PaperpresentedattheCommunityForestryManagementWorkshopinBacKan(20‐21April2010) Page1 LessonsLearnedfromtheParticipatoryForestLandAllocationProcess fundedbyAusAIDinQuangNgai  PhamDinhPhong DeputyHead,LandManagementDivision DoNRE,QuangNgai   Background Forestry, as one of the important natural  resources of Quang Ngai Province, has contributed significantly in the economic development of the Province. Though efforts has beenmade for bettermanagementofforestresourcesbothatstateandindividuallevelsinthepast,however, therewereambiguityintheforestboundaryandforestownershipsresultingtolackofeffective forestmanagement.About343,436Ha.oflandisclassifiedasforestlandoutof515,266Ha.of naturallandareainQuangNgaiProvince.  AusAID funded RUDEP (2002‐2007) assisted the Participatory Forest Land Allocation Process (PFLAP) to allocate the forest land to individuals and enterprises. Later, it is followed by Institutional Support Program (ISP)withthe purposetoenhance the qualityand effectiveness of P135 II implementation in six upland districts  of the Province and supported the woodlot ownerstoenhancetheircapacityandproductivity.  The objectives of PFLAP are to implement social contribution  policy of the forestry sector to secure the forest land ownership to use it sustainably, to create employment to improve the livelihoods of upland people resulting to enhance their incomes and to increase the participation of relevant stakeholders in the forest management by allocating forest land, especiallythepoorethnicminoritypeople.  This paper describes, in brief, the forest land allocation process with its strengths and shortcomingscoveringoverallimpacttothecommunitywithforestownerships.  PFLAPImplementation FollowingtheResolutionbytheProvincialPartyCommittee andtheProvincialPeople’sCouncil that mapping and issuance of forest Land Ownership Certificates (LOC) in the six upland districts, DoNRE in coordination with the District People’s Committees (DPCs) prepared the Economic‐Technical Reports (E‐T Reports) on mapping for preparation of cadastral maps of scale 1/5000, land allocation,  land registration, preparation of cadastral documents and issuanceof LOCsforforestland andother slopinglandsforannualtreecrop production. The Economic‐Technical Report was prepared following the seven Steps of PFLAP.The Steps are briefly shown in Appendix 1. PFLAP was commenced in 2005 with the pilot testing in  two communes.  PaperpresentedattheCommunityForestryManagementWorkshopinBacKan(20‐21April2010) Page2 Communityawarenesshassignificantlycontributedtothesuccessoftheforestlandallocation. Allthestakeholders,especiallyindividualhouseholds,werewellinformedinadvanceregarding the process and they contributed in the decision makings at village and commune levels to resolve boundary disputes, forestland rights, traditional users and others. Village and hamlet meetings were conducted to raise the community awareness on PFLAP. Such meetings were coveredinthe63communesofthesixuplanddistricts.  Maincontentsofthevillagemeetingwereasfollows. • inform households on the national and provincial policies related to forest land  allocationandissuance oflandownershipcertificates; • introduce households to PFLAP and schedules for PFLAP implementation at the provincial,districtandcommunelevel; • introducehouseholdstoforestlandtypes,regulationsontheiruseandopportunitiesfor householdstouseandmanagetheirland; • ensure that the households understand the objectives, principles, and significance of landuseplanningandlandallocationactivitiesandthattheycanidentifytheirrolesand dutiesinlanduseplanningandlandallocationprocess; • introduce households to concepts, signs, colours, and the ways to identify boundaries andplacenamesonthecurrentthreeforest‐typemapsandexercisestoidentifycurrent landusepractices.  Subsequentlysecondmeetingwasfollowedtodiscussandproposeaforestlanduseplan.The meetingwasconductedwiththeapplicationofPRAmethodologytodiscusslanduseplanning, and land use and management plans. Forest land use criteria, such as the areas planned for protection, production, cultivation, or afforestation were introduced to the households using the topographical map (1/5,000 scale). Discussions also i ncluded the future forest land use strategies.The District Working Group  (DWG)thenworked with households to identifyfuture land use activities for various forest land types. Forest land use status as well as the ways to improveland usepractices of local  people wasdiscussed andagreed byall participantsat the meeting.  