Vietnam’s forests have experienced a notable transformation over the past 20 years from net deforestation to reforestation and expanding forests. Continued reforestation that aims to achieve further economic and environmental benefits remains a national priority and strategy. We explore the current status of plantation forests and highlight possible means to facilitate their expansion in the uplands of Vietnam. We employ mixed method triangulation to empirically explore plantation forests and their economic role in household livelihood, to quantify trade-offs between plantation forests and shifting cultivation, and to assess the constraints on plantation forest expansion in Nghe An province, north-central Vietnam. Results show that forest in the study area expanded by 406,000 ha (71.1%) between 1990 and 2016. Plantation forests increased by nearly 500% (from 32,000 ha to 190,000 ha), while natural forests expanded by 48.1% (from 538,000 ha to 797,000 ha). Plantation forests contributed an average of 35.1 percent of total household income in wealthier households and 27.9 percent of income in poor households. Switching from shifting cultivation to plantation forests would increase total household income and average carbon stock but decrease food provision. Total Economic Value would be higher for plantation forest scenarios if increased carbon stocks in plantations can be monetized. This carbon income might drive conversion of shifting cultivation to plantation forests. Constraints on further expansion of plantation forest are low external cooperation, education, market stability, and agroforestry extension services. Our empirical results inform national plantation forest development, sustainable upland livelihood development, and climate change mitigation programs to ultimately facilitate forest transition and improve the resilience and sustainability of socio-ecological systems.

No abstract

No abstract

The concept of sustainable livelihood is an attempt to go beyond the conventional definitions and approaches to poverty eradication. These had been found to be too narrow because they focused only on certain aspects or manifestations of poverty, such as low income, or did not consider other vital aspects of poverty such as vulnerability and social exclusion. It is now recognized that more attention must be paid to the various factors and processes which either constrain or enhance poor people's ability to make a living in an economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable manner. Construction of nuclear power plants in Vietnam is in the first step of implementing and will be allocated in Thuan Nam and Ninh Hai districts, Ninh Thuan province, an agricultural and poor province in Vietnam. This requires a large area of land mobilized, thus a part of popupation living in the project area has to move far away. Besides the positive effects of this project, there are significantly negative impacts on the people living in the project areas and nearby, and their livelihoods are seriously affected.This paper aims at assessing the impact of the nuclear power plants construction on the livelihoods of people in two districts in Ninh Thuan province, in order to have mechanisms and policies to support reasonably and effectively, contributing to stabilize people's lives and local development.

Technology and computers have affected teaching and learning English in tertiary education worldwide. It is seen as an important resource for instruction in foreign language teaching. There is a wide use of its ability to create online environments in which students can take the benefits from them. The Department of Foreign Languages (DFL) ??of Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport (UT-HCMC) recognizes the importance and the effectiveness of online English learning in the information technology era. Just a networked computer or smart phone, a headset and a course account, students can learn English anytime, anywhere. Online English learning can match different learning styles and use different activities. Currently, the Department is using the Social Learning software of Knowledge Transmission Publisher, with the simple content, high cost and the relatively low level compared to the required learning outcomes stipulated by Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). The DFL wishes to build our own online English program to overcome the above disadvantages. Thus, this research paper explores teachers’ and students’ viewpoints on the present online program which has been used for the UT-HCMC students for the past 5 years- The Online Connected Program (OCP). The analysis of the responses to the questionnaires for teachers and students provides us with their perspectives as well as the difficulties they face when using OCP. The teachers’ and students’ suggestions are also collected. The findings obtained from this study will be used as the basis for designing a self-study online curriculum in the near future as a supplementary teaching adapted for both UT-HCMC students’ needs and UT-HCMC teachers’ expectations. The researchers present some conclusions supported by quotations from the previous papers in an attempt to draw the research theory and practice.