Decree No. 91/2024/ND-CP dated July 18, 2024 on amending some articles of Decree 156/2018/ND-CP elaborating Law on Forestry

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THE GOVERNMENT OF VIETNAM --------	THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Independence – Freedom – Happiness ---------------
No: 91/2024/ND-CP	Hanoi, July 18, 2024

DECREE

AMENDING SOME ARTICLES OF DECREE 156/2018/ND-CP DATED NOVEMBER 16, 2018 OF THE GOVERNMENT ELABORATING LAW ON FORESTRY

Pursuant to the Law on Government Organization dated June 19, 2015; Law on amending Law on Government Organization and Law on Local Government Organization dated November 22, 2019;

Pursuant to the Law on Forestry dated November 15, 2017;

Pursuant to Article 248 of the Land Law dated January 18, 2024;

At the request of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development;

The Government issues a Decree amending some articles of Decree 156/2018/ND-CP dated November 16, 2018 of the Government elaborating Law on Forestry.

Article 1. Amendments to some articles of Decree 156/2018/ND-CP dated November 16, 2018 of the Government elaborating Law on Forestry

1. Amendments to clauses 6, 7, and 8 of Article 3 and addition of clause 10 and 11 after clause 9 of Article 3:

“6. “Secondary harvesting” means felling of trees during the implementation of silvicultural measure adoption and scientific research; clearing land for projects for repurpose of forests, temporary forest use for the construction of temporary works for the construction of power grid projects; liquidation of planted forests; constructing infrastructure serving forest protection and development specified in clauses 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Article 51 of the Law on Forestry Law.

7. “Salvage harvesting" means practices of collecting timber and non-timber forest plants that have fallen or died due to natural causes or disasters; burnt, dry, rotten timber and non-timber forest plants, branches and tops that remain in the forest areas.

8. “Forest environment” means a part of forest ecology, created from natural elements, including organisms, soil, water, air, sound, light and other physical elements affect forest biodiversity and natural landscape.

10. “Ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment projects in special-use forests, protection forests and production forests” mean investment projects that use the forest environment to provide ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment services.

11. “Forest repurposing” means repurposing of special-use forest land, protective forest land, and production forest land with decision from competent state authorities.”.

2. Amendment to point a of clause 3 of Article 4:

“a) Natural forests on hills, mountains and plains: average height of forest trees is 5,0 m or more; dry deciduous dipterocarp forests have an average height of forest trees of 3,0 m or more.”.

3. Amendment to point a of clause 3 of Article 5:

“a) Planted forests on hills, mountains and plains: average height of forest trees is 5,0 m or more; Planted forests on acid sulfate soil, planted forests at altitudes above 1.000 m, multi-purpose forestry trees and forests planted in other special ecological conditions: average height of forest trees is from 3.0 m or more.”.

4. Addition of clauses 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 after clause 5 of Article 9:

“6. The adjustment made to increase the area of a special-use forest by conversion of a specific area of protection forest or production forest or a forest outside the forestry planning into special-use forest shall be carried out in accordance with Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article.

7. The adjustment made to reduce the area of a special-use forest by converting special-use forest to protection forest or production forest or forest repurposing shall be carried out in accordance with Article 39, 40,and 42 hereof.

Within 30 days, after the competent authority makes the decision on forest conversion or forest repurposing, the forest owner must complete updating the forest management dossiers.

8. National parks, nature reserves, species-habitat conservation areas and landscape protection areas may be converted into one another in accordance with Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article when meeting the criteria specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4, Article 6 hereof.

9. Criteria for functional subdivisions of national parks, nature reserves and species-habitat conservation areas

a) Strictly protected subdivisions must meet one of the following criteria:

There is a natural ecosystem that is still intact or there is a natural ecosystem that ensures the natural development laws of the forest ecosystem.

They have a natural distribution and are home to endemic, endangered, rare wild animal and plant species.

For special-use forests with components of wetland and coastal ecosystems, the location, scope and scale of the strictly protected subdivision are determined based on the status of the natural ecosystem and conditions of terrain, hydrology, and flooding regime; they are habitats for endemic, endangered, rare wild animal and plant species.

b) Ecological restoration subdivisions must meet one of the following criteria:

There is a forest ecosystem that needs to be restored by silvicultural techniques to achieve the natural state of the forest ecosystem.

There is a natural ecosystem and habitat that maintains food sources and movement for wild animal species.

For special-use forests with components of wetland and coastal ecosystems, the location, scope and scale of the ecological restoration subdivision are determined based on the status of the natural ecosystem and conditions of terrain, hydrology, and flooding regime; they are habitats that maintains food sources and movement for wild animal species.

c) Service and administrative subdivisions must meet one of the following criteria:

They are established mainly to build technical infrastructure, including: facilities for working, living, researching, scientific experimenting, rescue and biological development of the special-use forest management board; facilities serving ecotourism, recreation, entertainment, and other functions as stipulated by law;

The area of service and administrative subdivisions shall be concentrated, limiting dispersed areas, in accordance with the scale of the special-use forest management board, the forest status, and the total natural area of the special-use forest.

10. Adjustment to functional subdivisions of national parks, nature reserves and species-habitat conservation areas

a) The forest owners shall prepare a plan for adjusting functional subdivions with the following main contents:

Legal, scientific and practical basis;

Assessment of the status of forests, natural ecosystems; values of biodiversity, biological gene sources; scientific, experimental, environmental education values and provision of forest environmental services satisfying the criteria of functional subdivisions for the adjusted subdivision;

Determination of the scope and boundaries of functional subdivisions after adjustment on the map and location points in the field;

Determination of solutions for implementation and organization of management after the adjustment.

b) Application for appraisal of functional subdivision adjustment, including:

Application for functional subdivision adjustment of the forest owner (original copy);

Functional subdivision adjustment plan for special-use forest in accordance with point a of this Clause (original copy);

The forest status map before adjustment and the expected forest status map after adjustment of the special-use forest clearly showing the scope, boundaries, and functional subdivisions (original copy). Depending on the area scale of the special-use forest, the forest owner shall select appropriate maps, agreeing on the same scale of 1/5,000 or 1/10,000 or 1/25,000 according to the VN2000 reference system.

c) Procedures for appraisal of functional subdivision adjustment of special-use forest managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The forest owner shall submit 01 application directly or by post or online to the Department of Forestry of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (hereinafter referred to as “receiving agency”);

In case the application is inadequate, within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the application, the receiving agency shall send a written notice to the forest owner for them to complete their application and clearly state the reasons;

Within 05 days from the date of receiving an adequate application, the receiving agency shall submit to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for organizing the collection of written appraisal opinions from relevant ministries, central and local authorities in accordance with the functions and tasks of the consulted agency and the law on applications for functional subdivision adjustment of special-use forest and the contents of the plan for functional subdivision adjustment of the special-use forest as prescribed in Point a of this Clause;

Within 15 days from the date of receiving the written request for opinions from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, ministries, central and local authorities shall send a written response to the receiving agency as prescribed in this Clause;

Within 15 days from the date of receiving the documents from ministries, central and local authorities, the receiving agency shall complete the appraisal;

If the adjustment is qualified, within 20 days, the receiving agency shall report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and submit to the Prime Minister for decision on the guideline for functional subdivision adjustment of the special-use forest managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

If the adjustment is not qualified, the receiving agency shall send a written notice to the forest owner stating the reasons;

Within 20 days from the date the Prime Minister issues a decision on the adjustment guideline, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall make a decision on the functional subdivision adjustment of the special-use forest managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

d) Procedures for appraisal and approval of functional subdivision adjustment of special-use forests under local management

The forest owner shall submit 01 application directly or by post or online to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (hereinafter referred to as the receiving agency);

In case the application is inadequate, within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the application, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall send a written notice to the forest owner for them to complete their application and clearly state the reasons;

Within 05 days from the date of receiving an adequate application, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall submit to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for organizing the collection of written appraisal opinions from relevant departments, central and local authorities in accordance with the functions and tasks of the consulted agency and the law on applications for functional subdivision adjustment of special-use forest and the contents of the plan for functional subdivision adjustment of the special-use forest as prescribed in Point a of this Clause;

Within 15 days from the date of receiving the written request for opinions from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, departments, central and local authorities shall send a written response to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;

Within 15 days from the date of receiving the documents from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall send a written response to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;

In case the adjustment is qualified, within 20 days, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall submit it to the President of Provincial People's Committee for making decision on functional subdivision adjustment of the special-use forest;

If the adjustment is not qualified, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall send a written notice to the forest owner stating the reasons.”.

5. Addition of clause 5 after clause 4 of Article 12:

“5. Secondary harvesting in cases where forest areas are used to build infrastructure works for forest protection and development or to construct temporary works for the construction of power grid projects in accordance with applicable regulations.

a) Subject:

Forest products in forest areas are used to build infrastructure works for forest protection and development or to construct temporary works for the construction of power grid projects in accordance with applicable regulations.

b) Conditions:

Secondary harvesting in forest areas used to build infrastructure works for forest protection and development must have a decision on approval of the project or works by a competent state authority.

Secondary harvesting in forest areas temporarily used to build temporary works for the construction of power grid projects must have a decision on approval of the temporary forest use plan by a competent authority.”.

6. Amendment to Article 14:

“Article 14. Procedures for formulation, appraisal, approval and implementation of Scheme for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment in special-use forests

1. Forest owners shall prepare ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment schemes in accordance with the sustainable forest management plan approved by competent state authorities. Contents of the scheme include:

a) Preliminary assessment of the status of the forest, the implementation ability and types of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment products and services;

b) Preliminary explanation of the development plan for routes and locations for organizing ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment, including: location, area, status, purpose, time and expected implementation method;

c) Expected location, scale, materials, height, density, ratio and duration of existence of works serving ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment depending on the status of the forest in each area, ensuring the function of the forest and complying with the principles specified in Article 15 hereof;

d) Solutions for implementing the scheme include: solutions on capital, investment resources; solutions on forest protection, development, nature and biodiversity conservation and environmental protection; fire prevention and fighting; methods of organizing ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment; forest environment rents in accordance with Clause 6 of this Article;

dd) Organizing supervision of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment activities;

e) Forest status map of the special-use forest at a scale of 1/10,000 or 1/25,000 in accordance with the VN2000 reference system;

g) The master plan drawings of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment routes and points, organization of tourism architectural space and infrastructure of the special-use forest area at a scale of 1/10,000 or 1/25,000: determining the construction site quotas, structure height for each route, point; location, scale of underground works; other requirements to ensure sustainable forest harvesting and management (if any);

h) Maps at a scale of 1/10,000 or 1/25,000 according to the VN2000 reference system and explanation of the technical infrastructure system orientation: planned connection points and traffic network; above-ground cable lines including cable routes, stations, and support towers; connection system and capabilities for electricity supply, water supply, drainage, communication, fire safety.

