In Vietnam, small farmers and timber magnates forge uneasy alliance

By Zoe Osborne
Mongabay
November 10, 2017
Category: Forestry
Region: International

HO CHI MINH CITY – In a bid to address the history of poor management that has ravaged its forests and the quality of its timber, Vietnam is embracing a more sustainable approach to its smallholder-driven forestry sector. …Since the majority of the country’s plantation land is divided into small family plots, focusing on improving smallholders’ ability to produce quality timber could be paramount to meeting these goals. As a key player in the global timber trade, Vietnam exports manufactured wood products to over 120 countries worldwide. But quality remains low: only 20 percent of the country’s domestic output is of high enough quality to be used for furniture exports, according to the NGO Forest Trends. …Smallholders currently lack the capacity to farm high-quality wood, but a WWF initiative to train them in FSC-standard timber production could change their situation.

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