In order to monitor the impact of the VPA / FLEGT agreement in Hoai Nhon district, Binh Dinh province, SRD and other related parties conducted a data collection survey on forest plantation households and small and micro wood processing enterprises. This survey is part of a series of four surveys supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The three other surveys took place in Thanh Son district (Phu Tho province), Thanh Chuong district (Nghe An province), and Que Son district (Quang Nam province).

       Binh Dinh is one of the most important processing centers of Viet Nam, only after Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City. In 2017, Binh Dinh's export of wood and timber products reached 373 million USD to more than 80 countries in Europe (70%), USA (10%), Australia (10%), Asia (10%) and wood processing industry accounts for about 50% of the total export turnover of Binh Dinh province. There are 150 enterprises with 25.000 workers and about 100.000 ha of plantation forest in Binh Dinh. These enterprises only partially meet the demand of raw materials for business to produce wood chips, wood pellets and furniture. Every year, wood processing enterprises in Binh Dinh import about 500,000 m3 of round timber including Eucalyptus wood, Teak, Acacia, Oak, Pine from sustainably managed plantation forest in Brazil, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia ...

       Hoai Nhon disctrict was selected to carry out the survey due to its large forest area (22,000ha) and important timber industry. The result of survey showed that households mainly plant Acacia on the area of ​​production forest land being granted a certificate of land use rights with low productivity (the average volume of timber is 60-80 tons/ha with a cycle of 4-5 years) due to unsatisfactory cultivation and care techniques. The density of planting of acacia trees of a household is relatively high (around 3,000 trees / ha), therefore the quality of harvested Acacia timber is very low and large diameter timber is used for wood chip production instead of being sold for a higher price as a furniture timber. Most households sell their timber to middlemen like timber dealers. They also know that they must have an exploitation permit and pay a fee when cutting wood in plantation forest. The application file for exploitation is mostly done by the traders while others follow the guidelines according to local forms.

       The wood processing enterprises are growing fast, however, the small area and low output from the plantation forest exploitation have not met the demand for raw materials. Because the land for planting material forests was mostly in poor and mountainous lands and bare hills, the productivity is low and the households sold young timber which is unappropriate for furniture production and export. In addition, a lack of general plan for plantation development and guideline for processing establishments have resulted in an irregular timber supply. An overexploitation of the timber sometimes leads to a lack of timber to run the timber mill. Recently, some enterprises had to close because of the lack of raw material for production.

Below are some photos of the survey:

The interview with small and micro wood processing enterprises

A factory of a super-small scale wood processing enterprise

The interview with a forest planting household

A discussion with some forest planting households