2. Funds for formulation of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment schemes shall be balanced in the annual financial plan, from forest environmental service proceeds of forest owners or from other lawful financial sources in accordance with law.

3. The ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme dossier includes:

a) Application form from forest owner (original copy);

b) The ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme specified in clause 1 of this Article (original copy):

4. Procedures for appraisal, approval of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment schemes:

a) The forest owner shall send 01 application specified in Clause 3 of this Article directly or by post or online to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for special-use forests under local management or the Department of Forestry for special-use forests managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

b) Within 05 days from the date of receiving an adequate application, the receiving agency specified in point a of this Clause shall organize the collection of written appraisal opinions from relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals on the dossiers and contents of the schemes as prescribed in Clause 3 and Clause 5 of this Article;

c) Within 15 days from the date of receiving the written request for opinions, agencies, organizations, or individuals shall send a response in writing regarding the dossier specified in point a of this clause to the receiving agency if they have any opinions;

d) Within 15 days from the date of receiving written opinions from agencies, organizations and individuals, the receiving agency specified in Point a of this Clause shall complete the appraisal;

dd) Within 10 days from the date of receipt of the complete dossier submitted by the receiving agency at Point a of this Clause, the President of the Provincial People's Committee (for special-use forests under local management) or the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (for special-use forests under its management) shall approve the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme;

The decision on approval of the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme of the forest is the basis for the competent authority to receive the dossier and organize the appraisal of the environmental impact assessment report at the request of the owner of the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment project that requires preparation of an environmental impact assessment report in accordance with law on environmental protection.

e) The decision on approval of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme must include the following main contents:

Total area for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment activities;

Routes and locations for organizing ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment, including: location, area, current condition, purpose, time and expected implementation method;

Expected location, scale, materials, height, density, ratio and duration of existence of works serving ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment;

Solutions for implementing the scheme include: solutions on capital, investment resources; solutions on forest protection, development, nature and biodiversity conservation and environmental protection; fire prevention and fighting; methods of organizing ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment; forest environment rents in accordance with Clause 6 of this Article;

Responsibility for organizing supervision of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment activities;

g) The authority with competence to approve ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment schemes shall approve adjustments to such schemes. The content, budget, dossier, procedures for adjusting the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme shall comply with Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article.

5. The main contents of the appraisal of the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme shall include:

a) The forest status, the implementation capability and types of tourism products and services;

b) Expected location, scale, materials, height, density, ratio and duration of existence of works serving ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment depending on the current condition of the forest in each area, ensuring the function of the forest and complying with the principles specified in Article 15 hereof;

c) Time and method of implementation;

d) Solutions on capital, investment resources; forest protection, development, nature and biodiversity conservation and environmental protection; fire prevention and fighting; methods of organizing ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment; forest environment rents in accordance with Clause 6 of this Article;

dd) Conformity with the requirements of ensuring sustainable forest management of the construction site use quotas, structure height for each route, point; location, scale of underground works; feasibility planned connection points and traffic network; above-ground cable lines including cable routes, stations, and support towers; connection system and capabilities for electricity supply, water supply, drainage, communication, fire safety;

e) Organization of supervision of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment activities;

g) Other contents as prescribed in Points e, g and h of Clause 1 of this Article.

6. Lease of forest environment for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment service provision

a) Forest owners are allowed to lease special-use forest environments to organizations and individuals through forest environment lease contracts for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment service provision. The lease of forest environments must be publicly and widely announced for a minimum period of 30 days in the following forms: posted at the office; posted on the unit's website (if any); posted on the information portal or website of the direct superior competent authority of the forest owner.

b) Public announcement of the selection of organizations and individuals to rent forest environments for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment service provision shall include the following main contents:

General information about the forest owner;

Expected location, area of leased forest environments and method of organizing ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment services;

Summary of the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme approved by the competent state authority;

Technical dossier for selecting organizations and individuals to rent forest environment as prescribed in Point c of this Clause;

Time and address for submitting registration dossiers.

c) Forest owners shall organize the development of technical dossiers for selecting organizations and individuals to rent forest environment. Technical dossiers must be approved by forest owners before being publicly announced, including the following basic criteria:

Requirements of capacity and experience of organizations and individuals in ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment activities;

Business organization plan in accordance with the approved Scheme for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment of the special-use forest;

Financial investment plan; expected proceeds and forest environment rent scheme;

Property disposal plan after the contract expires;

Commitment to time of project implementation, time of harvesting and revenue generation;

Priority is given to organizations and individuals who have been delegated to protect forests and are assessed to have performed well in forest protection and development, nature conservation, and biodiversity;

Professional conditions on sustainable forest management and other criteria decided by the forest owner that are not contrary to the law.

The criteria of the technical dossier are converted into points to serve as a basis for assessment and selection in accordance with the regulation on the minimum score to be qualified for each criterion; the total score of the assessment criteria of the technical dossier is 100, in which the minimum total score is stipulated; organizations and individuals are qualified when they achieve the minimum score of all criteria and the minimum total score to be qualified.

d) Organizations and individuals want to rent forest environment for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment service provision must prepare an submit a registration dossier in accordance with the requirements of the forest owner as prescribed in Point b of this Clause to the forest owner.

dd) Forest owners shall based on the registration dossiers of organizations and individuals organize assessments to select organizations and individuals to rent forest environments in accordance with criteria for the technical dossiers and shall be accountable for their selection. If there is only one qualified organization or individual, the forest owner shall negotiate and sign a forest environment lease contract, ensuring that the forest environment rent is not lower than 1% of the total revenue realized in the year, within the scope of the leased forest environment area. If there are multiple qualified organizations or individuals, the forest owner shall select the organization or individual with the highest score in the dossier assessment in which, the price is considered a criterion, ensuring that the rent is not lower than 1% of the total revenue realized in the year, within the scope of the leased forest environment area.

e) After selecting organizations and individuals to rent forest environments, the forest owner shall report the results to their direct superior management authority for instruction, monitoring and supervision.

g) The forest environment rent in the registration dossier of an organization or individual shall be calculated based on the percentage of the total revenue and must be converted to an absolute value for the forest owner to assess, clearly stated in the forest environment lease contract.

If, after contract conclusion, the percentage of the total revenue converted to an absolute value is lower than the absolute value stated in the signed contract, the amount of money that the organization or individual renting the forest environment must pay to the forest owner is at least equal to the amount stated in the contract.

Organizations and individuals renting the forest environment for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment service provision in special-use forests are not required to pay for forest environmental service charges for the leased area in accordance with herewith.

h) The lease term shall not exceed 30 years, and contract execution shall be assessed every 5 years. At the end of the lease term, if the lessee properly executes the contract and wishes to extend it, the forest owner shall consider extending the lease term by no more than two-thirds of the initial lease term.

i) Before signing a forest environment lease contract made using the form in Appendix IA attached hereto, the forest owner must conduct an inventory and statistics of the forest status of the leased area as grounds for handing over boundary markers, status, and managing, monitoring, and assessing the contract execution.

7. Ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment projects in special-use forests:

a) The forest owner or the organization or individual that has been selected and signed a forest environment lease contract shall prepare a feasibility study report for the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment project, ensuring compliance with: the national forestry planning or provincial planning approved by a competent state authority; the sustainable forest management plan and the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme approved by a competent state authority.

b) For the ecotourism, hospitality, and entertainment projects with construction components, the preparation, appraisal, approval, and management of the tasks in the preparation phase, implementation phase, and construction completion phase of such projects must comply with the law on construction. The contents specified in Point a of this Clause are grounds for the state authority with competence to appraise the feasibility study report to assess the contents on the conformity of the basic design with the planning and the conformity of the project with the investment guideline as prescribed in Point b and Point c of Clause 2 of Article 58 of the Law on Construction 2014 (amended in 2020).

For projects without construction components, the preparation, appraisal, approval and management of the project shall comply with the law on public investment, the law on investment and other relevant laws.

c) Forest owners shall provide guidance, inspecting and supervising organizations and individuals renting the forest environment, or cooperate and associate in the construction and implementation of ecotourism, hospitality, and entertainment projects in accordance with the law. After 24 months from the date of signing the cooperation, association or forest environment lease contract, if the organization or individual fails to execute the project, the forest owner shall consider terminating the contract, except in cases of natural disasters, epidemics, objective obstacles during the process of implementing legal procedures and other force majeure events agreed upon by the two parties.

d) Funding for preparation of an ecotourism, resort or entertainment project

For the self-organization method, the project funding is balanced in the annual financial plan, from the proceeds from forest environment services of the forest owner or from other lawful financial sources according to the law;

For the cooperation and association method, the project funding is agreed upon by the parties;

For the forest environment lease method, the project funding is covered by the organization or individual leasing the forest environment.

8. 8. Forest owners who are residential communities are allowed to organize ecotourism, sightseeing, study, and scientific research activities in accordance with sustainable forest management plans approved by competent state authorities.”.

7. Amendment to Article 15:

“Article 15. Management of construction of works used for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment services in special-use forests

1. Works used for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment services in special-use forests are commercial and service-oriented works in accordance with law on construction, must be appropriated with the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment projects approved by competent authorities in accordance with Article 14 hereof and ensure the following rules:

a) Causing no harm to the nature and biodiversity preservation objectives, forest trees; construction works must be dependent on nature and associated to the forest landscape, encourage the use of environmentally friendly materials;

b) Not causing loss of State ownership of forests and natural resources on Earth’s surface and underground natural resources

c) Not affecting national defense, security, landscape and historical and cultural heritage;

d) The project owner is responsible for protecting, conserving and developing forest resources in the area where ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment activities are organized or area under scope of guidance, inspection and supervision of the forest owner.

2. In strictly protected subdivisions, it is allowed to establish forest protection patrol routes, combine the organization of eco-tourism tours and forest environmental education, take advantage of trails, build support pillars for overhead cables, underground cables, landscape observation stations, shelters, pedestrian bridges, and signs for forest protection combined with eco-tourism.

