Xuyen, who manages 180 hectares of planted forest, is one of hundreds of thousands of people in Vietnam whose livelihood depends on forest products.

The timber industry alone employs 300,000 workers, worth nearly 7 billion dollars in 2015. But this industry and the lucrative export trade it supports are built on shaky foundations. Vietnam’s own forest resources have been severely overexploited. The country has lost 43 per cent of its forest cover over the last 40 years, threatening its rich biodiversity and bringing environmental problems like soil erosion. To meet growing demand, increasing quantities of timber are imported – much of it illegally logged and smuggled in from Laos and Cambodia. Read more