Spatial Assessment of Ecosystem Services from Planted Forests in Central Vietnam

Abstract

Globally, planted forests are increasing, providing increased resources to forest industries and ecosystem services (ES) to local and wider communities. However, assessment of the impacts of plantations on ES has been limited. Planted forests have expanded rapidly in Vietnam over the last 20 years, with much of the planting undertaken by smallholder growers using exotic Acacia and Eucalyptus species. This study aimed to test a framework to assess changes in four ES due to an increase in Acacia plantations from 2005–2015 in central Vietnam: carbon sequestration, sediment retention, water yield and habitat. Quantitative and qualitative indicators for each service were derived from the literature. Results showed that the area of planted forests in Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên-Huế Provinces increased from 130,930 hectares (ha) to 182,508 ha, mostly replacing non-forest areas (degraded lands, grasslands and agricultural lands) and poor forests. The framework demonstrated capacity to assess the effect of planted forests on wood flow, carbon stocks, sediment retention, streamflow and the extent of wildlife habitat. Apart from the wood supply and carbon sequestration, more research is required to translate biophysical indicators to benefit relevant indicators related to human welfare. The study also revealed that the area of rich forests decreased by 20% over the ten years, mostly through degradation to poorer quality natural forests. Therefore, at the landscape scale, improvement in ES due to conversion of non-forests to planted forests was offset by a reduction in some services as a result of degradation of native forest from rich to poorer condition. Assessment of changes in ES due to planted forests also needs to consider other landscape changes. These analyses can inform policymakers, forest owners and managers, environmental organizations and local communities of the benefits and impacts of planted forests and provide an improved basis for payments for ES and potential additional income for smallholder tree growers.

Assessing the Social Benefits of Tree Planting by Smallholders in Vietnam: Lessons for Large-Scale Reforestation Programs

“…Although some articles noted improved overall ecosystem services as compared with previous degraded lands after afforestation (Paudyal et al 2020), most projects have not been specifically designed with ecosystem service provisioning in mind. Nonetheless, because much of Vietnam's afforestation has been on highly degraded and damaged soils, resulting from war (Harwood et al 2017) or from previous overuse (Nguyen and Masuda 2018), in these cases, restoration has improved conditions, and even monocrop acacia plantations can improve soil properties, particularly around nitrogen fixation and soil carbon storage (Tran et al 2014a, Sang et al 2013.…”

“…In Kien Giang, use of Rhizophora apiculata encouraged by reforestation projects replaced a more diverse mangrove ecology, leading to less resilience and increased coastal erosion as Rhizophora roots were less deep-rooted and could not withstand strong wave action (Phong et al 2017). Other examples of plantation expansion into existing natural forests have been noted as well, often dependent on local land tenure situations and land market prices (Cochard et al 2020, Paudyal et al 2020.…”

Water Ecosystem Service Quality Evaluation and Value Assessment of Taihu Lake in China

“…The soil conservation value was calculated by Equation (14). The results show that the soil conservation value of Taihu Lake continued to decrease in the past 8 years.…”

“…Mander [12] believed that traditional methods such as economy and currency can only quantify the value of part of the ecology that can be monetized while ignoring some non-monetary values. In addition, scholars' research mostly focus on evaluation of the value of ecosystem services such as forests [13][14][15][16], grasslands [17][18][19], and wetlands [20][21][22], while comprehensive evaluation and calculation of the value of lake ecosystem services are relatively rare. However, value assessments of Hangzhou West Lake [23] and Wuhan East Lake [24] as well as global meta-analysis of the value of ecosystem services provided by lakes [25] were assessed.…”

The rise and rise of natural capital: what role for forestry?

“…The environmental and social impacts of unsustainable forestry are well understood (IPBES 2019). However, the right forest in the right place can enhance environmental outcomes (Bastin et al 2019;Paudyal et al 2020) and provide pathways for improving the livelihoods of rural and regional communities (Nambiar 2019). Forestry fundamentally depends on natural resources such as clean air, water, soils and biodiversity to generate economic and social benefits, and access to these resources is threatened by the same global challenges.…”