Provisions on the Rights and Duties in Forestry Resources Management at Village Level

Lao P~ople's Democrati~ Republic Peace Inde~endeAce Democracy Unity Prosperity Min;strv of.Aoricu1ture .;.Fores·try \ nA-,-= No, 0429/AF PROVISIONS on the Rjohts and Duties in Fore~try··Resources Management at ',Vi ll'age Level Based on the corrs t i t c t i on of the Lao People's O<::mocra:';c Republic. Pufsuant to:the Ist National Conference on Forestry ln May 1989.1 Pursuant to the'··P.r;me t-linister~s Decree No, 3'4/PM, dated ·2.2/.1:lt9.1.6.n.:·:t!1~Cirganizationand operations of the Ministry of A~~{~~ltur~~F6reit~i. . I n v i'ew of manag i ng forestry r-esou r c e s for the pu r po s e of preserving~~~d indreasing forestry wea1t~, making appropr~~te ~nd h~ghly'~fficieht use of t~e i~~ensg forestry resources' util i ties. The Mi~i~try'of-Agriculttire-Forestryissues the following Provisions Chapter I General Principles Article 1.·.: .!=o'r~stryre'~ci...;!-ces (trees, water, land and \'''; ldl ~7e) . ~~~~c~Qd' b;:·the·State· ~- v1'llac o - ~~r .h~1·r P~OsO~\'at1'or~ ~n~~~"'-:;.I 't ,: :': • ..' V ~ 1\'" l...•• ::::: " I • '- Y··S~.':··i~.:ac::or~a,nce.::-wi.t!f-state regulat.icn.s and p r i nc i p l e s mus t, see"th~i r standi nc ·t:-.ees"ccnt ~ nuous l v ~ nc r e as i ng. The ri gh~ is granted ·.to·,cens (der': ,1:h'3" allotment' C7 a ffcrested 1and. and dEii~·;-iorate·a·-'for'est ~~'1arid w'hich' are not located at wa t e r sour'ce~ . and : '011:' ·st.ec;r i '. 5,1 cpe s to f arme rs ; n vi 11 ages for a.'f:~,or~?tat.;...?n.,.:?-.n¢.. .of ·:··.·;!l.i.::!; p r cduc t s rna y be inherited or t r.ans fer red'::·to: ..o the r . .r-= r.s.c ns, Articie 2 Forests and.~=rest l~~d ·in rural development areas .d~pendin~of mairr.vi'lage admin.istrat~ve authorities shall be us:,~' in t~~: ~ir:l·o~:.·in::reasin?l~' i,::;;::reving and r a i s i ns t.~e 11\'1119 conc't t t oo s i.cf y'l1::~~.::! i nha c i t v-i x s , ',:!'1-2.r": tr.:: r.~t·.l"";" forestry. crocs .constt :~t~ f cre s t s j"):""~!.~ct ~ ng -wat.e r sources, land, air, animals and are also related to the humans' conditions. v;ng.J· Article 3 Village forests and forest land are clearly delineated. Distribution methods are based on the geographical conditions and such' areas remain within administrative zones, such as: mountain. slopes, mountain crest, streams, communication roads, village zones, etc. Such areas shall comprise nature l forests, planted forests, forest fa 1 rows, degraded forests and non-forested land. Article 4 : The Village administrative authorities shall have the 'duty to mor-e effectively manage, preserve and make use of forests, while improving the living' conditions of the population inhabiting such areas. Article 5 The entire population has the duty to protect forests, improve and re-afforest degraded forest 1and, non forested land, bald land into new ever wealthier evergreen forests again. .Chapter II Management and Preservation of· Forestry Resour6es Arti cle 6 to The village administrative authorities have the duty 1/. Establish plans for the organization and implementation of instructions on village forests. 2/. Organize and direct the village forestry agency which is entrusted to manage forests and forest land in their village. 3/ . Unde rtake propaganda and educat i on of the vi 11age's popu 1a -: i on on the importance and utility of forests. 4/. Monitor, gather information on changes taking place in forests and the forestry activities within t~eir village, then report to the District Forestry-Department on a regular basis. 5/. Organize a system of forest protection and management network by the population in their village. 6/. Based on these regulations, study and promulgate appropriate specific rules on village forest management and protection to the reality in their village. 7/. Organ i ze the arrangement of set t 1ad cccup a t ions in v i evl of restraining and" progress until cessation of shifting cultivation for the protection of natural environment. Article 7 Each citizen has the duty to : 3 1/. Mu·tua11y ass i s t each other to preserve and not all ov he existing forest area and forest land area to decrease. 2/. Participate in actions against negative activities impacting on the forestry resources, such as ill ega1 , ogg ; ng, disorderly forest burning, and hinder all .destructive acts agianst forestry resources in due tima. 3/. Mutually assist each othe r to preserve, improve and plant fore.sts .., 4/. Mo~itor, 'pro£ect and destroy wood worms destroying forests, protec~ aod extinguish forest fires. Article 8 Attention must be given to the preservation of the following factors: 1/. Protected forest ar.eas, existing water source forests, f'or es t s along streams, water ponds, forests in hydropower reservoir areas, boundary forests, reserved forests. 2/. Reserved rare animal species' haaitat areas. 