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The politics of numbers and additionality governing the national Payment for Forest Environmental Services scheme in Vietnam: A case study from Son La province

Forest and Society · Vol. 4 No. 2 (2020) · pp. 379–404

DOI
10.24259/fs.v4i2.10891
ISSN
2549-4333, 2549-4724
Published
2020-11-06
Publisher
Forestry Faculty, Universitas Hasanuddin
Language
en
License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Abstract

Payments for forest environmental services (PFES) is a major breakthrough policy in the Vietnamese forestry sector because it contributes 25% of the total investments in the forestry sector and serves as the first market-based instrument employed to protect forests. However, there is little empirical evidence of its effectiveness. Is the policy meeting the core objectives of improving forest cover and forest quality and is it also achieving its claims of supporting local livelihoods? This paper analyses the environmental, social, and economic impacts of PFES in Son La province, the longest standing implementation of a PFES scheme in Vietnam. Our study uses a sampling method that incorporates pre-matching and a before-after-control-intervention approach. Data was collected from government statistics, remote sensing analysis, focus group discussions involving 236 people, surveys with a total of 240 households, and key informant interviews with 45 people. Our findings show that additionality of PFES in Son La is controversial and depends on who collects the data and what data is used to evaluate the impacts of PFES. Data collection is also politicized to serve central, provincial and district government interests. Evidence shows that PFES has provided little additional income to individual villagers to protect forests in Son La. However, total PFES revenue paid to communities generates significant income for village communities. Moreover, not all villagers can receive continuous payments from PFES, meaning that PFES has not become a stable source of income, rendering the permanence of PFES limited. Improving monitoring and evaluation policies coupled with transparent, inclusive, independent mechanisms are essential to providing a more accurate reflection of impacts from PFES in Vietnam.

Keywords

Collaboration network of the authors

31 authors · 92 co-authorship links

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  • Nam Can Tho University
  • Affiliation unknown
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Co-authorOrganisationJoint articles
Muhammad Alif K SahideAffiliation unknown7
Nurhady SirimorokAffiliation unknown5
Bart VerheijenAffiliation unknown4
Karno BatiranAffiliation unknown3
Ahmad MaryudiAffiliation unknown3
Moira MoelionoAffiliation unknown1
Indah Waty BongAffiliation unknown1
Grace Yee WongAffiliation unknown1
Maria BrockhausAffiliation unknown1
Sukanlaya ChoenkwanAffiliation unknown1
Ahmad DhiaulhaqAffiliation unknown1
Le Thi Thanh ThuyNam Can Tho University1
Phuoc DuongAffiliation unknown1
Lukas GiessenAffiliation unknown1
Dwi LaraswatiAffiliation unknown1
Max KrottAffiliation unknown1
Emma SorayaAffiliation unknown1
Sari RahayuAffiliation unknown1
Sepus M. FatemAffiliation unknown1
Yubelince Y. RuntuboiAffiliation unknown1
Yafed SufiAffiliation unknown1
Abdurrahman AbdullahAffiliation unknown1
Andi SadapottoAffiliation unknown1
Fatwa FaturachmatAffiliation unknown1
Muh. Ilham BasmarAffiliation unknown1
Karno B. BatiranAffiliation unknown1

Affiliations come from OpenAlex; journal OAI-PMH metadata carries none. Authors without an OpenAlex ID are matched by name, which can merge or split people.

Metadata source: OAI-PMH (metadata jurnal) https://journal.unhas.ac.id/index.php/fs/oai, first harvested 5 Nov 2026, last seen 5 Nov 2026.
Original metadata (oai_dc) 
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	<dc:title xml:lang="en">The politics of numbers and additionality governing the national Payment for Forest Environmental Services scheme in Vietnam: A case study from Son La province</dc:title>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Thuy, Pham Thu</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Chau, Ngo Ha</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Chi, Dao Thi Linh</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Long, Hoang Tuan</dc:creator>
	<dc:creator xml:lang="en">Fisher, Micah R.</dc:creator>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Payment for forest environmental services</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Vietnam</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">impact assessment</dc:subject>
	<dc:subject xml:lang="en">Son La</dc:subject>
	<dc:description xml:lang="en">Payments for forest environmental services (PFES) is a major breakthrough policy in the Vietnamese forestry sector because it contributes 25% of the total investments in the forestry sector and serves as the first market-based instrument employed to protect forests. However, there is little empirical evidence of its effectiveness. Is the policy meeting the core objectives of improving forest cover and forest quality and is it also achieving its claims of supporting local livelihoods? This paper analyses the environmental, social, and economic impacts of PFES in Son La province, the longest standing implementation of a PFES scheme in Vietnam. Our study uses a sampling method that incorporates pre-matching and a before-after-control-intervention approach. Data was collected from government statistics, remote sensing analysis, focus group discussions involving 236 people, surveys with a total of 240 households, and key informant interviews with 45 people. Our findings show that additionality of PFES in Son La is controversial and depends on who collects the data and what data is used to evaluate the impacts of PFES. Data collection is also politicized to serve central, provincial and district government interests. Evidence shows that PFES has provided little additional income to individual villagers to protect forests in Son La. However, total PFES revenue paid to communities generates significant income for village communities. Moreover, not all villagers can receive continuous payments from PFES, meaning that PFES has not become a stable source of income, rendering the permanence of PFES limited. Improving monitoring and evaluation policies coupled with transparent, inclusive, independent mechanisms are essential to providing a more accurate reflection of impacts from PFES in Vietnam.</dc:description>
	<dc:publisher xml:lang="en">Forestry Faculty, Universitas Hasanuddin</dc:publisher>
	<dc:date>2020-11-06</dc:date>
	<dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/article</dc:type>
	<dc:type>info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion</dc:type>
	<dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
	<dc:identifier>https://journal.unhas.ac.id/index.php/fs/article/view/10891</dc:identifier>
	<dc:identifier>10.24259/fs.v4i2.10891</dc:identifier>
	<dc:source xml:lang="en">Forest and Society; Vol. 4 No. 2 (2020): NOVEMBER; 379-404</dc:source>
	<dc:source>2549-4333</dc:source>
	<dc:source>2549-4724</dc:source>
	<dc:language>en</dc:language>
	<dc:relation>https://journal.unhas.ac.id/index.php/fs/article/view/10891/6016</dc:relation>
	<dc:rights xml:lang="en">Copyright (c) 2020 Forest and Society</dc:rights>
	<dc:rights xml:lang="en">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0</dc:rights>
</oai_dc:dc>