Economic performance of forest plantations in Vietnam: Eucalyptus, Acacia mangium, and Manglietia conifera

Abstract

Forest plantations have expanded rapidly in response to financial support from the state and local governments and have had significant positive impacts on rural livelihoods and development in Vietnam, since the late 1980s. This study used net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) to examine the economic performance of plantations for three species, Acacia mangiumWilld, Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn), and Manglietia conifera Dandy, in Bac Kan province. On the basis of an annual discount rate of 6%, the results showed that rural households earned positive financial returns from forest plantations with seven-year rotations. Eucalyptus generated the highest NPV but A. mangium generated the greatest IRR. The plantations were facilitated by financial support from the state, land tenure reforms, and wood exports. The results provide valuable business information and policy implications for both local farmers and policy makers. Since the farmers consider more of the short term and economic return of the plantations, the results provide valuable information for policy makers to apply subsidies and other support to promote plantations with significant ecological and environmental benefits for sustainable development of rural economies.