3. In ecological restoration subdivisions

a) It is allowed to establish suitable road routes but not exceeding the scale of Class IV mountainous automobile roads, landscape observation stations, shelters, signposts, to build support pillars for overhead cables, underground cables, and pedestrian bridges;

b) It is allowed to build and install hospitality and accommodation works using prefabricated materials and components that are easy to disassemble, floating on water, on grasslands, on land with bushes, or in vacant land calculated according to the canopy cover of forest trees, ensuring no harm on the growth, development, and natural recovery of forest trees, in harmony with the natural landscape;

c) The scale, materials, height, duration of existence, density and ratio of the works are determined in the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme appraised and approved by the competent state authority in accordance with Article 14 hereof, but the total area of the works shall not exceed 2% of the area in the cooperation, association or lease contract for the forest environment in this subdivision;

If the total construction area of works for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment exceeds the regulations of this point, the Provincial People's Committee shall, based on the practical situation and the nature and scale of the specific project, send a written request to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to report to the Prime Minister for review and approval.

4. In the service and administrative subdivisions of national parks, nature reserves, habitat conservation areas; landscape protection areas; research and scientific experimental forests

a) It is allowed to build works used for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment services on grasslands, land with bushes, in vacant land calculated according to the canopy of forest trees;

b) It is allowed to build and install hospitality and accommodation works using prefabricated materials and components that are easy to disassemble, floating on water, ensuring no harm on the growth, development, and natural recovery of forest trees, in harmony with the natural landscape;

c) The scale, materials, height, duration of existence, density and ratio of the works are determined in the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme appraised and approved by the competent state authority in accordance with Article 14 hereof, but the total area of the works shall not exceed 5% of the area in the cooperation, association or forest environment lease contract.

5. The issuance of construction permits and management of construction order of works for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment under ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment projects shall comply with the law on construction and this Decree.

National forestry planning or provincial planning approved by competent state authorities; The sustainable forest management plan and the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme approved by a competent state agency shall be grounds for the competent state authority to assess the conformity with the construction planning as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 91 or the location and total area of the project approved in writing by a competent state authority as prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 92 of the Law on Construction 2014 (amended in 2020).

For ecotourism, hospitality, and entertainment projects executed in the form of forest environment leasing, one of the legitimate documents regarding land in the application for issuance of a construction permit of the project owner, who is the organization or individual renting the forest environment, in accordance with Government's regulations on legitimate documents regarding land for the issuance of a construction permit, includes legitimate documents regarding land of the forest owner and the forest environment lease contract between the forest owner and the organization or individual.”.

8. Addition of clauses 6 and 7 after clause 5 of Article 17:

“6. The adjustment made to increase the area of a protection forest by conversion of a specific area of special-use forest or production forest or a forest outside the forestry planning into protection forest shall be carried out in accordance with Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article.

7. The adjustment made to reduce the area of a protection forest by converting production forest special-use forest to protection forest or forest repurposing shall be carried out in accordance with Article 39, 40,and 42 hereof

After the competent authority makes the decision on forest conversion or forest repurposing in sync with the land repurposing, the forest owner must complete updating the forest management dossiers.”.

9. Amendments to point c of Clause 2, Point c of Clause 3, Clause 4 of Article 20 and addition of Clause 5 to Article 20:

a) Amendment to point c of clause 2:

The harvesting method shall be decided by the forest owner: bamboo forests shall not be harvested for more than 30% of the reserve on the harvested area and shall be evenly distributed in the lot; for endangered and rare species, Government's regulations on the management of endangered and rare species and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) shall apply.

b) Amendment to point c of clause 3:

“c) Harvesting methods

Pruning of main planted trees shall be carried out in accordance with regulations of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on silvicultural measures. The selective felling of main planted trees shall apply provided that the harvesting intensity does not exceed 20% of the reserve in the plot each time, ensuring a minimum canopy cover of 0.6 which is evenly distributed in the plot after harvesting; for mangrove and acid sulfate forests, the density of main planted trees left after harvesting shall be at least 1,500 trees/ha which is evenly distributed in the plot. Strip clear cut shall apply provided that the strip’s length does not exceed 30 m; in case of patch clear cut, the area of each patch shall not exceed 3 ha and total annual harvesting area shall not exceed 20% of total forest area eligible to perform protection function.”.

c) Amendment to clause 4:

“4. Secondary harvesting of timbers from natural and planted forests

a) Subject: Timber trees in forest areas subject to forest repurposing decision from the competent authority as prescribed; felled timber trees during implementation of silvicultural technical measures, serving training and scientific research tasks; timber trees on liquidated forest areas; timber trees on forest areas used for construction of infrastructure works serving forest protection and development and forest areas temporarily used to construct temporary works serving the construction of power grid projects as prescribed.

b) Conditions: having a decision of a competent authority approving forest repurposing; decision approving silvicultural schemes, programs, scientific research topics, decision on liquidation of planted forests; decision approving infrastructure projects, works serving forest protection and development; decision approving the plan for temporary use of forests to construct temporary works serving the construction of power grid projects by a competent state authority.”.

d) Addition of clause 5 after clause 4:

“5. Salvage harvesting of timbers from natural and planted forests

a) Subject: fallen or dead trees due to natural causes or natural disasters; burned dead trees, dry and rotten timber, branches and tops remaining in the forest.

b) Conditions: forest owners must prepare a salvage harvesting plan in accordance with the regulations of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.”.

10. Amendment to Article 23:

“Article 23. Procedures for formulation, appraisal, approval and implementation of Scheme for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment in protection forests

a) Preliminary assessment of the current condition of the forest, the implementation ability and types of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment products and services;

b) Preliminary explanation of the development plan for routes and locations for organizing ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment, including: location, area, current condition, purpose, time and expected implementation method;

c) Expected location, scale, materials, height, density, ratio and duration of existence of works serving ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment depending on the current condition of the forest in each area, ensuring the function of the forest and complying with the principles specified in Article 24 hereof;

d) Solutions for implementing the scheme include: solutions on capital, investment resources; solutions on forest protection, development, nature conservation, biodiversity and environmental protection; fire prevention and fighting; methods of organizing ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment; forest environment rents in accordance with Clause 6 of this Article;

dd) Organizing supervision of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment activities;

e) Forest status map of the protection forest at a scale of 1/10,000 or 1/25,000 in accordance with the VN2000 reference system;

g) The master plan drawings of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment routes and points, organization of tourism architectural space and infrastructure of the protection forest area at a scale of 1/10,000 or 1/25,000: determining the construction site quotas, structure height for each route, point; location, scale of underground works; other requirements to ensure sustainable forest harvesting and management (if any);

3. The ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme dossier includes:

a) Application form from forest owner (original copy);

b) The ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme specified in clause 1 of this Article (original copy):

4. Procedures for appraisal, approval of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment schemes:

a) The forest owner shall send 01 application specified in Clause 3 of this Article directly or by post or online to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for protection forests under local management or the Department of Forestry for protection forests managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

d) Within 15 days from the date of receiving written opinions from agencies, organizations and individuals, the receiving agency specified in Point a of this Clause shall complete the appraisal;

dd) Within 10 days from the date of receipt of the complete dossier submitted by the receiving agency at Point a of this Clause, the President of the Provincial People's Committee (for protection forests under local management) or the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (for protection forests under its management) shall approve the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme;

e) The decision on approval of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme must include the following main contents:

Total area for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment activities;

Routes and locations for organizing ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment, including: location, area, current condition, purpose, time and expected implementation method;

Expected location, scale, materials, height, density, ratio and duration of existence of works serving ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment;

Solutions for implementing the scheme include: solutions on capital, investment resources; solutions on forest protection, development, nature conservation, biodiversity and environmental protection; fire prevention and fighting; methods of organizing ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment; forest environment rents in accordance with Clause 6 of this Article;

Responsibility for organizing supervision of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment activities.

5. The main contents of the appraisal of the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme shall include:

a) The forest status, the implementation capability and types of tourism products and services;

b) Expected location, scale, materials, height, density, ratio and duration of existence of works serving ecotourism, relaxation, entertainment depending on the current condition of the forest in each area, ensuring the function of the forest and complying with the principles specified in Article 24 hereof;

c) Time and method of implementation;

d) Solutions on capital, investment resources; forest protection, development, nature conservation, biodiversity and environmental protection; fire prevention and fighting; methods of organizing ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment; forest environment rents in accordance with Clause 6 of this Article;

e) Organization of supervision of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment activities;

g) Other contents as prescribed in Points e, g and h of Clause 1 of this Article.

6. Lease of forest environment for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment service provision

a) Forest owners are allowed to lease protection forest environments to organizations and individuals through forest environment lease contracts for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment service provision. The lease of forest environments must be publicly and widely announced for a minimum period of 30 days in the following forms: posted at the office; posted on the unit's website (if any); posted on the information portal or website of the direct superior competent authority of the forest owner.

General information about the forest owner;

Expected location, area of leased forest environments and method of organizing ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment services;

Summary of the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme approved by the competent state authority;

Technical dossier for selecting organizations and individuals to rent forest environment as prescribed in Point c of this Clause;

Time and address for submitting registration dossiers.

Requirements of capacity and experience of organizations and individuals in ecotourism, relaxation and entertainment activities;

Business organization plan in accordance with the approved Scheme for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment of the protection forest;

Financial investment plan; expected proceeds and forest environment rent scheme;

Property disposal plan after the contract expires;

Commitment to time of project implementation, time of harvesting and revenue generation;

Professional conditions on sustainable forest management and other criteria decided by the forest owner that are not contrary to the law.

Organizations and individuals renting the forest environment for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment service provision in protection forests are not required to pay for forest environmental service charges for the leased area in accordance with herewith.

7. Ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment projects in protection forests:

b) For the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment projects with construction components, the preparation, appraisal, approval, and management of the tasks in the preparation phase, implementation phase, and construction completion phase of such projects must comply with the law on construction. The contents specified in Point a of this Clause are grounds for the state authority with competence to appraise the feasibility study report to assess the contents on the conformity of the basic design with the planning and the conformity of the project with the investment guideline as prescribed in Point b and Point c of Clause 2 of Article 58 of the 2014 Law on Construction (amended in 2020).

c) Forest owners shall provide guidance, inspecting and supervising organizations and individuals renting the forest environment, or cooperate and associate in the construction and implementation of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment projects in accordance with the law. After 24 months from the date of signing the cooperation, association or forest environment lease contract, if the organization or individual fails to execute the project, the forest owner shall consider terminating the contract, except in cases of natural disasters, epidemics, objective obstacles during the process of implementing legal procedures and other force majeure events agreed upon by the two parties.

d) Funding for preparation of an ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment project

For the cooperation and association method, the project funding is agreed upon by the parties;

For the forest environment lease method, the project funding is covered by the organization or individual leasing the forest environment.

8. 8. Forest owners who are residential communities, households, individuals are allowed to organize ecotourism, sightseeing, study, and scientific research activities in accordance with sustainable forest management plans approved by competent state authorities.”.

11. Amendment to Article 24:

“Article 24. Management of construction of works used for ecotourism, relaxation, entertainment services in protection forests

1. Construction works used for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment services in protection forests are commercial and service-oriented works in accordance with construction laws, must be in line with the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme approved by the competent authority in accordance with Article 23 hereof, including:

a) It is allowed to construct works on grasslands, on land with bushes, or in vacant land calculated according to the canopy cover of forest trees;

c) The scale, materials, height, duration of existence, density and ratio of the works are determined in the ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment scheme appraised and approved by the competent state authority in accordance with Article 23 hereof, but the total area of the works shall not exceed 5% of the area in the cooperation, association or forest environment lease contract.

2. Construction of works used for ecotourism, relaxation, and entertainment services in protection forests must comply with the following rules:

a) Causing no harm to the protection of landscape, environment; carrying out nature and biodiversity preservation, causing to harm to forest trees; construction works must be dependent on nature and associated to the forest landscape, encourage the use of environmentally friendly materials;

b) Not causing loss of State ownership of forests and natural resources on Earth’s surface and underground natural resources

c) Not affecting national defense, security, landscape and historical and cultural heritage;

d) The project owner is responsible for protecting, preserving and developing forest resources in the area where ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment activities are organized or area under scope of guidance, inspection and supervision of the forest owner.

3. The issuance of construction permits and management of construction order of works used for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment under ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment projects shall comply with the law on construction and this Decree.

12. Amendment to clause 2 of Article 25:

“For forested land area

a) The forest owner and households, individuals or residential communities whose land is allocated under lump-sum contracts is allowed to plant alternately agricultural plants and non-timber forest products, raise and plant aquatic products under forest canopies provided that forest area, forest quality and capability of forest regeneration, protection capability are not affected.

b) Combined forestry-agriculture-fishing production under forest canopies

For planted forest decided by forest owner.

For natural forests planted in strips, the maximum width of the strip is 12 m; the minimum area of the strips ranges must be equal to twice the area of the planted strip. In case of concentrated planting in pits, the area of each pit must be a maximum of 3,000 m² and must be evenly distributed; the total area of the planted pits in the forest plot must not exceed one-third of the plot area.”.

13. Amendment to point b of clause 2 of Article 27:

“b) Forest owners shall invest or cooperate or associate in executing forest development projects and organizing production on forest areas and production forest land allocated or leased by the State in accordance with law. For forest owners that are public service providers to which the State allocates forests and forestry land without collecting use fees, during the cooperation or association process, they are not allowed to use forest land as capital contribution to execute forest development projects and organize production on the allocated forest areas and production forest land.”.

14. Amendment to clause 2 of Article 28:

“2. Secondary harvesting of timbers from natural forests

15. Amendment to clause 2 of Article 29:

“2. Secondary harvesting of timbers from planted forests

b) Conditions: planted forest with the State being the representative owner subject to a decision on approving forest repurposing; decision approving silvicultural schemes, programs, scientific research topics, decision on liquidation of planted forests; decision approving infrastructure projects, works serving forest protection and development; decision approving the plan for temporary use of forests to construct temporary works serving the construction of power grid projects by a competent state authority.”.

16. Amendment to Article 32:

“Article 32. Ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment activities in production forests

1. Forest owners who are (i) special-use forest management boards and protection forest management boards allocated or leased by the State with production forests, or (ii) economic organizations assigned or leased by the State with production forests, or (iii) scientific and technological organizations, training and vocational education organizations on forestry currently managing production forests, are allowed to organize or cooperate, associate or lease forest environments to organizations and individuals for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment service provision in accordance with sustainable forest management plans approved by competent state agencies and stipulated in Articles 23 and 24 hereof.

2. Forest owners who are households, individuals, residential communities are allowed to organize ecotourism, sightseeing, study, and scientific research activities in accordance with sustainable forest management plans approved by competent state authorities.”.

17. Amendment to Article 35:

“Article 35. Plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing

1. Developing a plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing

a) Every year, the district-level People's Committee shall develop a plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing; and issue a written notice of the application for registration for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing to the district-level relevant authority and the commune-level People's Committee. The time for issuing a written notice of the formulation, appraisal, and approval of the plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing shall be carried out concurrently with the time for development, appraisal, and approval of the annual land use plan at the district level;

b) Within 20 days from the date of receiving the application for registration for forest allocation, forest lease, or forest repurposing, the district-level relevant authority and the commune-level People's Committee shall consolidate and submit applications for forest allocation, forest lease, and proposed schemes for forest repurposing to the district-level People's Committee for reviewing the applications from organizations, households, individuals, and residential communities. These applications shall be consolidated according to Form No. 01 in Appendix II attached hereto;

c) Based on applications for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing from the district-level relevant authority and the commune-level People's Committee, the People's Committee at the district level shall consolidate the forest area not yet allocated or leased, determine the targets of forest allocation, forest lease, and projects proposing forest repurposing for each administrative division at the commune level; consolidate the applications and estimate the targets of forest allocation, forest lease, and projects proposing forest repurposing at the district level for each commune-level administrative unit.

2. Contents of plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing

a) Area of all types of forests in districts and communes, including: total forest area; forest area that has been allocated or leased; forest area that has not been allocated or leased; results of forest repurposing from the beginning of the planning period to the time of planning according to Form No. 02 of Appendix II attached hereto;

b) Detailed plan for forest allocation and lease in the district to each commune, in which sub-divisions, plots, lots, forest areas, forest types, allocated forest areas, and leased forest areas according to Form No. 03, Appendix II attached hereto;

c) Detailed plan for forest repurposing in districts and communes, in which the project name, project implementation location, location (sub-divisions, plots, lots), forest area, forest origin (natural forest, planted forest), forest type (special-use forest, protection forest, production forest) according to Form No. 04, Appendix II attached hereto;

d) Limits for forest allocation to households, individuals, and residential communities in line with land allocation limits;

dd) Assess the effectiveness of the plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing on the socio-economy, environment, national defense, and security; proceeds from forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing; employment, labor attraction, poverty eradication; the ability to reasonably harvest forest resources; requirements for conservation, development of forest area and coverage rate associated with conservation of landscape, ethnic cultures, and factors affecting national defense and security;

e) Determine resources (financial, labor, and technical), solutions, and progress in implementing the plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing.

3. Approval of plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing

a) In the third quarter of each year, the district-level People's Committee shall submit the dossier on plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;

The dossier includes: Application form in accordance with Form No. 05 specified in Appendix II attached hereto; plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing; map of the plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing;

b) Within 15 days from the date of receiving the complete dossier, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall organize the appraisal of the dossier on the plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing at the district level and submit it to the Provincial People's Committee for approval. The content of the Application of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall be in accordance with Form No. 06 specified in Appendix II attached hereto;

In case the application is inadequate or inaccurate, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall send a written notice clearly state the reasons to the District-level People's Committee for them to complete their application within 15 days;

c) Within 05 days from the date of receiving the dossier submitted by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Provincial People's Committee shall review and approve the plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing at the district level according to Form No. 07 specified in Appendix II attached hereto;

d) The Provincial People's Committee shall be responsible for approving the annual plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing at the district level before December 31 of each year.

4. The district-level People's Committee shall publicize the approved plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing at the offices of the district-level People's Committee and the commune-level People's Committee with forests allocated, leased, or repurposed within 30 days from the date the plan is approved.

5. Revision of plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing

a) Plans for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing shall only be revised due to adjustments to the planning and plans of the direct superior authority that change the forest type (special-use forests, protection forests, production forests) of the district level; due to the establishment, merger, division, separation, or adjustment of administrative boundaries of local areas; due to the impact of natural disasters or response to environmental incidents that change the forest use purpose; due to changes in resources to implement the plan, forming key projects to serve national interests and public interests, which change the direction of forest use.

b) The revision of the plan for forest allocation, forest leasing, and forest repurposing is part of the approved plan for forest allocation, forest leasing, and forest repurposing.

The revision of the plan for forest allocation, forest lease, and forest repurposing shall comply with clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.

c) Provincial People's Committees shall approve the revision of the plan for forest allocation, forest leasing, and forest repurposing.”.

18. Amendment to Article 36:

“Article 36. Procedures for allocating, leasing forests

1. Procedures for allocating, leasing forests to households, individuals, and residential communities

a) The application includes: Application form for forest allocation using Form No. 08 (for households and individuals), Form No. 09 (for residential communities) Appendix II attached hereto.

b) Households, individuals, and residential communities shall submit 01 application directly or by post or by electronic media to commune-level People's Committees. Case of submission by electronic media: the application components must be declared and signed with valid digital signatures on the electronic forms provided in accordance with Clause 1, Clause 2 of Article 9 of Decree No. 45/2020/ND-CP dated April 8, 2020 of the Government on performing administrative procedures by electronic media;

In case the application is inadequate, within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the application, the commune-level People's Committees shall send a written notice clearly stating the reasons;

c) Within 05 days from the date of receiving adequate applications, the commune-level People's Committees shall forward the forest allocation application of households, individuals and residential communities to the district-level Forest Protection Department or the forestry authority of the district-level People's Committee in places where there is no Forest Protection Department (hereinafter referred to as the district-level forestry authority);

d) Within 30 days from the district-level forestry authority receiving application for allocating forest to households, individuals and residential communities sent by the commune-level People's Committee, shall: cooperate with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in inspecting the forest allocation content according to the provisions of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Forestry Law; cooperate with the Commune-level People’s Committee in organizing the inspection of the current status of the forest in the field (location, boundary, dispute); prepare a report attached with the application for forest allocation to households, individuals and residential communities which shall be submitted to the district-level People's Committee for review and approval;

If the application is not qualified, the district-level forestry authority shall send a written notice clearly stating the reasons;

dd) Within 05 days from the date of receipt of the application submitted by the district-level forestry authority, the district-level People's Committee shall review and make decision on allocating forests to households, individuals and residential communities according to Form No. 10 of Appendix II attached hereto. If the application is not qualified, the district-level forestry authority shall send a written notice clearly stating the reasons;

e) Within 10 days from the date of receipt of the forest allocation decision of the district-level People's Committee, the district-level forestry authority shall cooperate with the commune-level People's Committee in organizing the handover of forests on-site to households, individuals and residential communities. The handover must clearly define the location, boundary, area, current status, reserves, site conditions, tree species, planting year for the planted forest, map of the allocated forest and make a record signed by the representative of the commune-level People's Committee, representative of adjacent forest owners according to Form No. 11 Appendix II attached hereto.

