forest nurseries.
3. Protection forests shall be mainly used to protect water resources and soil, prevent erosion/landslides/floods, combat desertification, limit disasters, regulate climate, contribute to protect the environment and national security associated with ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment; provide forest environmental services; and are classified according to their importance including:
a) Watershed protection forests; forests protecting water resources for communities; bordering protection forests;
b) Wind/sand shielding protection forests; protection forests for tide shielding or sea encroachment prevention.
4. Production forests shall be primarily used for provision of forest products; combined forestry-agricultural-fishery production and trade; ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment; and provision of forest entertainment services.
5. The Government shall specify criteria for forest determination and classification and regulations on forest management.
6. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development shall specify criteria for determining the importance of protection forests.
Article 6. Forest boundary delimitation
1. Forests shall have boundaries delimited clearly on sites and maps with documents on forest management. The forest boundary delimitation system shall ensure consistency among subzones, plots and pieces of forests throughout the country.
2. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development shall specify this Article.
Article 7. Forest ownership
1. The State shall be the owner representative of public forests including:
a) Natural forests;
b) Planted forests invested by the State;
c) Planted forests appropriated or given by the State, or whose forest ownership is transferred in accordance with regulations of law.
2. Organizations, households, individuals and communities shall own planted production forests consisting of:
a) Their own forests;
b) Forests that are received from transfer, gifting or inheritance from other owners.
Article 8. Forest owners
Forest owners include:
1. Reserve forest and protection forest management units.
2. Business entities including enterprises, cooperatives, cooperative unions and other business entities that are established and operating in accordance with regulations of law, except for the owners stated in Clause 7 this Article.
3. Authorities that are affiliated to the People’s Armed Forces and allocated forests (hereinafter referred to as “armed force authorities”).
4. Science and technology institutions; vocational education and training centers in forestry.
5. Domestic households and individuals.
6. Communities.
7. Foreign-invested enterprises whose land is leased out by the State for forest production planting.
Article 9. Prohibited acts
1. Illegally felling, deforesting, exploiting or encroaching forests.
2. Illegally discharging sewage or bringing toxic chemicals, explosives, flammable substances, tools or vehicles into forests; grazing cattle or livestock in strictly protected sub-zones of reserve forests or newly planted forests.
3. Illegally hunting, shooting, catching, caging, slaughtering, transporting or trading in forest animals; illegally collecting specimens of forest plant or animal species.
4. Destroying forest resources, ecosystems or works used for forest protection and development.
5. Violating regulations on fire safety in forests; prevention and elimination of organisms harmful to forests; management of harmful allochthonous species; provision of forest environmental services.
6. Storing, trading in, transporting, processing, advertising, displaying, exporting, importing, temporarily importing, temporarily exporting or transiting forest products against regulations of Vietnam law and international agreements to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a signatory.
7. Exploiting natural resources, mineral resources or forest environment; building, digging, damming, stopping natural flows or other activities against regulations of law that lead to change in the natural landscape structure of forest ecosystems.
8. Illegally allocating, leasing out or appropriating forests, converting types of forests, repurposing of forests; illegally exploiting or transporting forest products; illegally changing forest area, transferring, inheriting, gifting, mortgaging or contributing capital with the value of forest use rights or planted production forest ownership; discriminating against religions, beliefs or genders when allocating or leasing out forests.
9. Illegally using materials for forest products processing.
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