Forestry Training Manual for Vietnam

Training and capacity building have been regarded by German Financial Cooperation as a pivotal investment for the establishment of sustainable forest management in Vietnam. Therefore, the afforestation projects co-financed through KfW (Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau, German Development Bank) concentrate, among others, on the training of district and communal staff to enable them to act as trainers of farmers.

The first volume of a comprehensive Forestry Training Manual has been published and will become established in training courses for practical forestry. This Manual summarizes the training needs based on ten years involvement in the forestry sector in Vietnam. Dr.Kuchelmeister and Mr. Le Quoc Huy conscientiously compiled the practical contribution of numerous experts who were involved in various afforestation projects under Vietnamese-German Financial Cooperation.

The main training topics of the Manual focus on:

• forest establishment planning
• land use planning
• preparation of village forest development plans
• site mapping
• land allocation/measurement
• nursery techniques
• plantation design
• planting/regeneration techniques
• tending of stands/silviculture
• fire protection
• project and financial management.

The approach of the forestry program under Vietnamese-German Financial Cooperation  puts emphasis on the concept of participation of smallholders,  joint management, dissemination of technical knowledge, experience sharing, private sector initiatives, and the generation of income.  Through participatory land use planning, involved farmers have chances to participate in the project with their genuine interest, responsibility and their own land plots for forest establishment and development. Participating smallholders will be equipped with necessary technical and management skills through specific project training and extension services.

Although a variety of training materials in forestry has been introduced and developed in Vietnam, there was no comprehensive professional training material for such innovative smallholder forestry projects available. This Forestry Training Manual with its excellent illustrations is easy to read and thus makes it a very suitable training material for local technicians and extension staff. To date some 30 000 household members have been trained on the basis of this Training Manual. Volume 2 of the Manual is under preparation.