Draftoftheforestlanduseplanningwaspreparedasfollows. • The DWG in coordination with the consultants entered the information in the future land useplanningandboundariesintothe1/10,000scaletopographicalmap.Thismap included land use planning details and proposed land allocation plans agreed by participantsatthevillagemeeting. • The forest land area and planned area of different land types for each village were calculatedandenteredintoaninventorysheet.Communelanduseplanningmapswere anaggregationofvillageplanningmapsanddata. • On the basis of these maps, the DWG assisted the Commune People’s Committees (CPCs) in drafting the commune participatory forest land use planning and land allocationplans.  PaperpresentedattheCommunityForestryManagementWorkshopinBacKan(20‐21April2010) Page3 The DWG presented the draftcommune forest landuse planningand land allocationplans to the Commune Land Advisory Council(CLAC).Recommendations andcommentswere givenby participantsatthemeetingtofinalisetheexplanationofthecommuneforestlanduseplanning andlandallocationplans,mapsandotherrelevant documents.  TheDWGassistedtheCPCstofinalisetheplanstosubmittotheDistrictPeople’sCommittees (DPCs)forapproval.  Altogether, there were 1,040 commune and village meetings with the participation of 58,539 persontimes.Thisincluded: +Communemeetings(2meetings/commune): 102;4,189persontimes +Villagemeetings(2 meetings/village):  938;54,350persontimes   After two years (2007‐2008) of the implementation of mapping for preparation of cadastral maps and issuance of land ownership certificates in the six upland  districts in Quang Ngai, 121,930 Ha./124,138 Ha. of land was measured, accounting for 98%, and 111,909 LOCs were delivered, accounting for 117% as compared to the Economic‐Technical Reports.LOCs are jointlyownedbybothmaleandfemaleheadsofthehouseholds.  In order to complete mapping and issuance of the LOCs, DoNRE with the support of InstitutionalSupportProgram(ISP)covered  • TrainingstoprovideguidanceonapprovalworktotheCLAC; • Preparationforthevillagemeetingandconsolidationoftheproposals; • Villagemeetings; • CLACmeetings; • DistrictSteeringCommittee(SC)meetingsand • TrainingsontheuseofViLissoftware.  ByJune 2009,totalareameasuredforthepreparationofcadastralmapswas122,647Ha.with  theissuanceof117,616LOCs.  CommunityEffortsinForestManagement With the ownership of forest land, the individual households are contributing to establish plantation forest  especially with Acacia species. Though there are individual efforts in the plantation establishments, they are also involved in the Activity Groups to enhance  the productivity andmarketdevelopment.ISPhassupportedwiththetechnicaltrainingtowoodlot ownersandimprovementintheforestmanagementtooptimizetheproductivity.  Achievements Overall,the LOCs have been delivered in all the area of forest land currently used by local peoplewiththecompletionofcadastralmapsofforest landinsixuplanddistricts. PaperpresentedattheCommunityForestryManagementWorkshopinBacKan(20‐21April2010) Page4  This was due to the timely instructions of the political system from province, districts and communesandskilledstaffofDepartmentofNaturalResourcesandEnvironmentandrelevant agenciesincludingconsultantagencies.ItshouldbenotedthatRUDEPandISPhassignificantly contributedintermsoffinancialandtechnicalsupports.  Majorachievementsareasfollows. • The DWG,the CLACand governmentstaff at different levelshave been well equipped with fundamental knowledge on the participatory forest land use planning and land  allocationthroughtechnicaltrainingcourses; • The approval work by CLAC has been conducted in an accurate, fair, democratic and transparentwaywhichenhancedthequalityoflandregistrationdocuments; • Through the program, technical staff of District Natural Resources and Environment Division(DNRED)andtheLandRegistrationOffice ofthedistrictshavebeenabletouse FaMisandViLissoftwareincompilationandadjustmentofdigitalmaps,preparationof cadastral documents, and preparation of the LOCs. The commune cadastral officials havebeenfamiliarwiththeuseofcomputersandsoftware’s; • Participatory approach has been applied widelyby