Factors Affecting the Sustainable Development of Community-Managed Nurseries for Promoting Rare Conifer Species in North-West Vietnam

This study examines factors affecting the sustainable development of seven community-managed nurseries growing two rare and valuable indigenous conifer species—Fokienia hodginsii and Taiwania cryptomerioides—in the Hoang Lien Mountain range in North-West Vietnam. The nurseries were pilot programs of the Fauna and Flora International (FFI) project entitled Community Based Conservation of the Hoang Lien Mountain Ecosystem. FFI partnered with local government organisations and farmers to carry out the pilot program, with the objective of providing improvements in community livelihoods together with measurable conservation benefits. This study, completed in September 2006, revealed that the overall objectives of the pilot program were not achieved due to financial, management, and technical reasons. There was a lack of market demand for these two rare conifer seedlings. Farmers and State Forestry Enterprises (SFEs) prefer to invest in fast-growing species for an earlier return. Demand for the seedlings by National Parks (NPs) is nearly zero due to limited funds to purchase seedlings and the capacity of NP staff to produce seedlings of these two rare conifer species. These two species are not included in the approved list of species by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) for the 5 Million Hectare Program (5MHP). The seed germination rate in nurseries was typically low, nursery operators were not well trained by FFI technical staff, and most of them did not understand fully all stages to set up and operate nurseries. Also, the co-operation among partners in the pilot program was not effective due to local partners not fully understanding their responsibilities, hence farmers did not receive valuable advice when they met technical difficulties. The research suggests that future similar projects can be more effective if major planting programs include these two rare conifer species in the approved list. Farmers operating community-managed nurseries should have adequate training and technical support by SFEs and NPs. Community-managed nurseries require sales contracts for seedlings of rare species with local customers (SFEs, district 5MHP management board and NPs). International organisations can play a role in providing funds to start up projects and oversee the responsibility of each of the partners involved in these projects.