The role of community in the use of forest land among the Northern minority peoples (Tradition, changes and implementation of the 2003 Land Law)

Abstract

The ethnic minority groups in northern mountainous areas have the tradition of community management of forest land. Prior to 2003, under the Land Law of the Vietnamese State, although community has not been acknowledged as a beneficiary of land allotment, community still effectively managed large areas of forests. The 2003 Land Law acknowledges community as a beneficiary of land allotment but only agricultural land. The author recommends that communities should be stipulated by the Law as a beneficiary of forest land allocation and points to some orientations to implement this stipulation