Forestry Law (Amended), No 06/NA.

This Law establishes the legal framework for the sustainable management, protection, development, utilization, and inspection of forests and forestland. It defines forests and natural forest resources as national community property under centralized State management, while recognizing private ownership rights over trees planted by individuals or organizations on legally allocated land. The Law seeks to maintain ecological balance, protect water sources, prevent soil erosion, conserve biodiversity and wildlife, and ensure forests remain a long-term foundation for socio-economic development and poverty eradication.
The Law classifies forests and forestland into three main categories—Protection Forests, Conservation Forests, and Production Forests—each with defined objectives and zoning regimes, including total protection areas, controlled use zones, corridors, and buffer zones. These classifications guide land-use planning, environmental protection, and sustainable resource extraction. Strict rules govern permitted and prohibited activities within each category, with particular emphasis on protecting watersheds, endangered species, and ecologically sensitive areas.
Comprehensive procedures are established for forest surveys, classification, management planning, and logging or non-timber forest product (NTFP) harvesting. The Law promotes forest preservation through measures such as fire prevention, pest and disease control, restrictions on shifting cultivation, and suppression of illegal logging. Forest development is supported through natural regeneration and plantation programs, including incentives such as investment promotion, access to credit, tax exemptions, and the creation of a Forest and Forest Resource Development Fund.
Forest and forestland utilization is regulated across village public use, household and customary use, and commercial activities, including timber harvesting, non-timber wood products processing and transport, ecotourism, research, and emerging mechanisms such as carbon markets. Conversion between forest categories or to non-forest land uses is tightly controlled, requiring differentiated approval levels, environmental safeguards, restoration obligations, and compensation.
Implementation is carried out through a multi-level management and inspection system led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, with roles for provincial, district, and village forestry units and coordination with other sectors. The Law defines the rights and obligations of forest users, including usufruct, transfer, and inheritance rights for planted forests, and promotes sedentary livelihoods. It establishes enforcement mechanisms, conflict resolution procedures, and graduated administrative, civil, and penal sanctions.