Local Outcomes of Forest Devolution: An Assessment Tool for Forest Departments Developed in Vietnam

Abstract

"Devolution programs have generated highly varied local outcomes in terms of changes in forest conditions, local livelihoods, property rights, and governance structures. There is an urgent need to improve understanding of local outcomes as an input into the design of appropriate policy and programs. This paper discusses a tool developed for assessing local outcomes of devolution in Vietnam. The paper describes the social and analytical processes underlying the development of the assessment tool by researchers and decision-makers. Results from its development and application in ten villages in Dak Lak province suggest that the tool provides an effective and feasible way for forest departments to generate relevant information about local outcomes of forest devolution. The tool serves to strengthen the capacity of forest departments to formulate appropriate policy and programs, as they take on new roles in the implementation of devolution and thereafter."