So what? Northwest Vietnam (Dien Bien, Son La, Yen Bai)

Dien Bien, Son La and Yen Bai provinces are located in the mountainous Northwestern part of Vietnam. These total land area is covers about 3 million ha and has a population of about 2.4 million. According to statistical data of the year 2000, 2005 and 2010 of the three provinces, the area of forest cover and planted trees were continuously increased. In the year 2000, the forests covered 537, 606 and 233 thousand ha and planted tree covered 35, 77 and 250 thousand ha in Dien Bien, Yen Bai and Son La provinces, respectively. The farmers who planted the forests received the benefit through Payment for forest ecosystem services policy (PFES). Decree No. 99/2010/ND-CP mandated that users have to pay for forest ecosystem services. The norm of payment for hydropower plants is 0.001 USD kwh-1; 0.002 USD m-3 for domestic water production and supply; and 1-2% for organizations and individuals conducting tourism activities. The amount of compensations paid for forest owners in Dien Bien, Son La (in 2013) and Yen Bai (in 2012) is 600, 450, and 1060 thousand USD, respectively. The awareness about ecosystem service's perception by different land use types, annual crops, forest and tree base/agroforestry, are quite equal between gender in this three province. This advantage is possible support for the further land management.