(Report in English only)
This report, a collaboration between the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) in Asia and CARE International in Vietnam, examines how environmental changes and policy responses in Vietnam affect access to natural resources for ethnic minority communities in the mountainous northeastern region. The study, conducted in 2020, focuses on four villages in the Dong Phuc commune of Ba Be district, Bac Kan Province, one of the poorest communes in Vietnam. The research utilizes qualitative methods, including interviews with key informants and households.
A key finding is that environmental policies have a more significant impact than biophysical changes. While a prolonged hot season and intensifying whirlwinds have contributed to crop loss and food shortages, particularly for low-income households, the implementation of various environmental policies has had a greater effect on villagers’ access to land and forests.
The report also highlights the inequitable access to resources that has resulted from these policies. Environmental policies that demarcate between production and protection forests have not benefited local communities equally. Hydropower development has also reduced access to water for agricultural use in downstream villages, forcing them to reduce rice cultivation or switch to less water-dependent crops. These policies have reinforced pre-existing inequalities in land access between and within ethnic groups.
Additionally, the study found that government campaigns promoting the link between forest protection and water availability have influenced local perceptions. This discourse has progressively weakened discontent among households whose access to forests has been restricted, as they claim to accept their limited access for the “greater good”.
Finally, the report reveals a positive shift in gender relations through migration. Increased access to education and labor migration opportunities, particularly for young Tay and Dao women, have empowered them as independent income earners. This has led to more secure control over land resources for women and an improvement in their social status and decision-making power within the household. Men have also gradually taken on more domestic roles.
For a full study: