Policy ResponsesPolicy ResponsesGreenhouse gas emissions resulting from land-use practices and land-use change represent Vietnam's major contribution to global warming. Forest clearance and degradation are the main source.
During the late 1980s, carbon emissions from land-use change in Vietnam stood at around 58 million metric tons a year, ten times the carbon emissions from fossil fuel use. Methane emissions from livestock production and rice growing (the major contributor) have been estimated at three million metric tons a year.
In the case of deforestation, the activities giving rise to greenhouse gas emissions are also responsible for current socio-economic or environmental difficulties. Measures are already being implemented to deal with these problems and these will also limit the contribution to global warming from these sectors. The threat of global warming provides additional impetus for these policies.
Extensive forest loss has taken place in Vietnam since the 1940s. Until that time, clearance was largely restricted to the Red River delta, the drier parts of the Mekong delta, the coastline, lowland riverine areas and some upland areas. Continuous warfare during the period to the mid-1970s caused considerable forest destruction, culminating in the deliberate clearance of forest in the south by herbicide spraying and mechanical means. Reconstruction after the war resulted in intense lumbering operations to provide materials for rebuilding homes, schools, hospitals and industry.
The doubling of the population between the 1940s and 1980s necessitated the clearance of large areas of forest for agriculture (which has, in many areas, proved unsustainable). The need for fuelwood has accelerated forest degradation and the construction of large energy supply facilities in forest areas is of increasing concern. In the coastal zone, fuelwood demand and clearance for shrimp, fish and crab farming has drastically reduced the area of the mangrove forests, a major casualty during the war when over half were completely destroyed.
The Vietnamese government has long recognized the need to protect the forests as a vital national resource. Despite ongoing warfare, a system of national reserves was established in 1962 with a national park at Cuc Phuong. By 1990, the total area protected amounted to 10,945 square kilometres.
Vietnam was amongst the first developing countries to begin the preparation of a National Conservation Strategy. The Strategy incorporates the need to limit population growth, reforestation, the introduction of agroforestry and the establishment of further nature reserves.
A strategic plan is being developed, to be supported through the Tropical Forest Action Plan, which will provide technical assistance for industrial forestry, fuelwood production, ecosystem conservation and institution building. The aim is to provide a co-ordinated framework for sustainable forest development.
The goal of the national reforestation programme is to increase the forest cover to 57.4% of the nation's land area. The intent is to replant 3,000 square kilometres a year. This will be achieved through forestry projects, education and direct involvement at the community level, drawing on the extensive experience of forest rehabilitation gained by Vietnamese forest managers. Recent land reforms have already increased incentives to farmers to take a long-term view in protecting their farmland and a new settlement programme is underway which will rehabilitate abandoned agricultural areas.
The major difficulty facing Vietnam in protecting and restoring its forest estate is not expertise but the lack of sufficient numbers of trained forestry personnel and limited financial resources.
While there is tremendous scope for reducing carbon dioxide emissions resulting from forest clearance and degradation, limiting other land-use releases of greenhouse gases may prove a more difficult problem given the importance of agriculture in Vietnam.
Rice production is the major source of methane emissions in Vietnam. The degree to which methane is produced depends on a variety of factors. The nature of the production system is important. Wet paddy rice produces methane whilst dry upland rice does not. How the crop is fertilized (whether with organic matter or chemicals) affects the amount of methane produced, as does the manner in which crop residues are disposed of. The rice variety also influences methane production.
The most effective approach to reducing methane emissions would appear to be a strategy which combines emission reduction with the more immediate need to improve the efficiency and sustainability of rice production.
The same is true in the case of the nitrous oxide release resulting from the application of nitrogenous fertilizers. Here, more efficient application could not only reduce nitrous oxide releases but would have very direct benefits in terms of production economics, soil protection and ensuring sustainable yields.
Source
Collins, N. M, Sayer, J. A., and Whitmore, T.C., eds. (1991)
The Conservation Atlas of the Tropical Forests: Asia and the Pacific. MacMillan, London
"Policy Responses: Adapting to global warming"
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