Sponsored by the JICA/SNRM2 project, a training course on sustainable forest management and forest certification was held from August 10 to 12, 2022, in Tuyen Quang city, Tuyen Quang province. There were 32 trainees who are officials and technical staff from the Department of Forest Protection and state forest company from JICA/SNRM2’s project province including Tuyen Quang, Hoa Binh, Lao Cai, and Son La provinces. The training course was divided into 2 parts: (1) the 2-day theoretical part, focusing on introducing the content of the standards for sustainable forest management; a set of standards for forest management in groups and steps for implementing a certificate of sustainable forest management under the Vietnam Forest Certification Scheme (VFCS); (2) the 1 day in field training part, the trainees had 1 day of the field trip to identify nonconformity issues and consider the regulations of the VFCS standard to analyze and evaluate the compliance level implemented by the forest owner. The course was operated in the form of presentation and discussion; each specific content had its case study for group discussion, encouraging group members to contribute ideas to understand the practical issues in implementing the sustainable forest management certification under the VFCS. Trainees with experience working at forestry companies and state management forestry agencies from the provinces also presented limitations and barriers that need corrective actions in the certification process.

Thanks to the active support of the course organizers, including the Management Board for Forestry Projects and the JICA/SNRM2 Project, VFCO received positive feedback from the participants about the course contents and materials. In the coming time, VFCO will continue to provide a similar training course to build capacity for provincial and local forestry and forest ranger staff who will then become crucial propagandists to assist in the implementation of sustainable forest management and forest certification across the country, contributing to the implementation of the goals of the Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy in the period 2021-2030 with a vision to 2050 reaching 1 million hectares of forest certified by 2030.