Document(s) 7 of 10

Changes in land use 
Changes in the population and its distribution  
The expansion of Kinh settlement  
The continuing expansion of settlement  
Other factors? 

Lam Dong is the southernmost of the four provinces belonging to Tay Nguyen; its own southern reaches tumble down toward Dong Nai province and the lowlands of Cochinchina. It is oriented southwest–northeast and is 175 km long, and its broadest section measures more than 65 km. Many of its summits surpass 2 000 m asl, and its capital, Dalat, is located in a 1 500-m-high basin surrounded by several peaks. Dalat is only some 300 km from HCMC, to which it is linked by a good road. The trip between the two cities, involving two mountain passes, can be completed in less than 6 h.

Although it has a noticeably larger area than Tuyen Quang province (more than 10 000 km² versus less than 6 000 km²), Lam Dong province is not as densely populated (see Table 4). According to the 1989 census, its population stood at some 660 000 inhabitants, meaning a density of about 64 inhabitants/km² (versus 96 inhabitants/km² in Tuyen Quang for the same year). According to the estimates produced by the Vietnamese statistical services, Lam Dong's population had reached 733 000 inhabitants by 1992, and it can be estimated that by 1997 it had surpassed 870 000 inhabitants.²⁸ Like Tuyen Quang province, Lam Dong is home to a rich cultural heritage: its population comprises, besides the Kinh, some 25 ethnic minorities (Table 9). Figure 13. Lam Dong province and its region since 1992.
Figure 14. Lam Dong: administrative units, 1992. 
Source: Entreprise de cartographie, Dalat, 1982.

Table 9. Lam Dong province: changes in ethnic composition of the population,  by group, 1976–89.
		1976		1979		1989
		(n)	(%)	(n)	(%)	(n)	(%)
Kinh		223 332	65.2	269 989	69.5	488 462	76.4
Co Ho		56 520	65.2	63 678	16.4	82 971	13.0
Ma		19 009	16.5	15 910	4.1	19 792	3.1
Hoa		10 325	5.6	11 959	3.1	11 160	1.7
Tho		8 184	3.0	502	0.1	522	0.1
Churu		7 906	2.4	7 444	1.9	10 402	1.6
Nung		4 992	2.3	5 750	1.5	8 491	1.3
M'nong		4 687	1.5	4 164	1.1	4 285	0.7
Thai		3 181	0.9	2 887	0.7	3 731	0.6
Xtiêng		562	0.2	2	0.0	132	0.0
Kho Me		380	0.1	315	0.1	397	0.1
Tay		224	0.1	4 479	1.2	6 605	1.0
Othersa		3 141	0.9	1 177	0.3	2 339	0.3
Source: LDPSB (1981); Tran Si Thu (1992). aIncludes Bana, Cham, Choro, Co, Dao, Ede, Gia Rai, Giay, Gie Triêng, Hmong, H'Re, Muong,  Rag Rai, San Chay, San Diu, and a few unidentified groups.

The topography of Lam Dong province is more complex than that of Tuyen Quang, as it has higher, steeper, and more entangled landforms (Figure 16). Figure 15. Lam Dong: examples of changes in commune boundaries, 1969 — 94. 
Source: Army Map Service, US Army Corps of Engineers, 1969; Entreprise de cartographie, Dalat, 1992.
Figure 16. Lam Dong: landforms. 
Source: ESRI (1992).

From the southwest to the northeast, three landform levels can be identified. At the first, which encompasses the three small districts of Cat Tien, Da Teh, and Da Hoai, the altitude rises eastward from less than 150 m asl to more than 600 m asl, with some narrow ridges emerging above that altitude in the vicinity of the second level, or platform. This second level is more uniform, with an altitude averaging around 1 000 m asl. It corresponds to the Di Linh Plateau, which includes Di Linh district, Bao Loc district, and the westernmost sections of Duc Trong district. The heart of the plateau is covered with basaltic soils, which are particularly favourable to floristic biodiversity, as well as to commercial tree or bushy crops, such as coffee, tea, and mulberry (Figure 17).

