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Community action forces Que Phong Rubber Enterprise off illegally encroached Thai Ethnic Minority Community Forest Land

  • On August 12, 2013, after much lobbying by the local community of Pom Om village, Quế Phong District People’s Committee issued a directive removing the illegally encroaching Que Phong Rubber Enterprise off community lands, fined them for their actions, and reminded them of their duties to follow environmental law.  This was a good result for villagers, who had already shown themselves to be excellent organisers and very effective at managing their land and forest in a sustainable way. Nevertheless it took them several months lobbying and many meetings to achieve it. These events offer some valuable lessons for others in similar situations, and show the potential of LandNet. At the same time the events raise questions about the fate of those without legal ownership.
    Traditional forest-farm of the Black Thai in Hanh Dich  (Picture: CIRUM)

    Pom Om village, Hạnh Dịch commune was issued long-term community forest and land use rights (known as ‘red book’) for 426 hectares by Que Phong District People’s Committee in July 2012. This is the first community from Quế Phong district to have received communal forest & land rights following intercircular 07/2011/TTLT-MARD-MONRE of January 2011 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. This intercircular itself was the first decision by the independent Vietnamese government that allowed for the allocation of land and forest to households and organisations.

    As soon as they received the Red Book, villagers organized different meetings to discuss and agree local regulations for land use planning and forest protection and management. Their land use plan had 6 different zones: (1) watershed forest and sacred forest used for community belief practice and as a protected water source providing safe drinking water and plentiful water for irrigation; (2) regeneration forest that is well protected to regain rich bio-diversity and to allow for communal use access to non-timber forest products (NTFP) like forest vegetables, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, fuel wood as well as permitted timber and bamboo harvesting for housing construction; (3) community herbal forest conservation area which is to conserve and enrich traditional herbal species and preserve local wisdom; (4) livestock raising zone for traditional livestock raising; (5) agricultural-forestry cultivation zone for short-term agricultural crops, fruit trees, and forestry trees integrated with poultry and fishery raising; (6) Thai ethnic minority traditional cemetery.

    One year after receiving the red book, all was going well. Pom Om villagers strictly followed local regulations, and consequently the forest and land were being sustainably used and bringing benefits to villagers with improving water sources, growing NTFPs, and regrowth in forests.

    This harmony was destroyed in May 2013 when Que Phong Rubber Enterprise illegally sent workers from outside the district and their machines into Pom Om community forest land area destroying the watershed forest for the purpose of planting rubber.

    However the Villagers Management Board (VMB), which contains LandNet members, acted quickly. As soon as they discovered the encroachment, they informed Hạnh Dịch Commune’s People Committee (CPC) about this illegal land grab.  Unfortunately, Hạnh Dịch CPC did not initially react, and remained quiet. Nevertheless, VMB persisted, forcing the CPC to inspect the affected areas and check for legal responsibility. Throughout the lobbying process, VMB were advised by the LandNet Representative Facilitator and Secretary Group who facilitated reporting, questioning and proposals.

    After checking on site, Pỏm Om village leader, the vice-chairman of CPC, and land management officer (called community representative - CP), all went to the Rubber Enterprise Office (RE) to meet with the Director, Mr. Ho Van Muoi. At the meeting, the community representative presented legally certified forest and land rights map showing the encroachment onto community land. After the meeting, a minute was drawn up on 29 May 2013 agreed by all parties and signed by the Rubber Director admitting the encroachment.

    Yet, despite this agreement, and the obvious illegality of the RE actions, they persisted in their attempts to grab the land. At a meeting on 12 July 2013, the Director of RE asked the villagers to accept what the company had done, as it had already happened. He also wanted to recommend to Quế Phong District People Committee (DPC) to re-allocate the illegally planted rubber area to RE for long-term use rights and management. This is like a threat, with the suggestion that the power of the District PC is sufficient to overturn any decision at commune level. Not surprisingly, this brought an angry reaction from the villagers who were in total disagreement.

    The RE continued to negotiate, recommending to Que Phong DPC to allow them keep the planted rubber plantation until after harvesting, then they will return to the community. Again, the villagers did not agree. The villagers confirmed that RE has to take away all planted rubber trees, otherwise they would do it themselves. The villagers only agree to keep planted rubber trees if they belonged to the villagers, and made the RE sign a written minute.

    In 24 July 2013, Hạnh Dịch  Commune PC sent an official letter and report to Que Phong DPC asking them to inspect and decide the issue. In response, the Chairman of Que Phong DPC, in a Committee Regular Meeting in July 2013, suggested to follow Hạnh Dịch  Commune PC’s report. On 13 August 2013, Que Phong DPC sent a forest ranger and a natural resources and environment officer to investigate on site with the certified land and forest rights map and meet with villagers, community representatives and the Rubber Enterprise Director. At the meeting, again the encroachment by the RE was clear to all. The RE Director promised to build a boundary stone. The villagers said that’s fine but only with our agreement as to its position. The villagers also asked RE to stop its encroachment and return their forest and land. They also insisted that the RE have to be fined following local regulations and state law.

    Finally, on 21 August 2013, Que Phong DPC sent an Official Decision No. 654 to Hạnh Dịch CPC, Rubber Enterprise and Pỏm Om Village Management Board. They asked the Rubber Enterprise to (1) stop encroaching community forest and land and remove machines from the village; (2) remove all planted rubber trees from the community land and return the land to the community; (3) coordinate with local authorities when implementing planning to avoid the kind of mistakes that happened in Hạnh Dịch; (4) strictly follow legal procedures and prepare reports related to environmental impact when implementing industrial trees projects over 50 ha in area. This is in reference to Decree No 29/2011 issued by Prime Minister stating that projects have to report on environmental impact and environment protection commitments.

    It is probable that the company intended to move on to much of the community land, but the quick reaction by villagers and their persistence in forcing their commune leaders to take action prevented further encroachment. It is doubtful that land owners could have acted so strongly individually, but as a community everyone is threatened by company encroachment. The lesson learnt is that issuing land and forest rights to communities is more effective at ensuring conservation and sustainable use. That people need to organize together to self-support and that the commune has legal power to represent them and is nearby. Most importantly, the community must stand together and follow up to make sure the commune takes action.

    It is also clear that the presence of LandNet members in the commune was important to the success of the lobbying, as they were well supported by the LandNet facilitating group. The events offer a reminder too of LandNet proposals to build member understanding of their rights, land and forest policy and the legal process, and the importance of training members in the process of taking action based on their rights.
     
    Que Phong Rubber Enterprise has used these kind of encroaching tactics in many other areas where villagers do not have red books. Without legal rights, it is harder for villagers to protect themselves. Nevertheless, what has been shown is that solidarity within the community can work. Villagers must organize together as communities to stop the encroachment and force their commune leaders to take action to support them. For those without a red book, these events underline the urgency of the need to allocate land and forest rights quickly – particularly as the proposed 2013 Land Law allows for no allocations to households and individuals, only companies.

    LandNet