The challenges of collective PES: Insights from three community-based models in Vietnam

Implementation of Payment for Forest Environmental Services and its Influence on the Livelihood of Ethnic Minorities in Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam

“…Despite being one of the first provinces to pilot community-based forest management, THH has been under a lot of pressure from little families encroaching on forest land for acacia plantations (Nguyen et al, 2022). The establishment of PFES intends to offer financial help for maintaining and protecting forests in accordance with traditional collective forest management models from previous policies.…”

“…It is vital to develop stricter legal provisions on the responsibilities of the parties involved. Although FPG are in charge of making sure that their allotted forest area is kept in good condition, any loss of forest cover just reduces their PFES payment without subjecting them to additional duty (Nguyen et al, 2022). Additionally, there has been a lack of attention given to maintaining forest quality in the event of forest degradation during the province's adoption of PFES.…”

“…The adoption of PFES in Vietnam has been affected by both rural history and forest institutions (McElwee et al, 2020). Although collective PES models in Vietnam were designed to suit local contexts, none has exceeded expectations in promoting positive collective action, and each model faces unique challenges that undermine the group's efforts, exacerbate underlying issues, or even lead new conflicts (Nguyen et al, 2022). The need to re-evaluate PFES performance to determine if it is working as intended and to adjust related policies to meet community needs.…”

Pitfalls for the sustainability of forest transitions: evidence from Southeast Asia

“…These include logging or timber export bans, forest cover goals and mandates (Stanturf & Mansourian 2020), territorial zoning, biodiversity offset legislation and the declaration of protected areas (Déry & Vanhooren 2011). Other actions include creating structures for community-based forest management (Nguyen et al 2022) or pursuing strong support for tree plantation development (Mansourian et al 2017). Additionally, market-based mechanisms such as forest carbon credits under the United Nations' (UN) Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDDþ) programme, voluntary market forest certification programmes and payments for ecosystem services are increasingly being used to incentivize sustainable forest management practices (Angelsen & Rudel 2013, Wunder et al 2020, Tedesco et al 2023).…”