2. Procedures for allocating forests to organizations

a) The application includes: Application form for forest allocation using Form No. 13 specified in Appendix II attached hereto; Investment project for the forest area to be allocated (original copy).

b) The organization shall submit 01 application directly or by post or by electronic media (if any) to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;

Case of submission by electronic media: the application components must be declared and signed with digital signatures on the electronic forms provided in accordance with Clause 1, Clause 2 of Article 9 of Decree No. 45/2020/ND-CP dated April 8, 2020 of the Government on performing administrative procedures by electronic media;

c) Within 30 days from the date of receiving the organization's complete and accurate application, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall: take charge and cooperate with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment in inspecting the forest allocation application and its content according to Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Forestry Law; take charge and cooperate with the Commune-level People’s Committee in organizing the inspection of the current status of the forest in the field to be allocated; prepare and submit an application form attached with the dossier to the district-level People's Committee for review and decision on allocation; In cases of refusal, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall send a written notice clearly stating the reasons;

d) Within 05 days from the date of receiving the dossier and the application form submitted by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Provincial People's Committee shall review and sign the decision on forest allocation to organization in accordance with Form No. 14 specified in Appendix II attached hereto. In cases of refusal, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall send a written notice clearly stating the reasons;

dd) Within 10 days from the date of receipt of the forest allocation decision of the provincial People's Committee, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall notify the organization to fulfill its financial obligations (if any); cooperate with the District People's Committee and the Commune People's Committee in organizing the handover of forests in the field to the organization. The handover must clearly define the location, boundary, area, current status, reserves, site conditions, tree species, planting year for the planted forest, map of the allocated forest and make a record with the participation and signature of representatives the representative of the commune-level People's Committee, representative of adjacent forest owners according to Form No. 15 Appendix II attached hereto.

3. Procedures for leasing forests

a) Develop plan for forest lease auction: Within 30 days from the date the forest lease plan is approved by the competent authority, the district-level forestry authority (in case of forest rented by households or individuals) or the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (in case of forest rented by organizations) shall develop a forest lease auction plan and submit it to the district-level or provincial People's Committee for approval according to Form No. 16 specified in Appendix II attached hereto;

b) Determine the starting rent: Within 20 days from the date the forest lease auction plan is approved, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall determine the starting rent and submit it to the Provincial People's Committee for approval in accordance with the law on forestry and relevant laws;

c) Approve the starting rent: within 10 days from the date of receiving the application form from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Provincial People's Committee shall review and approve the starting rent (the approved starting rent shall be the ground for conducting the forest lease auction). In cases of refusal, the provincial People's Committee shall send a written notice clearly stating the reasons;

d) Sign a contract for forest lease auction services:

Within 10 days from the date the starting rent is approved by the provincial People's Committee, the district-level forestry authority (for forest rented by households or individuals) or the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (for forest rented by organizations) shall sign a contract for property auction services with the property auction organization according to the approved forest lease auction plan. The property auction service contract must be made in writing and implemented in accordance with the civil law and the Law on Property Auction;

dd) Within 30 days from the date of signing the forest lease auction contract, the property auction organization that has signed the property auction service contract shall carry out the procedures for forest lease auctions in accordance with the law on auctions and relevant laws.

e) Approve forest lease bid winning results:

Within 05 days from the date of receiving the bid winning results, the auction minutes, and the list of successful bidders, the competent People’s Committee shall issue a decision recognizing the results of the forest lease auction and send it to the district-level forestry authority (for forests rented by households or individuals), the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (for forests rented by organizations), the unit organizing the forest lease auction, the renting agency, and successful bidders.

g) Pay forest rent upon having decision on recognizing the results of the forest lease auction:

Within 30 days from the date of the decision to recognize the results of the forest lease auction, the successful bidder shall transfer the rent to the State Treasury and payment documents to the district-level forestry authority (for forests rented by households or individuals), the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (for forests rented by organizations) which shall then be reported to the People's Committee at the same level for making forest lease decision.

h) Decide to lease forest:

Within 10 days from the date the successful bidder fulfilled their financial obligations, the district-level People's Committee shall review and sign the decision to lease the forest to the household or individual according to Form No. 10 specified in Appendix II attached hereto; sign the forest lease contract according to Form No. 12 specified in Appendix II attached hereto; direct the district-level forestry authority to organize the handover of forests in accordance with Point e of Clause 1 of this Article. The provincial People's Committee shall review and sign the decision to lease forests to organizations according to Form No. 14 specified in Appendix II hereto; direct the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to sign the forest lease contract according to Form No. 12 specified in Appendix II attached hereto and organize the handover of forests in accordance with Point d of Clause 2 of this Article.

In case the time limit prescribed in Point g of this Clause has passed and the successful bidder has not paid the full amount according to the hammer price, the district-level forestry authority (for forests rented by households or individuals) or the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (for forests rented by organizations) shall submit to the People's Committee of the same level to make a decision to cancel the recognition of the bid winning results.

4. Survey, assessment of forest status

a) Survey and assess the forest status and draw up forest status maps as grounds for forest allocation and lease. The content of survey and assessment of the forest status shall comply with Point b of this Clause;

b) Contents of survey and assessment of the forest status include: location (including: location coordinates, subdivision, plot, lot), forest boundaries, administrative division of the forest; forest area classified by: forest type (special-use, protection, production), origin of forest(natural, planted), manager; forest reserves, tree species and year of planting (for planted forests); identification of endangered, rare species of forest flora and fauna (if any); construction of a map of survey, assessment of the forest status;

Methods for surveying and assessing forest status shall comply with regulations of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

c) The forestry authority shall inspect and confirm the results of the survey and assessment of forest status, the maps of survey and assessment of forest status in cases of allocating, leasing out forests to households, individuals and residential communities. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall inspect and confirm the results of the survey and assessment of forest status, the maps of survey and assessment of forest status in cases of allocating, leasing out forests to organizations.

d) Funding for conducting the survey and assessment of forest status

The funding for survey and assessment of forest status in cases of forest allocation to households, individuals and residential communities shall be covered by the state budget and other lawful sources as prescribed. For cases of allocating and leasing out forests to organizations, such organizations shall cover such funds.”.

19. Amendment to clause 1 of Article 39:

“1. The district-level People's Committee shall develop a forest conversion plan for forest areas managed by households, individuals, residential communities, and commune-level People's Committees; the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall develop a forest conversion plan for forest areas with organizations being the owner and forest areas established by the Prime Minister under the management of provincial-level People's Committees; National parks managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall develop a forest conversion plan for those that they manage.”.

20. Amendment to Article 40:

“Article 40. Procedures for forest conversion

1. The application for forest converting includes: Application form of the agency developing the forest conversion plan; explanation of the forest conversion plan.

2. Procedures for forest conversion for forest established by the Prime Minister

a) The organization specified in Clause 1 of Article 39 hereof shall develop and send a forest conversion plan directly or by post or by electronic media 01 application as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

In case the application is inadequate, within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the application, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall send a written notice clearly stating the reasons;

b) Within 30 days from the date of receipt of the adequate application, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall appraise and submit it to the Prime Minister for review and decision on forest conversion;

c) Within 20 days from the date of receipt of the application submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Prime Minister shall consider and decide on forest conversion.

3. Procedures for forest conversion for forests not specified in Clause 2 of this Article

a) The agency specified in Clause 1 of Article 39 hereof shall develop and send a forest conversion plan directly or by post or by electronic media 01 application as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article to the Provincial People's Committee;

In case the application is inadequate, within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the application, the provincial People's Committees shall send a written notice clearly stating the reasons;

b) Within 30 days from the date of receipt of the adequate application, the provincial People's Committee shall appraise and submit it to the Provincial People's Council for review and decision on forest conversion

c) The Provincial People's Council shall review and decide on the forest conversion guideline as prescribed;

d) Within 15 days from the date having forest conversion decision of the Provincial People's Council, the Provincial People's Committee shall decide on forest conversion.

4. Pursuant to the forest conversion decision of the competent authority, the Provincial People's Committee shall update the forestry and land management records in accordance with the law on forestry and land.”.

21. Amendment to Article 41:

“Article 41. Authority, procedures for deciding on forest repurposing guidelines

1. Authority to decide on forest repurposing guidelines shall comply with Article 20 of the Forestry Law which is amended in Clause 5 of Article 248 of the Land Law 2024.

2. Application for deciding on forest repurposing guidelines under the authority of the Provincial People's Council

a) Application form for deciding on forest repurposing guidelines according to Form No. 17 (for organizations), Form No. 18 (for individuals) specified in Appendix II attached hereto;

b) A copy of the document approving the investment guideline or the decision on the investment guideline or the decision approving the investment project according to the law on investment, the law on public investment, the PPP law, the law on petroleum, and other relevant laws; a report proposing an urgent public investment project or a decision approving a national program or target or a decision on the investment guideline of a project including a component project proposing forest repurposing for the project in accordance with Clause 6 of Article 18 of the Law on Public Investment 2019;

c) Documents on the environmental impact assessment of the project are one of the following documents: the original copy of the preliminary environmental impact assessment or the environmental impact assessment report or a copy of the decision approving the results of the appraisal of the environmental impact assessment report attached to the environmental impact assessment report or a copy of the environmental license or environmental registration in accordance with laws on environmental protection, investment, public investment, PPP, petroleum or other relevant laws;

d) Report explaining the forest status and the forest status map in the area proposed for forest repurposing, prepared by the project owner within 6 months before the date of submission of the application. The explanatory report must clearly indicate the location (forest plot, and subdivision; administrative division), forest area by type of forest (reserve forest, protective forest and production forest), origin of the forest (natural forest or cultivated forest); forest status map of the scale of 1/5.000 for projects with an area subject to forest repurposing of less than 500 hectares, or the scale of 1/10,000 for projects with an area subject to forest repurposing of hectares or more and linear projects;

dd) Written commitment to perform the obligation to plant replacement forests for the area proposed for forest repurposing.

