Livelihood and Integration of Indigenous People in Natural Forest Management
Author: Duc Le
Publisher:
Published: 2013
Total Pages:
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMost of the remnant natural forests in Vietnam are located in mountainous areas where indigenous communities reside. The majority of indigenous people are poor. They heavily depend on the forest for their subsistence and livelihood. Forests in Vietnam are state-owned assets assigned to various forest owners for management, such as the State Forest Enterprise, or the so-called State Forestry Company (SFC). The management of natural forests by SFCs is currently facing three main problems: low of profitability, forest degradation, and conflict over land and forest use by locals.This research investigates the importance of forests to the livelihood of locals, the levels of integration between the SFC and locals, and the perception of locals on forest management practices. The research is based upon a case study of Dak To SFC in Kon Tum province of Vietnam. Sixty-two households from five villages were surveyed. Key informants were also interviewed to gain an understanding of the local situation. The research findings reveal that the income of the migrant group (Kinh and others) is 4.2 times higher than that of the indigenous group (Sedang). The main income source of the migrant group is from business and service (62.6%), while the indigenous group gets their income more from agriculture (mainly of Cassava, constituting 48.9%). By contrast, the indigenous and low income household groups have greater access to forest and depend on it as their source of income, accounting for 5.8% and 14.9% respectively. The migrant and the high income groups show almost no income from the forest, 0.4% and 0.6%. The difference in forest dependence is of high significance (p
