Viet Nam targets to plant additional 500,000 hectares of forests by 2030

Viet Nam aims to plant an additional 500,000 hectares of large-sized timber forests in a bid to yearly offset 300 million tons of CO2 and materialize the country’s net zero emissions target by 2050.

With this goal, the total area of large-size timber forests will increase to one million by the end of this decade.

In 2021, the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Viet Nam reached around 106 million metric tons and its forests absorbed around 39.5 million tons of CO2.

Viet Nam is home to 15.439 million hectares of forestry land, accounting for 46.6 percent of total natural area. About 7 million hectares of natural forests have been closed by at least 2030. Around 7 million hectares of special-use and protection forests must be maintained.

Viet Nam has two types of forest certifications including the national forest certification system (VFCS) of the Office of Sustainable Forest Management Certification and FSC forest management certification from the International Forest Stewardship Council.

As of September 2023, Viet Nam's total forest area that has achieved both VFCS and FSC certifications is nearly 500,000 hectares, reaching more than 90 percent of the target set for 2025.