3. Procedures for deciding on forest repurposing guidelines under the authority of the Provincial People's Council

a) Organizations and individuals with projects requesting decision on forest repurposing guidelines shall submit directly or by post or by electronic media 01 application as regulated in clause 2 of this Article to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;

b) Within 15 days from the date of receiving an adequate application, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall inspect and verify the forest status report and forest status map of the area proposed for deciding on forest repurposing guidelines and organize the appraisal. The contents of the appraisal include: legal basis; application components; project investment necessity; subdivision, plot, lot location, administrative division, forest area by origin of forest (natural forest, planted forest), forest type (special-use forest, protection forest, production forest); natural forest reserves, tree species, and planted forest reserves according to the report and map of the forest status; compliance with the principles, grounds for forest repurposing as stipulated in Articles 14 and 15 of the Forestry Law. For projects repurposing natural forest: Appraise whether the project to meet the criteria for repurposing natural forest as prescribed in Article 41a hereof;

In case result is not qualified, within 05 working days from the date of appraisal organization, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall reply in writing and clearly state the reasons;

c) Within 10 days from the date having the qualified results, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall report to the Provincial People's Committee the appraisal results which shall then be submitted to the Provincial People's Council for review and decision on the forest repurposing guidelines;

d) Within 10 days from the date of receipt of the appraisal results report and application from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Provincial People's Committee shall submit to the Provincial People's Council for review and decision on the forest repurposing guidelines;

The application includes: a) Application form of the Provincial People's Committee using Form No. 19, Appendix II attached hereto; report on the appraisal results of the application for decision on the forest repurposing guideline in accordance with Point b of this Clause; application specified in Clause 2 of this Article; related documents (if any).

d) If the forest area subject to repurposing is managed by forest owner that is an affiliated unit of ministries and central authorities, within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the appraisal report from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the President of the Provincial People's Committee shall issue a document to obtain the consensus of the ministries and central authorities. The written request for opinions includes: Application form of the Provincial People's Committee, appraisal report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and documents specified in Clause 2 of this Article;

Within 15 days from the date of receiving the request from the Provincial People's Committee, the ministries, central authorities shall send their written opinions to the Provincial People's Committee. In case of disagreement, reason must be clearly stated;

Within 05 days from the date of receiving the consensus of the ministries and central authorities, the Provincial People's Committee shall submit to the Provincial People's Council for review and decision on the forest repurposing guideline.

The application to be submitted to the Provincial People's Council includes: documents as prescribed in Point d of this Clause and written opinions from ministries and central authorities.

e) The Provincial People's Council considers and decides on the forest repurposing guideline as prescribed.

g) The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall be accountable for the validity of the dossier, the results of inspection and verification of the report explaining the forest status, the forest status map of the area proposed for the forest repurposing guideline, the appraisal results and the content of the report to the Provincial People's Committee; The Provincial People's Committee shall be accountable for the contents and application for deciding on the forest repurposing guideline; The Provincial People's Council shall be accountable for their decision on approving forest repurposing guideline, inspect and supervise the implementation of the forest repurposing guideline.

4. For investment projects proposing forest repurposing with investment guideline decided, approved by the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, and the Provincial People's Councils in accordance with the Investment Law, the Law on Public Investment, the Law on Investment under the Public-Private Partnership, and the Law on Petroleum

a) The document approving or deciding on the project investment guideline is also the forest repurposing guideline; the content of the document approving or deciding on the project investment guideline must state the expected scale of forest area to be repurposed to implement the project.

b) The components of the forest repurposing application in accordance with Point d of Clause 2 of Article 41 hereof are components of the application submitted to the competent authority for approval or decision on the project investment guideline.

c) During the appraisal process to approve and decide on investment guidelines for projects with investment guidelines decided, approved by the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, the appraisal authority shall seek appraisal opinions from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the People's Committee of the province where the project is expected to be executed; for projects with investment guidelines decided, approved by the provincial People's Council, the appraisal authority shall seek appraisal opinions from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the People's Committee of the district where the project is expected to be executed regarding the forest repurposing proposal of the project.

Opinions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development regarding the following contents are collected: Forest status (natural forests, planted forests; special-use forests, protection forests and production forests); criteria for projects eligible for forest repurposing (for projects repurposing natural forests); the project's conformity with the planning as prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 14 and Clause 1 of Article 19 of the Forestry Law, which is amended Clause 1 and Clause 4, Article 248 of the Land Law 2024; confirming whether or not the conditions are met to decide on the forest repurposing guideline.

5. For projects with investment guideline decided, approved by the Provincial People's Council that propose repurposing of forest area managed by forest owners that are affiliated units of ministries and central authorities, before submitting to the Provincial People's Council for approval and decision thereon, the President of the Provincial People's Committee shall issue a document to obtain the consensus of the ministries and central authorities and shall only submit to the competent authority for approval and deciding on the project investment guideline when the ministries and central authorities agree on forest repurposing to implement the project.

6. For forest areas that have been planned for repurposing but have not been decided by competent authorities, the regulations on repurposing for the corresponding forest type shall apply before approving the plan to change the use purpose of that forest are to a non-forestry purpose.

7. Project investors must re-implement the procedures for deciding on forest repurposing guidelines when competent authorities have not decided on forest repurposing after 24 months from the time the project is eligible to have its forest repurposing guideline decided.”.

22. Addition of Article 41a after Article 41:

“Article 41a. Criteria for determining projects eligible for forest repurposing

1. Projects with investment guidelines decided, approved by the National Assembly in accordance with Article 7 of the Law on Public Investment 2019, Article 30 of the Law on Investment 2020, Article 12 of the Law on PPP 2020.

2. Projects serving national defense and security confirmed in writing by the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security.

3. Urgent projects that require natural forest repurposing

a) Urgent projects in accordance with regulations of law on state of emergency; unscheduled or urgent projects serving natural disaster management, disease and fire prevention and control; urgent projects intended for handling issues that arise under the decisions of the National Assembly, Government or Prime Minister.

b) Urgent projects on construction of essential socio – economic infrastructure (traffic, irrigation projects; freshwater lake projects, waste treatment projects on islands); power source projects, power grid projects to ensure national energy security and socio-economic development; projects renovation of revolutionary sites/monuments, national historic – cultural sites/monuments, and special national sites/monuments; projects on mineral exploration and mining licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in accordance with law on mineral; projects on mineral mining for conventional construction materials; ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment projects.

c) Projects that the Prime Minister has approved or decided on investment guidelines or decided on approval of investment projects.

d) Projects specified in Points b and c of this Clause shall be ineligible for repurposing forest area is such area is in the strictly protected subdivision of special-use forests; shall be ineligible for repurposing natural forest area if such area is under the planning of special-use forests and protective forests for mineral mining.

d) In other cases not falling Points a, b and c of this Clause, the Provincial People's Committee shall issue and send a written request to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to report to the Prime Minister for review and approval.”.

23. Addition of Article 41b after Article 41a:

“Article 41b. Revision of forest repurposing guidelines

1. For projects with forest repurposing guidelines decided by the Provincial People's Council

a) Projects that change the location and area of forest but do not change the type of forest, or do not increase the area of forest compared to the total area of forest decided by the Provincial People's Council, do not have to revise the forest repurposing guideline.

b) In cases not covered by Point a of this Clause, it is necessary to revise the forest repurposing guideline. The application and procedures for deciding on revision of forest repurposing guideline shall comply with Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 41 hereof.

2. For projects with investment guidelines decided, approved by the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, the Provincial People's Council in accordance with the Investment Law, the Public Investment Law, the PPP Law, and the Petroleum Law, if there is a change in the scale of the forest area subject to repurposing for project execution:

a) For projects changing the scale of the forest area subject to repurposing that do not have to revise its project investment guideline in accordance with the Investment Law, the Public Investment Law, the PPP Law, the Petroleum Law, the Provincial People's Committee or the District People's Committee shall decide on the repurposing of the forest area that has changed; the procedures shall follow Article 42 hereof.

a) For projects changing the scale of the forest area subject to repurposing that have to revise its project investment guideline, the revision shall be carried out in accordance with the law on investment, public investment, PPP, petroleum and relevant laws.

c) Projects that revise the investment guideline, including changes in the scale of forest area subject to repurposing, and have forest repurposing guideline decided, the appraisal authority shall seek opinions from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the provincial People's Committee or the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the district-level People's Committee where the project is executed in accordance with Point c of Clause 4 of Article 41 hereof.”.

24. Amendment to Article 42:

“Article 42. Procedures for deciding on forest repurposing

1. Authority to decide on forest repurposing shall comply with Article 23 of the Forestry Law.

2. The application includes:

a) Application form for deciding on forest repurposing according to Form No. 20 (for organizations), Form No. 21 (for individuals) specified in Appendix II attached hereto;

b) A copy of the forest repurposing guideline decision of the competent authority or a copy of the written approval or decision on investment guideline for the project with investment guideline decided, approved by the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, or the Provincial People's Council in accordance with the Investment Law, the Public Investment Law, the Law on PPP, and the Law on Petroleum;

c) The alternative afforestation plan approved by the competent authority or a notice of completion of the obligation to pay for alternative afforestation for the area proposed for repurposing;

d) Report explaining the forest status and forest status map as prescribed in Point d of Clause 2 of Article 41 hereof.

