On July 1, 2025, the Government issued Decree No. 183/2025/ND-CP amending and supplementing Decree 156/2018/ND-CP, creating a comprehensive legal framework for the cultivation, development, and harvesting of medicinal plants in special-use forests, protective forests, and production forests. The decree will take effect from August 15, 2025

The Chà Nưa community in Mường Chà commune is an exemplary case of community-based forest management and usage.

This is the first decree to break new ground in the management of forest medicinal resources.

"Medicinal plants in forests": are defined as plants or fungi that grow naturally or are cultivated in forests, providing materials for medicine and health care. "Harvesting medicinal plants": The process of extracting all or part of plants cultivated in the forest.

According to Article 32a, the area and quality of forests must be maintained, and state ownership rights must not be lost.

Priority species: Only species with high medicinal or economic value approved by the Ministry of Health or the provincial People's Committees can be cultivated.

Absolute prohibition: It is prohibited to exploit natural medicinal plants; processing and preservation within the forest are not allowed.

Restricted areas: Strict protection zones, coastal protective forests, and areas with slopes over 30 degrees.

According to Article 32b, flexible implementation models include:

Special-use and protective forests:

Organizations: Can manage forests by themselves, cooperate, or lease the forest environment.

Communities/households: Can collaborate with organizations or individuals.

Production forests:

Natural forests: Apply similar mechanisms to special-use forests.

Plantation forests: Forest owners can make their own decisions (without changing the intended use).

Strict management procedures:

Mandatory plans: Forest owners must develop and have their detailed plans approved by the authorities (Articles 32d, 32đ, 32e).

Leasing the forest environment:

Maximum term of 10 years, extendable up to two-thirds of the initial term.

Minimum lease price of 5% of total annual revenue (Article 32g).

Priority will be given to households who effectively protect the forest.

Tight supervision: Forest owners must notify the forest rangers before harvesting (Form 08).

Specific responsibilities (Article 2):

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development: Provides technical guidance and national supervision.

Ministry of Health: Issues a list of high-value medicinal plants.

Provincial People's Committees: Approve plans and recognize local specialty medicinal plants.

Forest owners: Are responsible for monitoring partners and have the right to terminate contracts if the conditions are not met within 12 months.

The issuance of Decree No. 183/2025/ND-CP by the Government is a step forward in line with the country's development, helping Vietnam tap into the potential of forest medicinal resources across 4.3 million hectares. The clear regulations on leasing forest environments will attract businesses, organizations, individuals, and households to invest in the development of forest medicinal plants, but close supervision is required to prevent abuse.