These types of soils are also prevalent in the three small western districts, particularly in Cat Tien. Although they are also present in the more elevated (third-level) eastern districts — those that make up the Lam Vien Plateau — their overall share decreases to only a residual amount in the large district of Lac Duong. In addition, this third and highest level is more uniformly mountainous, with steeper slopes. The average altitude is about 1 500 m asl, with some ridges reaching beyond 2 000 m asl. The highest of these, situated in the largely mountainous district of Lac Duong, stands at some 2 400 m asl.

As a whole, Lam Dong province receives more rainfall than Tuyen Quang. The average annual total generally surpasses 2 000 mm, with, however, considerable local variation. The western portion of the province receives on average more than 3 600 mm/year, whereas in the eastern districts of Duc Trong and Don Duong, the average does not reach much beyond 2 000 mm/year, and it is even less than 1 600 mm/year over much of these two districts (Figure 18). In addition, seasonal concentration is very intense, with 80–90% of the annual total falling during the rainy season, between April and November.

Such abundant precipitation, falling on these tropical uplands with their irregular landforms and areas of fertile soils, contributes to the exceptional biodiversity, particularly noticeable in terms of plant species. These are dispersed among the montane forests, which are of several types, including the great pine forest (Figure 19).

Changes in land use

We were able to gain access to more abundant and better land-use data for this province than for Tuyen Quang. Notwithstanding the problem caused by the changes in the province's boundaries in late 1975, it was still possible to complete a more systematic diachronic mapping of the changes in land use. We ended up drafting three maps. Involving several hundred hours of work,²⁹ these maps illustrate land use in Lam Dong province in 1958, 1979, and 1992 (Figures 19–24).

Figure 17. Lam Dong: major soil types. 
Source: Institut de planification des projets agricoles, Ho Chi Minh City, 1983.

Figure 18. Lam Dong: temperature and annual rainfall. 
Source: General Department of Hydrometeorology, Hanoi, 1985.

Figure 19. Lam Dong: land use, 1958. 
Source: Forest Inventory and Planning Institute, Hanoi, 1987 (based on 1958 airphotos).

To draft these maps, however, we had to reduce the number and standardize the content of the land-use categories, thereby curtailing somewhat the illustration of the richness of forest types.³⁰ Some subcategories or classes were sometimes more detailed from one particular set of sources for a particular date, but given the resulting lack of comparability, we had to do some regrouping, thereby restricting the precision of our cartographic syntheses. Nevertheless, for the purpose of meeting the initial and central objectives of our research project, namely, the analysis and interpretation of the presumed causes of deforestation, the broader categories we retained appeared adequate.

The 1958 land-use map

First, the three westernmost districts, also the lowest in altitude, had no pine forest whatsoever.³² However, in the eastward direction, as the land rises, the proportion of pine forests increased to the point where they covered 50–70% of the territory of the four easternmost districts, which form the Lam Vien Plateau. Furthermore, within these pine forests, along with the eastward rise in elevation, the three-needle pine trees (Pinus kesiya) were increasingly apparent. Thus, on the Lam Vien Plateau, such trees appeared predominant, but at the central and middle levels, particularly in Bao Loc, Di Linh, and Lam Ha districts, the two-needle pine trees (Pinus merkhusii) competed with them for predominance.³³

Figure 20. Lam Dong: land use, 1979. Source: Forest Inventory and Planning Institute, Hanoi, 1987.

Figure 21. Lam Dong: land use, 1992. Source: Forest Inventory and Planning Institute, hanoi, 1987 (based on 1992 airphotos)

Figure 22. Lam Dong: changes in land use, 1958 — 92. Source: Forest Inventory and planning Insttute, Hanoi.

Figure 23. Lam Dong: changes in land use, Cat Tien, Da Teh, Da Hoai, Bao Loc, and Di Linh districts, 1958 — 92. Source: Forest Inventory and Planning Institute, Hanoi.

Figure 24. Lam Dong: changes in land use, Lam Ha, Duc Truong, Dalat, and Lac Duong districts, 1958–92. Source: Forest Inventory and Planning Institute, Hanoi.

