Beside its role in environmental protection, the forest ecosystem is opening up multiple sustainable livelihood opportunities for highland people through exploiting products under the forest canopy. Many products have step-by-step built their brands and expanded consumption markets, contributing to turning forest resources into development drivers across multiple localities.

Currently, Điện Biên province logs 434,647.57 ha of forested land with a coverage rate reaching 45.52%, serving as an advantage to develop the under-canopy forest economy. Favorable natural conditions help many types of non-timber forest products and medicinal plants - such as amomum, tsaoko cardamom, docynia indica, ginseng, cinnamon, and honey - develop and bring high economic value. Determining this as vital room, the province is driving forward forestry economic development along a multi-value path, linking the rational exploitation of forest resources with ecosystem protection and generating sustainable livelihoods for highland ethnic minorities.

Nguyễn Mạnh Toàn, Deputy Head of the Forest Protection Sub-department, stated: “Sustainable under-canopy forest economic development is always determined by the province as one of the vital solutions to both protect forest resources and upgrade residents’ incomes. Localities have deployed multiple support and encouragement mechanisms for residents, cooperatives, and enterprises to develop economically valuable non-timber forest products and medicinal plants, contributing to elevating forest values and creating stable livelihoods.”

During the 2021-2025 period, the entire province planted 83.5 ha of tsaoko, nearly 2,000 ha of cinnamon, over 200 ha of amomum, 206 ha of docynia indica, alongside 2.3 ha of Ngọc Linh ginseng and Lai Châu ginseng. Expanding under-canopy production models has effectively exploited forestry land funds, generating more employment and upgrading incomes for thousands of households, especially ethnic minorities residing in mountainous zones.

Mường Chà commune stands as one of the province’s typical localities in under-canopy forest economic development. With a forest coverage rate reaching 63.8%, Mường Chà commune is effectively exploiting economic potentials from forests, step-by-step forming numerous sustainable livelihood models. Within this, under-canopy beekeeping has become a development direction bringing stable incomes for many households, while simultaneously establishing the Chà Nưa honey brand in the market.

Underneath the natural forests, hundreds of beehives are placed in areas with abundant flower sources. The fresh ecological environment alongside diverse vegetation has shaped a honey product featuring a golden hue, a delicate sweet taste, and a signature aroma of the mountains and forests, which is increasingly favored by consumers.

Having been bound to the beekeeping profession for many years, Thùng Văn Lạy from Cấu village, Mường Chà commune, shared: “Previously, residents primarily entered the forest to collect wild honey, resulting in low outputs, while harvesting harbored multiple risks. Recognizing the potential from wild bee sources, villagers domesticated wild bees to raise them under the forest canopy. Thanks to utilizing natural flower sources, investment costs are low, and care techniques are not overly complex, allowing the model to increasingly show its efficiency. Currently, my family is maintaining around 30 bee colonies, harvesting over 100 liters of honey annually, creating a stable income source from our homeland’s forests.”

Also selecting a path from under-canopy beekeeping, Thùng Văn Ánh from Nà Ín village currently maintains 10 domesticated wild bee colonies. Each year, the bees yield two harvests in early April and late May, with an output of over 30 liters of honey per harvest. The stable selling price sits around VND 250,000/liter, bringing in an annual revenue of nearly VND 15 million. According to Thùng Văn Ánh, the greatest value of beekeeping lies not only in the sweet drops of honey but also in the awareness of preserving forests. He stressed that if one wants healthy bees and delicious honey, they must preserve the forest and natural flower sources, stating that losing the forest also means losing one’s livelihood.

From the residents’ effective beekeeping models, the local government successfully built the Chà Nưa Honey product to meet 3-star OCOP standards, while concurrently establishing the Chà Nưa Wild Forest Beekeeping Cooperative to link production households, upgrade quality, and develop the brand.

Quàng Văn Nghiệp, Director of the Chà Nưa Wild Forest Beekeeping Cooperative, stated: “Previously, the honey produced was primarily consumed locally, and its value was modest due to the lack of a brand and standardization. Participating in the OCOP program helped the cooperative perfect production workflows, invest in packaging and labels, and construct a traceability system, thereby elevating product prestige, expanding consumption markets, and increasing value.”

Following the arrangement of administrative units, the Mường Chà commune People’s Committee continues to coordinate with the cooperative to build a plan for developing the beekeeping zone along a sustainable path, expanding the scale of bee colonies, upgrading product quality, and reinforcing the Chà Nưa Honey brand. The target is to guarantee that products brought to the market always satisfy 100% pure honey standards, meeting the increasingly high demands of consumers.

Alongside honey, the amomum plant is also becoming a crop that brings a stable income for many households in Mường Chà commune. Currently, the entire commune logs more than 200 ha of amomum yielding harvests.

Khoàng Văn Van, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Mường Chà commune Party Committee, noted: “For many years, after receiving forest environmental service payments, each household has allocated a portion to purchase amomum seedlings to plant under the forest canopy. By expanding a little more each year, a concentrated amomum zone has been formed to date, bringing significant revenue to local residents.”

These days, Lò Thị Hương from Pa Có village is caring for more than 2 ha of amomum that is about to enter harvest season. She shared that this year the plants are bearing abundant fruit, and her family expects a bumper harvest, noting that since planting amomum under the forest canopy, they have gained an additional stable income source, making life less arduous.

Not unique to Mường Chà, multiple localities across the province are also effectively exploiting economic potentials under the forest canopy, step-by-step forming signature production zones. Amomum is developed in Mường Chà, Sín Thầu, and Mường Pồn; docynia indica, tsaoko, and ginseng in Quài Tở; and honey in Mường Chà and Thanh An, creating signature products linked with forest advantages.

In Thanh An commune, the Điện Biên Honeybee Cooperative stands as one of the typical models. With 9 members and around 2,000 bee colonies, the cooperative creates a diverse range of products from honey, such as forest flower honey, pollen, and royal jelly, particularly the honeycomb honey product that achieved a 4-star OCOP rating.

Đỗ Xuân Đoàn, Director of the Điện Biên Honeybee Cooperative, stated: “During each forest flower season, the bee colonies are moved according to flower zones to generate high-quality honey sources. Previously, we primarily sold raw honey, but currently, thanks to the government’s support in building OCOP products, the product has a brand, a wider consumption market, and an elevated value.”

From the green forests, an increasing number of livelihood models are taking shape, creating jobs and upgrading incomes for highland residents. More importantly, when lives are linked with benefits from forests, residents become increasingly active in protecting and developing forests.

Preserving forests to develop the economy, and developing the economy so that residents bind themselves closer to forests - this circular cycle is shaping a sustainable path for a land rich in “green gold” potential like Điện Biên. When the sweet drops of honey, gardens of amomum and tsaoko, or medicinal plants continue to have their values elevated, the forest will truly become “green capital,” bringing stable livelihoods and a sustainable future for the people.