Project News

In the project news dated 23 May 2023, the project reported that we conducted a study tour for a forest owner group in Hoa Binh Province. The project is also supporting them to plant acacia trees.

Acacia is an alien species, but it is widely planted in Vietnam because it can grow in various environments, can be utilized in a variety of ways, and is relatively easy to grow. However, many of the saplings used for planting are of unknown origin or poor quality, being vulnerable to disease and strong winds after planting. As a result, forest owners get less benefit than healthy forests.

Thus, the project decided not to support the above-mentioned general acacia plantation but rather Acacia hybrid (*) that has a clear origin, is resistant to diseases, and has high quality. The project plans to set the harvesting period longer than the usual five years and to produce thicker and more expensive timber than usual. It will increase the income of forest owners and practice sustainable forest management that considers the natural ecosystem.

Prior to planting, in early April, the project provided the forest owners with the training on how to prepare the planting site, plant and grow saplings and use fertilizers properly.

About 24,000 saplings were distributed to forest owners on 21 April and planted on about 12 hectares of land. Although it was already in the rainy season, it was hot with little rain. That was a challenging environment for the saplings that had just been planted. However, thanks to the watering by the forest owners and proper management, the saplings had a very high survival rate of 96% after the 2-week intense heat.

In the future, Acacia hybrid saplings will grow steadily into healthy forests, demonstrating in the region that sustainable forest management is beneficial. It is hoped that sustainable forest management will spread throughout the region.

*Natural hybrid of Acacia mangium and Acacia auriculiformis

Saplings transported by a truck

A villager who received saplings

Acacia hybrid sapling

A villager who received saplings