Management of Watershed Protection Forest Based on the Muong Minority Ethnic Communities in Da Bac District, Hoa Binh Province, Vietnam

In Vietnam, community forest management (CFM) has long been practiced. This approach was institutionalized in 2004 through the Law on Forest Protection and Development (LFPD), which recognizes the roles and rights of local communities, particularly indigenous peoples (IPs), in sustainable managing of forest resources. Indigenous communities have a strong link with forests through their customs and traditions. A number of these IPs are situated in degraded forest sites, thus posing a great challenge to meet their basic needs.