02 cases of planted forest liquidation in Vietnam from October 25, 2024

02 cases of planted forest liquidation in Vietnam from October 25, 2024 (Image from the Internet)

On October 25, 2024, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 140/2024/ND-CP regulating the liquidation of planted forests in Vietnam.

02 cases of planted forest liquidation in Vietnamfrom October 25, 2024

According to Article 7 of Decree 140/2024/ND-CP, the cases of planted forest liquidation in Vietnam from October 25, 2024, include:

- Planted forests in the investment phase damaged due to one of the following reasons:

(i) By natural disasters as stipulated by the law on disaster prevention, including hurricanes, tropical depressions, strong winds at sea, tornadoes, lightning, heavy rain, floods, flash floods, inundation; landslides, subsidence due to rain or water flow or drought; seawater rise, saline intrusion, heat, drought, natural forest fires, cold spells, hail, fog, frost, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other types of disasters, incidents, and catastrophes.

(ii) By pests, diseases, and other harmful forest organisms.

Simultaneously, they do not meet the acceptance criteria after forest planting as stipulated by the law on forestry project investment.

- Planted forests after the investment phase were damaged due to one of the reasons specified in (i), (ii), and do not meet the national standards for planted forests.

Only exploit or remove trees that cannot recover; trees that can recover are recorded, counted, and recovery solutions are proposed in the Plan for the liquidation of planted forests according to Form No. 04 in the Appendix attached to Decree 140/2024/ND-CP.

03 forms of planted forest liquidation in Vietnam from October 25, 2024

Article 7 of Decree 140/2024/ND-CP outlines 03 forms of planted forest liquidation from October 25, 2024, as follows:

(1) Clearing, cleaning the forest for planted forests without timber value;

(2) Selling utilized timber for planted forests with timber value.

(3) Depending on the type of forest in each case, the competent authority decides on the liquidation form of planted forests appropriate to local conditions and conducts exploitation according to forestry laws.

Documentation for planted forest liquidation in Vietnam from October 25, 2024

Specifically: as per Article 9 of Decree 140/2024/ND-CP regarding documentation for planted forest liquidation from October 25, 2024, as follows:

- Documentation for planted forests in the investment phase includes:

+ Request document for planted forest liquidation according to Form No. 03 in the Appendix issued with Decree 140/2024/ND-CP;

+ Liquidation plan for planted forests according to Form No. 04 in the Appendix issued with Decree 140/2024/ND-CP;

+ On-site inspection report, determination of cause, and damage to planted forests according to Form No. 02 in the Appendix issued with Decree 140/2024/ND-CP. In cases where the on-site inspection report is made according to law before Decree 140/2024/ND-CP takes effect, the organization proposing forest liquidation can use that report for the forest liquidation procedure:

+ Copy of design documents and forest planting estimates;

+ Copy of the approval decision (project, topic...) from a competent state agency;

+ Copy of annual mass acceptance minutes;

+ Copy of annual financial statements;

+ Other related documents (if any).

- Documentation for planted forests after the investment phase includes:

+ Request document for planted forest liquidation according to Form No. 03 in the Appendix issued with Decree 140/2024/ND-CP;

+ Liquidation plan for planted forests according to Form No. 04 in the Appendix issued with Decree 140/2024/ND-CP;

+ On-site inspection report, determination of cause, and damage to planted forests according to Form No. 02 in the Appendix issued with Decree 140/2024/ND-CP. In cases where the on-site inspection report is made according to law before Decree 140/2024/ND-CP takes effect, the organization proposing forest liquidation can use that report for the forest liquidation procedure:

+ Copy of design documents and forest planting estimates;

+ Copy of the approval decision (project, topic...) from a competent state agency;

+ Copy of completed project settlement report;

+ Other related documents (if any).

Regarding the agency receiving documentation:

- Specialized forestry management agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development assigned by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development;

- Specialized agencies under ministries, central agencies assigned by ministers of ministries, heads of central agencies;

- Specialized forestry management agencies in localities assigned by the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee.

More details can be found in Decree 140/2024/ND-CP which comes into force in Vietnam from October 25, 2024.

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