Hanoi hosted a workshop on Tuesday focusing on restoring forests and ecosystems on land degraded by mining activities, highlighting nature-based solutions (NbS) as a pathway to rehabilitate landscapes and potentially generate forest carbon credits. The event was organised by the Vietnam Academy of Forest Sciences in collaboration with Forest Trends.

Experts attending the workshop outlined the extensive environmental damage caused by mining, including loss of vegetation, soil disruption, habitat fragmentation, erosion, and water pollution. Despite these impacts, mining supply chains have traditionally faced less rigorous forest-risk scrutiny compared to commodities like timber, coffee, rubber, soy, and palm oil. This discrepancy creates a policy gap, as mineral commodities are seldom classified as having deforestation risks, which results in fewer requirements for forest protection and restoration in mining projects.

To Xuan Phuc, an expert from Forest Trend, emphasised the growing demand for minerals driven by the global energy transition—specifically for batteries, solar and wind power, electric vehicles, and energy storage systems—and stressed the importance of balancing resource extraction with environmental preservation. While Vietnam has existing regulations on forest land conversion and environmental restoration tied to mining, experts noted that enforcement of these rules remains inconsistent.

Tran Lam Dong, deputy director of the Vietnam Academy of Forest Sciences, advocated for integrating the effects of mining on forests into national forest protection and climate-change policies. Building on this, the experts suggested that minerals be reclassified as forest-risk commodities, with mandatory forest impact assessments and due diligence incorporated into mining operations. They also called for enhanced collaboration between mining developers and forestry authorities throughout all stages of mining projects, from initial planning and permitting to mine closure and rehabilitation.

Vu Tan Phuong, director of the Vietnam Forest Certification Office, highlighted the potential of NbS to restore native vegetation and damaged ecosystems on post-mining sites. According to Phuong, if rehabilitation efforts are properly managed through measuring, reporting, and verification according to established standards, the carbon absorbed by regenerating forests could form the basis for forest carbon credits. These credits might generate new economic incentives linked to carbon markets.

Phuong added that the overarching goal of post-mining restoration should be the recovery of ecological functions and establishment of stable forest ecosystems adapted to local conditions. Workshop participants underscored that restoration approaches should be tailored to specific local factors such as soil type, terrain, tree species selection, and planting density, rather than applying uniform methods to all affected sites. This site-specific strategy aims to maximise ecological recovery and sustainability in mining-impacted landscapes across Vietnam.