Forest-based Natural Disaster
Mitigation in Vietnam:
The State and Challenges
Vu Tan PhuongVietnam Forest Certification Office (VFCO)•••••

Forestry sector
Climate change scenarios
Climate change impacts and natural disasters
Related policies and forest management
Key challenges

VIETNAM’S FORESTRY: 2022 KEY STATISTICS
14.7 Mha – 42% cover
70% is natural forest (4% is primary forests)
30% is planted forests
1% is mangrove forests

15% (2.2 Mha) special use forests
32% (4.6 Mha) protection forests
53% (7.8 Mha) production forests
20 M m3 timbers harvested from planted forests
17 B USD woods & wood-based products export value
150 M USD from Annual Ecosystem services payment
662 Mt C stored in the forests, 80% in natural forests
25 million people dependent on forests
Source: VNFOREST 2023

FOREST AREA CHANGE & CURENT DISTRIBUTIONBY ECO-REGIONS
1. North WestTF: 1.8 Mha
PF: 0.2 Mha

3. RRDTF: 0.5 Mha
PF: 0.3 Mha

2. North East

TF: 3.5 Mha
PF: 1.4 Mha

4. North Central

TF: 3.1 Mha
PF: 0.9 Mha

5. South Central

TF: 2.4 Mha
PF: 0.8 Mha

6. Central Highland

TF: 2.4 Mha
PF: 0.8 Mha

7. South East

8. Mekong Delta
Source: MARD 2023; GSO 2023

TF: 0.24 Mha
PF: 0.16 Mha

TF: 0.5 Mha
PF: 0.2 Mha

CLIMATE CHANGE IN VIETNAM: FACTS & FUTURE
Observed Data, 1958-2018

Future Projection Towards 2100

Increased 0.89OC, averaged increase of
0.15OC per every 10 years

RCP4.5: Increase 1.9-2.4OC in the North,
1.4-1.9OC in the South
RCP8.5: Increase 3.5-4.2OC in the Northand 3.0-3.5OC in the South

Increased 2.1% over 60 years, butshowed decreasing trend in the North& West of Central Highland; andincreasing trend in the South,
especially South Central Coast
12-13 typhoons per year and no clear
trend of change; but appears strong& abnormal typhoons
Sea level rise about 2.7 mm/year
Source: MONRE 2021

RCP4.5: Increase 10-20%, mainly in theNorth; and RCP8.5: Likely to increase 40%
in the northern part
Strong & extremely strong typhoons
appear to be increased
RCP4.5: Possible to increase by 55 mm(34-100 mm) in the eastern sea area

CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS & NATURAL RISKS
NE & NW:NWLandside, flash flood, flooding

NE

RRD:Flooding, erosion
NCC & SCC:
Flooding, erosion,
drought, forest fireCH:

Drought,landslide,forest fires

Flooding in low land area

Flash flood in mountain area

Coastline erosion

Land slide

Drought

FrostSCC

SE:

Flooding

MRD:

Flooding, coast erosion,salt intrusion

2020 CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO

The worse scenario, SLR 100 cm:

Flooding risks as Sea
Level Rise

• Red River Delta: 13%• Mekong River Delta: 47%• Ho Chi Minh City: 17%

NATURAL DISASTERS LOSSES 2006-2020
2006-2020, M$
1,024

AVER2020

1,4892962019877

2018

2,665

2017

1,822

2016

376

2015
2014

132
1,326

2013
2012
2011

766
675
897

2010

1,352

2009
2008
2007

806
720

2006

Sources: VDMA 2020; WB 2022

1,160

WB (2022):“If there are no appropriate GHG
mitigation and adaptation, Viet Nam maylose 12-14.5% GDP every year by 2050”

POLICIES ON CC AND NATURAL DISASTER REDUCTION
Key policies:• Environment Protection Law 2020
• PM Decision 896/QD-TTg - National Strategy on
Climate Change Towards 2050
• Forestry Law 2017 and policies

The policy goals:• Mitigation: NZ Emission Target by 2050
• Adaptation: Enhancing resilience andadaptative capacity to reduce impacts of climatechange and natural disaster reduction

Enhancingvalue addedforplantations
Maintainforest coverat 42%

Forestry

Emissions
reduction &carbon
enhancement

Sectordevelopment
Forest based
solution fornatural
disasterreduction

Sustainableforestmanagement

FOREST MANAGEMENT FOR CC AND
NATURAL DISASTER REDUCTION• Protection of existing natural forests and ecosystems• Enhancing protection functions of the forests,
especially watershed & coastal protection forests• Restoration of forests & degraded ecosystems• Application of sustainable forest management• Proper land use management and replication ofagroforestry practices on sloping land areas• Tree breeding and improvement for CC adaption andnatural disaster mitigation

KEY CHALLENGES…..
• Inconsistencies and overlapped policies regarding forest andland management causing unclear responsibilities among themanagement agencies• High opportunity costs for other land uses than protecting
forests, causing pressures on forest conversion• Lack of understanding on interaction between forests andnatural disasters mitigation (species, forest area, distributionetc.) for policy options and designing forest-based measuresfor natural disaster mitigation• Lack of environmental protection code/regulations for
agricultural land use practices and construction in thewatershed areas• Ineffective cross-sector collaboration for natural disasters
reduction in processes of land use planning, implementationand monitoringThank you!

Promoting Sustainable Forest Management Nationally and Globally

Vietnam Forest Certification Office (VFCO)
46 Duc Thang, Bac Tu Liem Dist., Hanoi, Viet Nam+84 2466857688
vfco.vietnam@vafs.gov.vn

www.vfcs.org.vn