Dong Thang I commune in Dinh Lap district, Lang Son province Đình Lập, Lạng Sơn

• After a successful pilot project between 2005- 2008, in Bac Lang commune, in Dinh Lap district of Lang Son Province, CIRUM continues its efforts in the project “Strengthening Practical Capacity for Socio-political Rights over Natural Resources Management via Forest/Land Rights and Local Governance”. The project duration is three years from January 2010 to December 2012 and is carried out with support from Care International under the CASI III programme.
  
  The goal of this project is to extend our earlier experience and lessons to other areas, and to promote stronger CBOs and CBO networks. The project site is the remote and challenging commune Dong Thang with a population of 462 in 97 households (2009) consisting of three ethnic groups (Tay 47%; Dzao 31%, San Chi 22%). Level of education and literacy in Dong Than is low and poverty rate among the highest in Lang Son.
  
  Over 80% of the land area in Dong Thang is forests which play an important role in local people’s lives and livelihoods. However, these valuable forests are also a contested resource and have depleted severely due to illegal trade in forest resources and large scale mono-plantation of industrial trees. Unequal forest land allocation, unclear boundaries and legal situation of the forest are causing conflicts over forests and weaken people’s forest tenure security. Moreover, while people lack legal rights and access to forests, recently provincial authorities granted land use certificate (Red Book) to a private company including 1627ha (1/3^rd of the commune’s total forests) which contain watershed areas with important ecological functions. The company has already started to set up pine plantations.
  
  CIRUM works in Dong Thang with people and authorities on forest conflicts resolution conducts participatory remapping and forest re-allocation and supports community and customary based forest management. So far, we already achieved some results and local people will soon receive their Red books. Also forest conflicts are gradually being solved.  On the other hand, we focus on building up strong CBOs that advocate for good forest governance based on traditional tenure systems and indigenous knowledge. Therefore the project includes activities as trainings, exchange studies, dialogue with different stakeholders and managing of a community development fund. Eventually we aim that people in Dong Thang, will have equal rights in forests, and they will be able to control the forest/land resources and community benefits for local development.
  
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