3. Procedures

a) Organizations and individuals with projects requesting decision on forest repurposing shall submit directly or by post or by electronic media 01 application as regulated in clause 2 of this Article to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (for organizations) or the district-level forestry authorities (for individuals);

b) Within 10 days from the date of receipt of the application for deciding on forest repurposing from the organization or individual: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shall request the Provincial People's Committee to decide on forest repurposing (for organization) according to Form No. 22 of Appendix II attached hereto, together with the documents as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article. The district-level forestry authority shall prepare and submit an application form to the Provincial People's Committee for deciding ọ forest repurposing (for individual) according to Form No. 23 of Appendix II attached hereto, together with the documents as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article;

In case the application is inadequate, within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the application, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development or district-level forestry authority shall send a written notice clearly stating the reasons;

c) Within 10 days from the date of receipt of the application form and documentation, the provincial-level People's Committee shall issue a decision on forest repurposing (for organizations) according to Form No. 24 of Appendix II attached hereto, the district-level People's Committee shall issue a decision on forest repurposing (for individuals) according to Form No. 25 of Appendix II attached hereto. If the forest repurposing is not approved, within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the application form and documentation, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development or district-level forestry authority, the Provincial People's Committee or the District-level People's Committee shall send a written notice clearly stating the reasons.

4. For infrastructure works serving forest protection and development as prescribed in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Article 51 of the Forestry Law, the provisions in Articles 41 and 42 hereof shall not be applied. The construction of infrastructure works serving forest protection and development must be appropriate with the sustainable forest management plan approved by the competent authority. Forest owners shall develop a Forest Use Plan according to Form No. 28 specified in Appendix II attached hereto and submit it to the Provincial People's Committee or the Ministry or central authority for approval according to the following procedures:

a) The application for approval of the Forest Use Plan includes: Forest Use Plan according to Form No. 28 specified in Appendix II attached hereto; the application form for approval of the Forest Use Plan according to Form No. 29 specified in Appendix II attached hereto;

b) The forest owner shall send 01 application specified in Clause 3 of this Article directly or by post or by electronic media to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for forests under local management or to the relevant authority affiliated with the ministry or central authority in charge of receiving applications for forests managed by such ministry or central authority;

In case the application is inadequate, within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the application, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development or the relevant authority affiliated with the ministry or central authority in charge of receiving applications shall send a written notice clearly stating the reasons.

c) Within 10 days from the date of receipt of adequate application, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development or the relevant authority affiliated with the ministry or central authority shall inspect, verify and consolidate documents which shall be submitted to the Provincial People's Committee or the ministry or central authority for review and approval. The approval application includes: documentation specified in point a of this clause, application form, report on the results of the inspection and verification;

d) Within 05 days from the date of receipt of the application form and documentation of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development or the relevant authority affiliated with the ministry or central authority, the Provincial People's Committee or the ministry or central authority shall review and approve the Forest Use Plan according to Form No. 30 specified in Appendix II attached hereto. In cases of refusal, the provincial People's Committee or ministry or central authority shall send a written notice clearly stating the reasons.

5. For forest areas that have repurposing guidelines decided by competent authority or have decision on forest repurposing for project execution but such project has no need to use or uses less than the decided forest area, the provincial People's Committee or the district-level People's Committee must put such forest area under management in accordance with the law on forestry.

6. The provincial People's Committee or the district People's Committee shall be responsible for deciding on forest repurposing.".

25. Amendment to Article 43:

“Article 43. Procedures for reclaiming forests

1. Procedures for reclaiming forests for cases specified in point a, b and dd of clause 1 of Article 22 of Forestry Law

a) Within 10 days from the date of having inspection conclusion of the competent state authority; the inspection agency shall send the inspection results to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the district-level People's Committee, the district-level forestry authority and the forest owner;

b) Within 30 days from the date of receiving the inspection conclusion of the competent authorities, district-level forestry authorities for forest owners who are households, individuals, residential communities, or the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development for forest owners who are organizations shall inspect and verify the characteristics of the forest and submit it to the People's Committees of the same level for a decision on forest reclamation;

c) Within 05 days from the date of receipt of the application form submitted by the district-level forestry authority (for forest owners who are households, individuals, residential communities) Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development (for forest owners who are organizations), the district-level People's Committee or provincial People's Committee shall review and make decision on forest reclamation according to Form No. 26 or 27 of Appendix II attached hereto.

2. Procedures for reclaiming forests for cases specified in point c of clause 1 of Article 22 of Forestry Law

a) The forest owner shall send a document to return the forest to the district-level forestry authority for forest owners being households, individuals, and residential communities; to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for forest owners being organizations;

b) Within 15 days from the date of receipt of the request from the forest owner, the district-level forestry authority (for forest owners being households, individuals, and residential communities) or the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (for forest owners being organizations) shall submit to the district-level People's Committee or the provincial-level People's Committee for issuance of a forest reclamation decision;

3. Procedures for reclaiming forests for cases specified in point d of clause 1 of Article 22 of Forestry Law

a) Within 90 days before the end of the forest allocation or lease period, the district-level forestry authority (for forest owners being households, individuals, or residential communities), or the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (for forest owners being organizations), shall notify the forest owners to whom the forest is allocated or leased of the end of the forest allocation or lease period without extension;

b) Within 30 days before the end of the forest allocation or lease period, the district-level forestry authority (for forest owners being households, individuals, or residential communities), or the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (for forest owners being organizations), shall submit to the district-level People's Committee or the provincial People's Committee for review and issuance of a forest reclamation decision;

4. Procedures for reclaiming forests for cases specified in point e of clause 1 of Article 22 of Forestry Law

a) Within 10 days from the date of receipt of the death certificate from the competent state authority in cases where an individual dies without an heir as prescribed, the commune-level People's Committee shall confirm and report such matter to the district-level People's Committee as prescribed;

b) Within 15 days from the date of receipt of the report from the Commune People's Committee, the district-level People's Committee shall carry out the procedures for forest reclamation as prescribed in Point b and Point c of Clause 2 of this Article.

5. Pursuant to forest reclamation decision issued by competent authority, the Provincial People's Committee and the District-level People's Committee shall carry out forest management in accordance with the law on forestry.”.

26. Amendments to clauses 3, 4 and 6 of Article 57:

3. Industrial producers specified in Point c Clause 2 Article 63 of the Forestry Law that use water from water sources for industrial production of all business lines in accordance with Appendix VIII attached hereto. The Provincial People's Committee shall determine the list of, water sources derived for forest environmental services and the minimum water use level for industrial producers who are payers of forest environmental services in the province.

4. For providers of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment services specified in Point d of Clause 2 of Article 63 of the Forestry Law, including travel services, tourist transport and accommodation service, food, shopping, sports, recreation, healthcare, sightseeing and advertisement services within or located adjacent to the forest providing forest environment services, the Provincial People's Committee shall decide on the list of payers of forest environmental services.

6. For aquaculture establishments specified in Point e of Clause 2 of Article 63 of the Forestry Law that are aquaculture organizations or organizations associated with aquaculture households and individuals, the Provincial People's Committee shall decide on the list of payers of forest environmental services.”.

27. Amendment to clause 4 and clause 5 of Article 59:

“4. The rate for forest environmental service charge payable by providers of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment services specified in Point d of Clause 2 of Article 63 of the Forestry Law shall be at least 1% of their total realized revenue in a payment period; In case of entrusted payment through the Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund, the specific charge rate shall be decided by the Provincial People's Committee.

5. “4. The rate for forest environmental service charge payable by aquaculture organizations or organizations associated with aquaculture households and individuals specified in Point e of Clause 2 of Article 63 of the Forestry Law shall be at least 1% of their total realized revenue in a payment period; In case of entrusted payment through the Provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund, the specific charge rate shall be decided by the Provincial People's Committee.

28. Amendment to clause 1 of Article 64:

“1. Forest environmental service providers shall enter into contracts with the service users which specify the service type, payment amount, and payment time and payment method. The rate for service charges shall not be under the rate prescribed in Article 59 hereof; the contract of payment for forest environmental services shall be made into 4 copies, each will be kept by the service provider, user, provincial forest protection and development fund and Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Annually, the forest environmental service provider shall submit a report on implementation results to the provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund or the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for provinces that have not yet established a Forest Protection and Development Fund according to Form No. 01 of Appendix IX attached hereto.”.

29. Amendment to clause 1 of Article 69:

“1. The Vietnam forest protection and development fund shall:

a) Determine the money amount distributed to provincial forest protection and development funds and conduct distribution thereof according to the forest environmental service charge amount collected in reality and forest area on the drainage basin announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development before December 31 every year.

a) Determine the money amount distributed to provincial forest protection and development funds and conduct distribution thereof before December 31 of the following year.”.

30. Amendments to some points and clauses of Article 70:

a) Amendment to point a of clause 1:

a) Maximum 0.5% of total forest environmental service charge amount collected in a year shall be deducted as management funding for expenditure on operations of the Fund. The particular deducted amount shall be specified in annual service charge collection and use plan of the fund approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Expenditures on operations of the fund include:

Recurrent expenditures, including payment of salary and contributions to members of the Fund Operation Board, payment of remunerations for management to members of the Fund Management Board and Fund Control Board; payment of wages, payment for public services, stationery, information and communications; expenditures on meetings and conferences; payment of allowances for business trip and rent; payment for repair and maintenance of assets serving professional activities and infrastructure; payment for appraisal of programs/projects or appraisal in bidding; expenditure on money receipt and payment and expenditure on surveillance and other expenditures (if any);

Non-recurrent expenditures, expenditure for review and determination of forest area provided under forest environmental service contracts; expenditure for conferences and training for improvement of professional skills; expenditure for purchase and repair of a massive quantity of assets for the fund operations and purchase of other specific equipment serving payment services; expenditure for payment for dissemination and audit services; expenditure for supporting the preparation of sustainable management plans and issuance of forest certificates; expenditure for support for scattered tree planting activities; expenditure for support for activities of updating and monitoring forest developments; expenditure for activities to increase proceeds from forest environmental services; other expenditures decided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The guaranteed expenditures that do not overlap with the expenditures of the state budget.”.

b) Amendment to point a of clause 2:

a) Maximum 10% of total forest environmental service charge amount collected in a year shall be deducted as management funding for expenditure on operations of the Fund. The particular deducted amount shall be specified in annual service charge collection and use plan of the fund approved by the provincial People’s Committee. Expenditures on operations of the fund include:

Non-recurrent expenditures, expenditure for review and determination of forest area provided under forest environmental service contracts; expenditure for technical activities to monitor and assess the quality of forest environmental services; expenditure for support related to payment for forest environmental services at district and commune levels; expenditure for conferences and training for improvement of professional skills; expenditure for purchase and repair of a massive quantity of assets for the fund operations and purchase of other specific equipment serving payment services; expenditure for payment for dissemination and audit services; expenditure for supporting the preparation of sustainable management plans and issuance of forest certificates; expenditure for support for scattered tree planting activities; expenditure for support for activities of updating and monitoring forest developments; expenditure for activities to increase proceeds from forest environmental services; other expenditures decided by the provincial People's Committee. The guaranteed expenditures that do not overlap with the expenditures of the state budget.”.

c) Amendments to points b, c and d of clause 3:

“b) Forest owners who are enterprises may manage and use forest environmental service charges which are considered their revenue as per law provisions on finance applied to enterprises after deducting costs for forest protection and development activities.

c) Forest owners that are organizations not specified in Point b Clause 3 this Article and do not enter into lump-sum contracts for forest protection or only have a part of forest area protected under lump-sum contracts may wholly use the forest environmental service charges for forest management, protection and development purpose, including: preparation and implementation of plans for sustainable forest management and forest certificate issuance; ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment schemes; construction of items of silvicultural works and technical works serving forest protection and development; patrol and eradication of hot spots and action against violations related to forest protection and development; purchase of property and instruments and maintenance and repair of property, equipments and devices used for forest protection; recording and mapping of payment for forest environmental services, inspection, supervision, assessment, commissioning, dissemination, encouragement, training, practice, conferences and other activities serving payment for forest environmental services; payment of salary and other salary-related payments (to persons not getting paid from state budget and subject receiving salaries from the state budget in cases where the state budget does not guarantee payment of salaries and other salary-related payments); other activities serving forest management, protection and development.