Second (and this point is a corollary), leafy forests predominated in areas of lower elevation and, hence, mostly in the western part of the province, although they were still very much present in the central districts at altitudes of more than 600 m asl, and even up to 900 m asl (see Figures 16 and 19). In these forests, dipterocarpaceous trees were widespread.

Third, bamboo forests — a degraded or at least intermediate formation within the forest cycle — covered nearly one-fifth of the province but with marked regional variation.³⁴ Bamboo forests, almost entirely absent from the eastern districts of Duc Trong and Don Duong, predominated in the three small western districts, covering more than 60% of Cat Tien (see Table 10).

Fourth, cultivated fields, to which as little as 3.5% of the territory was devoted, were essentially confined to a central discontinuous corridor that extended through Bao Loc, Di Linh, Duc Trong, and Don Duong districts, along national route 20. Such fields were totally absent from the three small western districts and hardly noticeable in the eastern mountainous district of Lac Duong, which was mostly inhabited by ethnic minorities.

Fifth, barren lands, which accounted for 9% of the total land use, also appeared to be unevenly distributed. Although they were largely represented in the central districts of Di Linh and, even more so, Bao Loc (17%), they were quite sparse in Don Duong and Duc Truong districts (less than 1%). However, in the very mountainous district of Lac Duong, barren lands accounted for a surprising 9% of land use, a figure that corresponds to the provincial average. Could this have been the result of excessive slash-and-burn practices, which at that time could only have been those of ethnic minorities? Or was this simply the beginning of a fallow period for lands that representatives of these minorities had put under cultivation for 1 or 2 years after clearing the land by fire?

Table 10. Lam Dong province: changes in land use, by district, 1958–92.
		Cultivated landa		Rain and monsoon forests		Pine forest		Bamboo		Barren land
		(km2)	(%)	(km2)	(%)	(km2)	(%)	(km2)	(%)	(km2)	(%)
1958
Bao Loc		49	2.7	1 029	57.3	182	10.1	232	12.9	305	16.0
Cat Tien		0	0	124	29.9	0	0	253	61.0	38	9.2
Da Hoai		0	0	306	60.6	0	0	189	37.4	10	2.0
Dalatb		25	6.3	36	9.0	319	80.2	0	0	18	4.5
Da Teh		0	0	248	49.1	0	0	227	45.0	30	5.9
Di Linh		74	4.7	814	51.6	166	10.5	287	18.2	235	14.9
Don Duong		89	14.5	196	31.9	320	52.1	4	0.7	5	0.8
Duc Trong		97	11.0	99	11.2	676	76.7	4	0.2	7	0.8
Lac Duong		1	0.1	559	29.8	907	48.3	237	12.6	174	9.3
Lam Ha		18	1.1	637	40.1	368	23.2	439	27.7	125	7.9
Province		363	3.5	4 048	39.9	2 938	28.9	1 870	18.4	947	9.3
1979
Bao Loc		319	17.8	650	36.2	140	7.8	342	19.0	346	19.3
Cat Tien		48	11.6	105	25.3	0	0	228	54.9	34	8.2
Da Hoai		50	9.9	250	49.6	0	0	143	28.4	61	12.1
Dalatb		109	27.4	47	11.8	176	44.2	0	0	66	16.6
Da Teh		26	5.1	149	29.5	0	0	325	64.4	5	1.0
Di Linh		242	15.4	704	44.7	50	3.2	216	13.7	364	23.1
Don Duong		176	28.7	222	36.2	112	18.2	0	0	104	16.9
Duc Trong		270	30.6	376	42.6	122	13.8	0	0	114	12.9
Lac Duong		52	2.8	667	35.5	585	31.1	155	8.2	420	22.4
Lam Ha		120	7.6	667	42.0	111	7.0	328	20.7	362	22.8
Province		1 412	13.9	3 837	37.8	1 296	12.8	1 737	17.1	1 876	18.5
1992
Bao Loc		537	29.9	451	25.1	78	4.3	344	19.1	387	21.5
Cat Tien		93	22.4	71	17.1	0	0	210	50.5	42	10.1
Da Hoai		75	14.9	226	44.9	0	0	112	22.3	90	17.9
Dalatb		138	34.8	17	4.3	142	35.8	7	1.8	93	23.4
Da Teh		94	18.5	139	27.4	0	0	181	35.7	93	18.3
Di Linh		392	24.9	389	24.7	82	5.2	233	14.8	479	30.4
Don Duong		221	35.9	131	21.3	97	15.8	76	12.4	90	14.6
Duc Trong		271	30.7	54	6.1	160	18.1	92	10.4	305	34.6
Lac Duong		78	4.1	438	23.3	633	33.7	377	20.0	355	18.9
Lam Ha		402	25.3	411	25.8	81	5.1	294	18.5	402	25.3
Province		2 301	22.6	2 327	22.9	1 273	12.5	1 926	19.0	2 336	23.0
Source: Figures 19­21. aTo facilitate interannual comparison, this category was defined to include settlements. bTownship.