theagencies at different levelsand particularly by people. This process has helped people  understand well the party and thegovernmentpoliciestowardsforestland; • The participation of upland people in this process not only improved their knowledge butalsohelpedthemidentifytheirrolesandresponsibilitiesinforestlanduseplanning andlandallocation; • In the implementation of PFLAP, people had opportunities to participate such as identification of boundaries between villages, land use organisations accompanying consultant agencies in the preparation of cadastral maps, land registration, land allocation in the field and issuance of the LOCs. Consequently, on receiving the LOCs, households are able to immediately identify the locations and the boundaries of their land,whichminimizedpotentialconflictsandclaimsonland. • This PFLAP has extensively and comprehensively raised the awareness of the DNRED andtheDistrictLandRegistrationOfficestaff,andespeciallytheCLACmembersonthe importance of land management. Responsibilities of the leaders and the staff of each agency have been clearly defined, which contributes  to addressing the issues and shortcomings during the past time. Work has gradually become stabilized and developedforthecomingyears. • This Process not only shows the elaborate and logical nature of work but  also brings practicalbenefitstouplandpeople.TheyarenowprovidedwiththeLOCsand havethe rightswiththeirland.  DifficultiesandShortcomings • The transfer from Protection Forest into Production Forest afterthe approval ofthree forest‐type classification was slow due to the lack of guidelines from  the central government.Itwasnotuntil2008thatMARDprovidedguidelinesonthis.Asaresult,it PaperpresentedattheCommunityForestryManagementWorkshopinBacKan(20‐21April2010) Page5 has been impossible to allocate land and issue the LOCs for some area of land transferredfromProtectionForestintoProductionForest. • TheDNREDandtheLandRegistrationOfficesintheuplanddistrictsarelackofstaff.In addition, these staff are overloaded with work volume and their contribution to this workwasthereforeverylimited. • Some local authorities did not concentrate efforts on this work.What they did wasto assign the work to the professional staff and consultant agencies without any instructions. Consequently, the issues emerged during the implementation were not addressedinatimelymanner. • Theeffective coordinationbetweenthe consultantagencies, the CPCs,and theDNRED ofsomedistrictswassometimeslackingandnotregular,whichcausedthecheckingand appraisalofdocumentsinaccurate. • Due to scattered settlement of the local people, it was difficult to conduct meetings since people had to travel too far. In some villages, meetings had to be held several timesandsomemeetingshadtobeheldatnightsothatpeoplecouldfullyparticipate.  LessonsLearned ThroughtheimplementationofPFLAPinQuangNgai,thefollowinglessonshavebeendrawnby DoNRE: • TheSC,theDWGandtheassignedstaffhavetomanageanddirecttheimplementation closely,objectivelyanddemocratically.Also,issuesemergedduringtheimplementation havetobeaddressedinaflexibleway. • Thosedistrictsandcommuneswhich  receiveintensivesupportand directionsfromthe politicalsystemsfromdistrict,commune,andvillagelevelswillbeabletocarryoutthe plannedactivitiesverywell. • CommunicationworktomakepeopleunderstandtheGovernmentpoliciesandlawsand thebenefitsoflandallocationandissuanceoftheLOCsisveryimportantandthisplays apivotalroleinthesuccessofthisprocess. • Coordinationbetween theconsultantagencies,theCPCs,andtheDWGhastobeona regularbasis.Inaddition,theseagencieshavetocooperatecloselytoresolvetheissues duringtheimplementation. • It is really difficult tocarry outPFLAP in thecommunity wheremost ofthe people are ethnicminorities. This required patienceandresult‐based approach indoingthe work. Moreover,itisveryimportanttopromotetherolesofmassorganizationsinmobilizing theparticipationofpeople. • Itisnecessaryto integrateotherprogramsand projectswithPFLAPsothat peoplecan use their land more productively. Households often harvest the products before the harvesttime,therefore,thereshouldbealongtermsupporttothehouseholds.Itisalso necessaryto restrictthe transferof theLOCsfromone household to another (because therearetendenciestoselltheLOCsbylandowners)whenpeoplegetthe LOCs.More importantly,peopleshouldnotlosetheirforestland,especiallytheirlanduserights.   