3/. Improve:degraded forests containfng valuable tree spec i e s into evergreen forests. Chapter III Forest Land Use Art; cl e 9 Throu·gh· appropri ate rural .development methods, the. use of degraded .forest land and vacant land shall be managed by the' village' administrative authorities and its population for agricultural production, animal husbandry, improvement and development of forests. Article 10: Wherever certain .families or individuals do not have the appropriate conditions to cultivate rice, they are authorized ~o m~ke.·use of degraded forests which may nbt be re~abilitated or of vacant land lying outside water source areas and ste.ep s lopes , lto plant trees .in combination with the cUlti~at~on 6f cash crops and animal ·husbandry while giving permanent. characte~ to the u~e of such land. Article 11 : Village administrative authorities shall organize and direct the population to undertake production in combination with ~~ro-forestry, livestock-forestry wherever possible, in viewbf progress·ing t o the point of ensuring settled occupations. Chapter IV Rights' and Benefit Article 12 : Village population has the right to receive t fo11owing benefit: 1/. Enter forests to gather forestry product and uneconomic wood as firewood in order to improve their living conditions. In the event an individual desires to exploit forestry products enl isted by the State for comme r-ci a 1 purposes, such individual should obtain authorization from the bistrict administrative authorities and forestry zone officers beforehand and pay full fees for the ,maintenance of forests. 2/ . The right to cut wood fo r firewood, coa 1, fences and wood utensils within the forest plot planted by themselves. 3/. In case it is necessary for a family in difficulty to cut from 1 to 10 cUbiS meters of second and third ca~egory of preserved wood for fence poles, fences, dwe111ngs from the village's common forest, authorization must be required. from the village . administrative authorities according to the rules and principles outlined' by the village. Simultaneously, the village must mobilize the population to use other non-wood material for the construction of hospitals, schools, houses, etc. such as rocks, bricks, tiles instead of wood and coal, sawdust instead of firewood. 4/. - The rtght to hunt non-p~otected animals and guarantee of appropriate hunt in strict accordance with the Decree No. 118/CCM of the Council of Ministers on the management and proteqtion of rare wildlife species must be provided. In case where it is necessary to protect all wildlife within the vlllage area, the village administrative authorities, together with the population have to r~ght to issue specific regulations. Chapter V Restrictions Article 13: Restrictions are: 1/. Forest land assigned by the State to each farmer family for use are not 'considered as commodities and are forbid~en for sale, except for the products brought by the fami 1ies·. 2/. Disorderly forest burning is forbidden. In case it is allowed, after forest clearing, the 1imits of the cleared area should be protected then may such area be burned and it should be ensured that the fire will not propagate. 5 3/. It i.s forbidden to clear forests at water sources long national roads, mountain slopes, around water per.. and in dense forests and all forms of forest destr .c t i cn sh~ll be strictly restrained. 4/. It ; s forbi.dden to hunt air gun, wa r weapons, or-cduc i ng eggs. Other management rules issued and fish with bombs, electricity, poison, nets while fishes are restri c t i ons are based on the by the village. Chapter VI Congratulation and Penalty Article 14 : Any village, individual with achievements in the forestry resource c rot.ec t i on and management sha 11 be congratul ated by 'the Forestry Zone agency, di stri c t administrative authorities, province~ municipality, Ministry of Agriculture-ForestrY or Government, as well as an appropri ate reward. . Article 15: In case an individual becomes invalid or dies while performing his duty in preserving and managing forestry resources, the State shall apply· separate specific policies. Article 16: Individuals transgressing these provisions or other regulations outlined by the village must be warned, fined, the evidence seized and subjected to disciplinary measures according to the state of the committed fault. In case of serious offence, court proceedings shall be induced against them according to the laws and rules outlined by the State. Chapter VII Organization and Implementation Article 17: The M1nistry of Agriculture-Forestry, districts and forest ~ones are entrusted the duty to strictly organize and implement these' provisions. Article 18: Ministries, agencies holding the status of ministry and other sectors concerned are to acknowledge and implement these provisions. Art;cle 19 These provisions are effective from the day they are s i sne d . Vientiane, June 18, 1992 Minister of Agriculture-Forestry Signed and stamped Sisavat Keobounphan