Charges for provision of forest area that is protected by forest owners themselves shall be considered a source of their revenue and managed by them as per financial law applicable to each organization type;

d) Forest owners that are organizations specified in Point c Clause 3 this Article and enter into lump-sum contracts for forest protection with family households, individuals or communities may deduct 10% of forest environmental service charges for forest area under the protection contracts mentioned above for the purpose of forest management, protection and development, including: preparation and implementation of plans for sustainable forest management and forest certificate issuance, ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment schemes, construction of items of silvicultural works and technical works serving forest protection and development; patrol and eradication of hot spots and action against violations related to forest protection and development; purchase of property and instruments and maintenance and repair of property, equipments and devices used for forest protection; recording and mapping of payment for forest environmental services, inspection, supervision, assessment, commissioning, dissemination, encouragement, training, practice, conferences and other activities serving payment for forest environmental services; payment of salary and other salary-related payments (to persons not getting paid from state budget and subject receiving salaries from the state budget in cases where the state budget does not guarantee payment of salaries and other salary-related payments); other activities serving forest management, protection and development.

Deducted amount used for forest management after deducting costs for forest protection and development shall be considered a source of revenue of the forest owner and managed under financial law applicable to each type of organization.

After deducting the money amount used for management purpose, forest owners shall pay the remaining forest environmental service charge amount to the contractors in compliance with Clause 3 Article 69 hereof.”.

d) Amendments to point a and b of clause 4:

“a) Payment to forest guards, including: wages, travel expenses, insurance, protective equipment and other expenditures;

b) Purchase of vehicles, tools, equipment, gasoline and oil for forest patrol and inspection.”.

31. Amendment to point b of clause 4 of Article 71:

“b) The forest owners that are organizations shall close the accounting books, prepare and submit the final settlement report in accordance with regulations on financial management for each type of organization.”.

32. Amendments to some points and clauses of Article 76:

a) Amendments to point g and i of clause 1:

g) Comply with law regulations on finance, statistics, accounting and audit; send reports on management and use of the Fund's financial resources of the competent authority according to Form No. 03 specified in Appendix IX attached hereto;

i) Send annual consolidated report on collection and use of forest environmental service charges nationwide to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in accordance with Form No. 04 specified in Appendix IX attached hereto.”.

b) Amendment to point h of clause 2:

“h) Comply with law regulations on finance, statistics, accounting and audit; send reports on management and use of the Fund's financial resources of the competent authority according to Form No. 03 specified in Appendix IX attached hereto;

33. Amendments to some points and clauses of Article 87:

a) Amendments to point b, c and g of clause 1:

“b) Forestation, forest care, forest protection, forest regeneration zoning and promotion, forest nursing and forest enrichment;

c) Inventory and supervision of development of forest resources and biodiversity; forest investigation, statistics and inventory and announcement of forest status;

g) Dissemination and education of laws on forest protection and development; improvement of the capacity of forest protection forces;”.

b) Amendment to point c of clause 4:

c) Study and application of remote sensing technology, information technology, digital transformation and bio-technology in management and protection of forest resources;”.

c) Amendment to clause 5:

“5. Purchase, repair of means, equipment, devices, tools supporting: forest protection; forest fire safety; monitoring and warning of forest fire risks; prevention and elimination of organisms harmful to forests.”.

d) Change of the name of clause 6:

“6. Constructing, maintaining, servicing, upgrading, and renovating infrastructure for the protection and development of special-use forests and protection forests.”.

dd) Amendment to clause 8:

"8. Forest status investigation, inventory, statistics, supervision, establishment and management of forest databases; management, investigation, assessment and supervision of forest resources; inspection, supervision, and assessment of the results of implementing forestry sector strategies, programs, and schemes.".

34. Amendments to point b and dd of and addition of point e to clause 3 of Article 88:

“b) Support for forest protection contracts in ethnic minority areas, mountainous areas, border areas, islands, and extremely socio-economically disadvantageous areas; forest protection and forest regeneration zoning and promotion with additional forestation for natural production forests for households and residential communities in mountainous areas, border areas, islands, and extremely socio-economically disadvantageous areas;

dd) Giving rice to poor households and ethnic minority households living in extremely socio-economically disadvantageous areas for purposes forest protection and forest regeneration zoning and promotion with additional forestation, forestation of production forest and development of non-timber forest products, forestation of protection forest, and forestation as a substitute for paddy land to change shifting cultivation customs.

e) Support for the development and replication of effective and sustainable forestry economic development models.”.

Article 2. Amendments, replacement and annulment of some phrases, points, clauses, and appendices of Decree No. 156/2018/ND-CP dated November 16, 2018 of the Government elaborating Forestry Law

1. The phrase "using state budget capital" is replaced with the phrase "with the State as the Owner's representative” at Point a of Clause 1 and Point b of Clause 3 of Article 29.

2. The phrase "invested by the state budget" is replaced with the phrase "with the State as the Owner's representative " at point b of clause 5 of Article 29.

3. The phrase "General Department of Forestry" is replaced with the phrase "Department of Forestry" at Clause 1 of Article 75 and Point d of Clause 1 of Article 76.

4. Appendix IA is added after Appendix I and Appendix VIII, IX are added after Appendix VII.

5. Appendix II, Appendix VII are replaced.

6. Clause 5 of Article 57 is replaced.

Article 3. Responsibility for implementation

1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall provide guidance and inspect the state management of forestry nationwide within its jurisdiction; supervise and consolidate difficulties and requests of administrative divisions; and propose amendments to the Decree if necessary.

2. The Ministry of Construction shall take charge and cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in providing guidance and inspecting the management of construction of works serving ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment in forests with construction components.

3. The provincial People's Committees shall perform the responsibility of state management of forestry in the local area; regularly monitor and inspect the implementation of forest management, forest use, forest repurposing, the implementation of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment projects, construction of works serving ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment, mineral exploration and mining in all types of forests, the construction of infrastructure works serving forest protection and development in the local area; promptly and strictly handle violations in accordance with their authority and the law; promptly report difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of the Decree and propose solutions to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; periodically send a consolidated report on results to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development before December 31 every year.

4. Ministries, ministerial agencies, government agencies and relevant agencies shall perform state management responsibilities within their jurisdiction.

Article 4. Implementation clauses

1. This Decree comes into force from July 18, 2024.

2. Decree No. 83/2020/ND-CP dated July 15, 2020 of the Government amending number of articles of Decree No. 156/2018/ND-CP dated November 16, 2018 of the Government elaborating Forestry Law shall cease to be effective from the effective date of this Decree.

3. Transitional provisions

a) For projects proposed for forest repurposing that already has forest repurposing guidelines decided by the National Assembly or the Prime Minister before the effective date of this Decree but need to revise such guidelines, the Provincial People's Council shall decide on the revision of forest repurposing guidelines; the procedures therefor shall comply with Article 41b hereof.

b) For projects proposed for forest repurposing that already have investment guidelines approved, decided by the National Assembly or the Prime Minister before the effective date of this Decree but have not had forest repurposing guidelines decided by competent authority, the project owner shall prepare and submit an application for deciding on forest repurposing guidelines to the Provincial People's Council; the procedures shall be carried out in accordance with Article 41 hereof.

c) For valid application for deciding on forest repurposing guidelines, which have been received by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development but have not been submitted or have been submitted and not yet approved by competent authorities before April 1, 2024: within 30 days from the effective date of this Decree, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall complete the appraisal of such application in accordance with Decree No. 83/2020/ND-CP dated July 15, 2020:

For qualified applications: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall submit them to competent authorities for review and approval:

For applications that are not qualified: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall respond in writing to the Provincial People's Committee (stating the reasons) to review, complete the application, organize appraisal, and submit to the Provincial People's Council for review and approval in accordance with this Decree.

d) Applications for deciding on forest repurposing guidelines under the authority of the Provincial People's Council that have been appraised by the Provincial People's Committee and submitted to the Provincial People's Council or valid application that have been received and appraised by competent authorities before April 1, 2024, shall continue to be processed in accordance with the procedures prescribed in Decree No. 83/2020/ND-CP dated July 15, 2020.

dd) Organizations and individuals that have been selected and signed a forest environment lease contract in accordance with their authority and law to provide ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment services before the effective date of this Decree shall continue to comply with the time of the signed contract and the content prescribed in this Decree.

e) For valid application for forest allocation, forest lease, forest recovery, forest conversion, deciding on forest repurposing, which have been received, appraised and submitted to competent authorities before the effective date of this Decree, they shall continue to be processed and completed within 60 days from the effective date of this Decree. In case of failure to complete after this period, the regulations of this Decree shall apply./.

ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT
PP. PRIME MINISTER
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Tran Luu Quang

Ngày bắt đầu hiệu lực: 17/07/2024

Tình trạng: Còn hiệu lực

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Đơn vị chủ quản: Công ty Cổ phần luật AZ; Địa chỉ: Quận 1, thành phố Hồ Chí Minh