PaperpresentedattheCommunityForestryManagementWorkshopinBacKan(20‐21April2010) Page6 Conclusion Forestlandallocationhascontributedtoguaranteethelandrightsofindividualhouseholds especiallythepooruplandpeople,bothmaleandfemale,oftheprovince.Theymade significantcontributiontoenhancetheproductivityoftheforestoncetheyreceiveland ownership.ThePFLAPhasnotonlysupportedthepoorhouseholdsbutitalsocontributedto capacitybuildingoftheimplementingagenciesbothinpolicydevelopmentandtechnicalfield. Astheallocatedforestisscattered,theindividualforestownersneedtomanagetheforestina communityapproachwithmarketdevelopmenttomaximizetheproductivityandincome. PaperpresentedattheCommunityForestryManagementWorkshopinBacKan(20‐21April2010) Page7   Appendix1:SevenStepsofPFLAP No Step Contents Step1 Administrativepreparation + Formation of the provincial and district Steering Committees; (In practice, SC was not formed at the provincial level. PPC assigned DONRE to take the leadintheimplementation) +Formation(orrestructuring)oftheCommuneLand AdvisoryCommittees; + Formation of the provincial and district Working Groups. Step2 Technical preparation and collection of information, documentsandmaps + Technical Training for the district Working Group andtheCommuneLandAdvisoryCouncil; +Preparationofmaps; + Collection, review and evaluation of related documentsandmaps; +Preparationoftechnicalequipmentandtools; +Financialpreparation; + Commune meeting for the implementation of PFLAP. Step3  Field surveys, data collection, and development of current land‐usemaps + Village and Hamlet meetings conducted for communityawarenessraisingonPFLAP; + Field survey to develop current land use maps (fieldexercises); +Evaluationofthedatacollectedandpreparationof thecurrentlandusemaps(indoorexercises) Step4  Development of the forest land‐use planning and proposed forest land allocationplans + General principles offorest land useplanning and forestlandallocationplans; + Village and hamlet meeting to discuss the forest landuseplanningandlandallocationplans; + Draft of the forest land use planning and forest landallocationplans; +Seminarontheforestlanduseplanningandforest landallocationplansatthecommunelevel; +Approvalofthecommuneforestlanduseplanning andforestlandallocationplans. PaperpresentedattheCommunityForestryManagementWorkshopinBacKan(20‐21April2010) Page8 Step5  Mapping and identification of land boundaries in the field, and preparation of cadastral maps + Surveying, mapping, identification of boundaries, and locations of forest land lots in the field (field exercises); + Development of cadastral maps of forest Land‐ Scale1/5,000(indoorexercises); +Reviewandinspectionof theoutputs; +Submissionofmaps Step6 Preparation of LOCs documents, appraisal of land allocation documents and issuance of Forest Land Use OwnershipCertificates +RegistrationofLOCs + Preparation of documents for land ownership certificates; +Appraisalandapprovalofthedocumentsforforest land allocation and forest land‐use ownership certificates. Step7  Issuance of the LOCs; Preparationandfinalisation of cadastraldocuments. +HandoveroftheLOCstolandusers; +Developmentofcadastraldocuments; +Reviewandappraisalofcadastraldocuments; +Submissionoftheoutputs,copiesoftheLOCs,and cadastraldocuments.  . Paperpresentedat the CommunityForestryManagementWorkshop in BacKan(20‐21April2010) Page1 Lessons Learned from the Participatory Forest Land Allocation Process funded by AusAID in Quang Ngai  PhamDinhPhong DeputyHead, Land ManagementDivision DoNRE, Quang Ngai   Background Forestry,. and forest land allocation plans; +Seminaron the forest land useplanningand forest land allocation plansat the communelevel; +Approvalof the commune forest land useplanning and forest land allocation plans. Paperpresentedat the CommunityForestryManagementWorkshop in BacKan(20‐21April2010). for bettermanagementof forest resourcesbothatstateandindividuallevels in the past,however, therewereambiguity in the forest boundaryand forest ownershipsresultingtolackofeffective forest management.About343,436Ha.of land isclassifiedas forest land outof515,266Ha.of natural land area in Quang Ngai Province.  AusAID funded RUDEP (2002‐2007) assisted the Participatory Forest Land Allocation Process (PFLAP) to allocate the forest land to individuals