Dien Bien, a land nestled deep within the Northwestern highlands, is gradually transforming its forests into a "green economic resource" through the implementation of forest environmental service payments (FES). However, to ensure the long-term effectiveness of this initiative, raising community awareness has become a critical lever.
Over the years, FES has not only been an essential financial source for forest protection and development but also a tool to foster stronger community engagement in forest stewardship. Since the FES policy was introduced in Dien Bien in 2011, thousands of village communities have become forest owners, directly managing, protecting, and receiving FES payments. Nevertheless, to truly maximize the effectiveness of FES, financial support alone is insufficient—knowledge and understanding delivered through capacity-building training sessions have become the foundation, which the Forest Protection and Development Fund focuses on annually.
Strengthening Local Capacity Based on Community Needs
As a province with large areas of natural forest and several critical upstream zones providing environmental services, Dien Bien currently has 1,142 community forest owners assigned to manage and benefit directly from FES. However, due to the mountainous terrain and a high percentage of ethnic minority populations, grassroots awareness remains limited. In many places, people are unaware of the origin of the payments, unfamiliar with financial record-keeping, or still treat the regulations on using FES funds as a formality.
Faced with this reality, in recent years, the Dien Bien Forest Protection and Development Fund has identified community-based forest owner training as a key solution to improve FES implementation. Since 2014, the Fund has organized 59 training courses in districts with large forest areas such as Muong Nhe, Nam Po, Tua Chau, Muong Cha, and Tuan Giao, attracting more than 1,600 participants from community forest management boards. The training not only deepened understanding of FES but also provided detailed guidance on patrol logbook keeping, rule-setting for FES fund use, financial transparency, and integrating forest protection into community life.
2025: Renewing Training Content and Methods
In May 2025, the Fund organized 11 capacity-building training sessions for community forest owners, focusing on Nam Po and Muong Nhe—districts with vast forest areas, many FES beneficiaries, and ongoing financial management challenges.
At the very beginning of 2025, the Fund organized 11 capacity-building training sessions for community-based forest owners, focusing on two districts: Nam Po and Muong Nhe.
In these sessions, participants were equipped with a comprehensive knowledge framework on legal regulations related to FES, along with improved skills for managing and using funds effectively, transparently, and publicly. They also received practical guidance on how to develop FES financial plans, allocate and monitor funds, maintain patrol and payment logbooks, and calculate the K coefficient—a critical factor in determining the exact payment amount for each community.
This year’s training programs also introduced innovative methods tailored to the learners’ capacity and real-life situations. Instead of one-way delivery, the courses adopted a learner-centered approach, incorporating group discussions, presentations, and peer-sharing. These open learning environments encouraged villages to exchange models and experiences. While successful practices were highlighted, participants also honestly shared obstacles like the lack of patrol tools, difficulties in maintaining financial records, and challenges in gaining community consensus.
During the training sessions, participants presented their outcomes and shared practical experiences from the grassroots level.
A notable highlight is that many practical solutions were proposed directly by the communities themselves, stemming from their actual needs at the grassroots level. The Fund’s training staff played a guiding and advisory role, helping communities gradually overcome challenges and improve the effectiveness of forest environmental service payment (FES) implementation. It can be said that these training sessions were not merely about knowledge enhancement—they became democratic forums where community voices were heard and promptly addressed.
The Fund’s training staff played a guiding and advisory role, supporting communities in gradually resolving difficulties and improving the effectiveness of forest environmental service payment (FES) implementation.
Sowing Knowledge – Reaping Green Forests
Organizing FES training sessions in Dien Bien is not just a technical measure to enhance implementation capacity; it is a long-term strategy for sustainable forestry, with local communities at its center.
Through access to knowledge, practical skills, and real-life application, communities have become more proactive in forest protection, transparent in fund usage, and effective in mutual monitoring. Tangible changes have already been observed in many areas.
In Cau village, Cha Nua commune, Nam Po district, after attending training, the community forest management board gained a clearer understanding of how to use FES payments for patrolling and forest fire prevention. They convened meetings and used the funds to purchase fire brooms and machetes for patrol teams.
Mr. Lo Van Sang, head of Na Hy 2 village, Na Hy commune, shared his hope that more training sessions will be held in the future so communities can continue learning and improving their forest protection work.
From these training sessions, knowledge has spread from management boards to patrol teams and individual households. Every logbook entry, every public village financial meeting is evidence of changing awareness. And from that shift, upstream forests are better preserved, streams become clearer, and local livelihoods are more stable and sustainable.
When knowledge is accompanied by trust and proactive engagement, FES policies truly take root in communities. And from there, green forests can flourish—fairly, sustainably, and responsibly.