Viet Nam Infobrief Series: Interprovincial collaboration in Viet Nam- Plugging loopholes in forest law enforcement

*This is part of a series of info briefs produced in 2019 on the main lessons learned from Viet Nam's National REDD+ Programme 

While Viet Nam’s forest area has increased steadily over the last 30 years, forest degradation and deforestation in hotspots continue. The direct and indirect causes of these trends are diverse and complex. One indirect cause that until recently attracted little attention is weak inter-provincial coordination and collaboration. Transboundary forests are administered by departments based in two, three or more neighboring provinces. As provincial boundaries mark the territorial limits of administration, they can present loopholes that prevent law enforcement staff from following up on forest violations, such as illegal logging or forest conversion to agriculture. Tackling these loopholes requires inter-provincial collaboration to ensure seamless coverage of forest law enforcement efforts and thus enhance forest management and protection. Such collaboration also requires dedicated funding, which is rarely acknowledged. 

To develop government capacity to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, the UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II Programme strengthened inter-provincial cooperation between provincial Forest Protection offices to tackle law enforcement issues of a transboundary nature and to plug persistent loopholes.