The 1979 land-use map

Second, a very substantial expansion of agricultural land occurred in the heart of the province at the second level, on the Di Linh Plateau, as well as on the fringe of the third level, on the Lam Vien Plateau. In other words, the central agricultural corridor was considerably widened. Thus, in Bao Loc, Di Linh, and Dalat districts, the share of cultivated land grew from 2.7% to 17.8%, from 4.7% to 15.4%, and from 6.3% to 27.4%, respectively. In Lam Ha district, which in 1958 appeared only marginally opened to sedentary forms of agriculture, the proportion of land devoted to permanently cultivated fields went from 1.1% to 7.6%, whereas in the eastern districts of Duc Trong and Don Duong, agricultural expansion, although less considerable in terms of total area covered, was still significant in proportionate terms (see Table 10). Even the western part of the province was involved in this agricultural expansion, as the small districts of Cat Tien, Da Teh, and Da Hoai, until then totally deprived of permanently cultivated fields, saw their agricultural acumen begin to take form. Overall, for the whole province, the proportion of cultivated land grew from 3.5% to 13.9%. Only the easternmost district of Lac Duong, which was mountainous and difficult to access, appeared to be relatively uninvolved in this dynamic expansion.

Third, however, in Lac Duong, as well as in several other districts, the extent of barren lands increased dramatically; for the province as a whole, the barren lands increased from 9.3% to 18.3% of total land area. The spread of barren lands was noticeable in every district, with the exception of Bao Loc and Cat Tien, where they lost some ground. The origin of these barren lands is not easily traceable or deducible, even from a comparison of their distribution as illustrated on the two land-use maps. In place of some cultivated fields represented on the 1958 map, some patches of barren land appear on the 1979 map. In addition, some expanses of forest were replaced by barren lands (see Figures 19 and 20). In the first case, we may be dealing with fields abandoned for reasons of soil degradation or exhaustion; in the second, we may be seeing cases of forest lands that had been cleared and put under cultivation after 1958 but abandoned before 1979. In the latter case, one can speculate that "professional" swiddening by representatives of ethnic minorities was responsible, as well as "amateur" swiddening of the type practiced by Kinh colonists. These people seemed to have been intent on definitely clearing the forest so that they could devote the land to perennial cultivation, at least until the recently cleared land parcels were exhausted, particularly those along steep slopes, where eventually more forest would be cut down to again make way for crops. These hypotheses could probably be verified through case studies involving careful groundwork, as well as detailed sociohistorical surveys. Such initiatives were in fact partially taken during the project.

Fourth, in any case, attempts to analyze the cycle followed by bamboo forests should also be made at a more local scale, as the pattern of change revealed by a comparison of their distribution at the scale of the whole province in 1958 and 1979 is not easily decoded. Overall, the extent of bamboo forests was barely reduced (from 18.4% to 17.1%), although the changes at the district level were not obviously uniform. In some districts, such as Bao Loc and Da Teh, bamboo forests gained some ground, but in others — such as Cat Tien, Da Hoai, Lam Ha, and Lac Duong — they lost at least as much. In some areas, such as in southern Da Hoai and in western Lac Duong, some bamboo forests gave way to cultivated fields; in others, for example, again in southern Da Hoai and in northern Lam Ha, they were decimated, giving way to barren lands. In some rarer and smaller locations, such as in northwestern Cat Tien, bamboo forests were starting to achieve the status of large forests (rain forests or monsoon forests).

