Guidelines for lease of protection forest environment for provision of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment services in Vietnam

Guidelines for lease of protection forest environment for provision of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment services in Vietnam (Image from the Internet)

On July 18, 2024, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 91/2024/ND-CP amending Decree 156/2018/ND-CP, guiding the 2017 Forestry Law.

Guidelines for lease of protection forest environment for provision of ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment services in Vietnam

According to Clause 6, Article 23 of Decree 156/2018/ND-CP (amended by Clause 10, Article 1 of Decree 91/2024/ND-CP), the lease of protective forest environment for ecotourism, hospitality and entertainment services in Vietnam is as follows:

- Forest owners are permitted to lease the protective forest environment to organizations and individuals through a forest environment leasing contract for the purpose of conducting eco-tourism, resort, and recreational services.

The lease of protection forest environment must be publicly and widely announced for a minimum of 30 days through various forms: posting at the working office; publishing on the organization's website (if any); publishing on the portal or website of the superior authority directly overseeing the forest owner.

- The public notice regarding the selection of organizations and individuals leasing the forest environment for eco-tourism, resort, and recreational services should include the following basic content:

+ General information about the forest owner;

+ Location, area, and place of the forest environment for lease and the expected method for organizing eco-tourism, resort, and recreational services;

+ Summary of the approved eco-tourism, resort, and recreational plan;

+ Technical dossier for selecting organizations and individuals leasing the forest environment as stipulated at Point c, Clause 6, Article 23 of Decree 156/2018/ND-CP (amended by Clause 10, Article 1 of Decree 91/2024/ND-CP);

+ Time and address for submitting the registration dossier.

- The forest owner organizes the creation of the technical dossier for selecting organizations and individuals to lease the forest environment. The technical dossier, before being publicly announced, must be approved by the forest owner and include the following basic criteria:

+ Requirements regarding the competence and experience of the organization or individual in eco-tourism, resort, and recreational activities;

+ Business organization plan aligned with the approved eco-tourism, resort, and recreational plan for the protective forest;

+ Financial investment plan; projected revenue and plan for leasing the forest environment;

+ Asset handling plan after the expiration of the contract period;

+ Commitment to project implementation time, operation time, and revenue generation;

+ Priority for organizations and individuals who have been entrusted with forest protection contracts and have demonstrated good performance in forest protection and development, nature conservation, and biodiversity;

+ Professional conditions for sustainable forest management and other criteria decided by the forest owner, not contrary to the law.

The criteria of the technical dossier are quantified into points for assessment and selection, with a minimum qualifying score for each criterion; the total score for the evaluation criteria of the technical dossier is 100, with a prescribed minimum total qualifying score; an organization or individual is eligible when they meet the minimum score for all criteria and the total minimum qualifying score.

- Organizations and individuals wishing to lease the forest environment for eco-tourism, resort, and recreational services must prepare a registration dossier according to the forest owner's requirements specified at Point b, Clause 6, Article 23 of Decree 156/2018/ND-CP (amended by Clause 10, Article 1 of Decree 91/2024/ND-CP) and submit it to the forest owner.

- Based on the registration dossiers submitted, the forest owner conducts an evaluation to select organizations and individuals for leasing the forest environment in accordance with the technical dossier criteria and is responsible for their selection.

If only one organization or individual meets the conditions, the forest owner proceeds with negotiations and signs a forest environment leasing contract, ensuring the rental price is not less than 1% of the total annual revenue within the leased forest environment area.

If there are two or more eligible organizations or individuals, the one with the highest evaluation score is selected; in this case, the price factor is one of the criteria in the technical dossier, ensuring it is not less than 1% of the total annual revenue within the leased forest environment area.

- After selecting the organization or individual to lease the forest environment, the forest owner reports the results to the immediate superior management authority for guidance, monitoring, and supervision.

- The leasing price of the forest environment in the registration dossier of organizations and individuals is calculated as a percentage of the total revenue and must be converted to an absolute value for the forest owner to evaluate and clearly stated in the forest environment leasing contract.

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

Organizations and individuals leasing the forest environment for eco-tourism, resort, and recreational services in the protective forest are not required to pay forest environmental service fees for the leased forest area as stipulated in Decree 156/2018/ND-CP (amended by Decree 91/2024/ND-CP).

- The leasing period for the forest environment is not more than 30 years, with an evaluation of contract performance every 5 years. If the lessee performs according to the contract and wishes to extend the lease, the forest owner may consider extending the leasing period by no more than two-thirds of the initial lease period.

- Before signing the forest environment leasing contract as per the template in Appendix IA attached to Decree 91/2024/ND-CP, the forest owner must conduct an inventory and statistics of the current forest status by state on the leased forest environment area to serve as a basis for boundary handover, current state management, supervision, and evaluation of contract performance.

	Appendix IA

More details can be found in Decree 91/2024/ND-CP which comes into force in Vietnam from  July 18, 2024.

Vo Tan Dai

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