The central province of Quang Tri plans to have at least 60,000 hectares of forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in the next 10 years, tripling the current FSC area.

By July, the province led the country’s FSC forest development with 20,000 hectares. Most of the forests were planted by Ben Hai Forestry Company, Duong 9 Forestry Company and Trieu Hai Forestry Company.

The province’s target is considered feasible as it has enormous strength in afforestation while having plans to develop itself into a wood material hub.

Currently, wood supply, particularly that with FSC certification, fails to meet local demand. Thirty-eight wood processing mills in the province, which have combined capacity of nearly 2.2 million tonnes each year, have to purchase some 30 percent of their wood from other localities.

In the past year, the province has carried various measures to develop FSC forests. Those include building FSC wood processing value chains, issuing policies to encourage local people to plant trees and applying technology to produce high-quality seedlings. 

According to the local agriculture encouragement centre, FSC forests generate incomes of 150-200 million VND (6,400-8,600 USD) per hectare in a 10-year cycle, 2-3 times higher than that of traditional forests. 

The wood industry of Quang Tri has enjoyed strong growth, ranking second in the country. The province’s timber products have been shipped to foreign markets, including the US, Europe, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.