Turning uplands green

After a 30-minute motorbike ride, followed by half an hour crossing the Nậm Mức hydropower reservoir by boat and a steep climb uphill, we reached one of Hin village’s former upland plots. Where cassava and upland rice once grew in abundance, young timber trees, predominantly chukrasia and pine trees, are now taking root. The first 20 hectares, cultivated by 15 households in 2022, have already formed canopies and provide shade. On another 16.8 hectares converted in 2024 by 12 households, tens of thousands of saplings are shooting up, many already taller than an adult. Meanwhile, 10 newly planted hectares in 2025 have taken root and are entering their growth cycle. All of these areas are part of Điện Biên province’s sustainable forest protection and development project for 2021-2025, managed by the provincial Protection and Special-Use Forest Management Board.

The rainy season has brought thick undergrowth, so villagers are clearing the weeds and checking on saplings planted this past June. The trees show a high survival rate and strong adaptation to the soil. With 1.4 hectares newly planted and another 0.65 hectares established in 2022, Sìn Văn Tham’s family has gained experience in forest care. Clearing brush around young pines and chukrasia trees, Tham shared: “Right now, the trees are still short, barely two handspans, and can be overshadowed by wild plants after the rains. But by next year, once the roots strengthen, they will shoot up fast. The areas planted last year are already head-high, even taller in some places. We only need to clear the weeds once a year. After the trees establish themselves, they grow naturally and don’t require much care.”

According to Dương Đình Lễ from the Protection and Special-Use Forest Management Board, forest plantations in Hin village have achieved a very high survival rate thanks to strong community commitment to protection and maintenance. The 2025 plots are soon to undergo final assessment, but initial checks show healthy and thriving growth. “Many of Hin villagers’ former upland fields are already designated as protective forest land. In just a few years, this entire area will be covered in forest”, he said.

A legacy for generations

Standing on former farmland now turned into young forest, Sìn Văn Tham, a forest grower and head of Hin village from 2009 to 2020, pointed toward the rolling mountains and said: “Our upland fields stretch far, around 500 hectares. It takes days to walk across them. For generations, these fields of rice, maize, and cassava have fed the people of Hin. After harvesting the outer plots, we would carve new paths to transport crops from the deeper fields. Before the reservoir, we used to raft the produce back in small batches. It was exhausting. Using motorboats in recent years has made things much easier.”

Though cultivating upland fields is now less arduous, when large areas were rezoned as protective forest land and the forest-planting initiative began, villagers willingly joined, driven by the belief that “forest is a precious, everlasting asset.”

On the land where cassava once brought reliable income, Sìn Văn Dung recalled: “My family has 2.8 hectares here. We used to earn nearly VND 100 million a year from cassava, or rent the land for more than ten million. But upland fields lose fertility after a few years and must be rotated or left fallow. And one day, if we can’t manage the fields anymore, we might end up selling the land. Planting forests means that after four years, we’ll be granted land-use certificates and can benefit from contracted forest protection. This is a secure and long-term asset for our children”. With that conviction, Dung has registered to convert all of his 2.8 hectares to forest this year.

Under the program, participating households receive seedlings, materials, fertilizer, and funding for care and protection during the first four years. After that, they are granted land-use certificates for the forested area and continue to receive protection benefits.

Understanding the significance and long-term benefits of forests, Hin village Head Sìn Văn Nam said: “We have 134 households and hundreds of hectares of upland fields. Seeing the value that forests bring, many families want to join the project. We hope the protective forest program will continue here in the coming years.”

By moving away from traditional slash-and-burn agriculture, locals are collectively “cultivating” their future, and investing in assets for generations to come. In just a few years, the once-depleted uplands will be replaced by thriving protective forests that not only conserve soil and water, but also stand as a sustainable legacy for their descendants.