The 1992 land-use map

First, the 1992 land-use map illustrates clearly the continued expansion of cultivated lands, following an even more rapid average annual rhythm, as revealed by planimetric computations (see Table 10). Whereas over the 21 years separating the 1958 and 1979 surveys the share of cultivated land increased from 3.5% to 13.9%, between 1979 and 1992 (hence, over 13 years) it progressed to 22.6%.

Second, the 1992 map shows that the retreat of large forests (excluding bamboo forests) had continued; their share of total land use receded from 50.6% to 35.4%. However, in this instance, the so-called rain and monsoon forests, essentially found at the lower altitudes, were taken to task. The large pine forests lost very little ground; their share of total land use only decreased from 12.8% to 12.5% between 1979 and 1992. It does seem that the pine forests benefited from a respite, probably thanks to better enforcement of protection policies, whereas the other types of large forest formations were exposed to a real massacre; over 13 years, their share of total land use dropped from 37.8% to 22.9% (see Table 10). In absolute figures, the loss of these types of forest formations reached some 150 000 ha (from 380 000 ha to 230 000 ha), an average loss of more than 11 500 ha per year. Considering that cultivated lands increased by some 90 000 ha during the same period, one must conclude that forests gave way not only to agriculture but also to other forms of land use.

Third, bamboo forests, in fact, gained a little bit of ground (nearly 2%) during the same period (1979–92), following a pattern of change somewhat reminiscent of the one that prevailed during the preceding period (1958–79).

Fourth, the spread of barren lands was, however, proportionately, as well as absolutely, much more significant. Since 1979 barrenness had expanded over an additional 46 000 ha, accounting for 23% of total provincial land use by 1992 (about the same as agriculture, 22.6%).³⁶ Overall, it appears quite evident that between 1979 and 1992, more than 60% of the former territory of the cleared forests was taken over by cultivated fields tended by sedentary peasants, essentially belonging to the Kinh group; and more than about 30%, by barren lands. The rest of the cleared forests gave way, at least partly, to degraded forms of forest formations, including bamboo.

Everything considered, the two most striking changes in the landscape were the retreat of the forest and agricultural expansion. The latter followed a standard pattern, namely, a gradual and systematic enlargement, both of the central corridor and of the nuclei that had been formed during the preceding period in the three small western districts. But the detailed distribution of cultivated fields and barren lands, which often appear juxtaposed, reveals that this expansion seems to have taken an increasingly anarchic form. The local extension of both types of lands, cultivated and barren, was pursued in all directions, with frequent penetrations deep into the last remaining forested areas, as well as over most of the regions that make up the three small western districts and, finally, in northern Lam Ha and northern Lac Duong.

Changes in the population and its distribution

Immediately following the 1975/76 reunification of the country, the NEZs, many of which had been opened in northern Viet Nam during the 1960s, were extended into the Central Plateaus and particularly into Lam Dong province. This was followed by massive migrations of pioneer settlers, planned and monitored, at least officially, by the Vietnamese state, which was obviously pursuing several concurrent objectives. The major objectives were to provide a demographic safety outlet for the congested lowland areas of the country; to foster the development of commercial agriculture orientated toward export markets; and to establish firmer mastery over a region and its inhabitants, which had in the past managed to largely elude the control of the central government (De Koninck 1996; De Koninck et al. 1996). The impact on the province's population was considerable: between 1979 and 1989 (two census years), the population increased from 388 244 to 639 224, a 65% jump (Table 11). This exceptional growth, the pace of which has apparently been maintained, involved all districts with nearly equivalent intensity, resulting in substantial increases in population densities across the province.

The expansion of Kinh settlement

The overall result in terms of population distribution and density is a very evident double correlation: one relating higher densities with areas having a predominantly Kinh population; and the other relating lower densities with areas having a predominantly non-Kinh population (Figure 25). In other words, the higher the population density in any given commune, the more likely it is to be attributable to a higher proportion of Kinh among the population.

Finally, it must be noted that nearly every one of the minority communities lost ground, in proportional demographic terms, in relation to the Kinh. Furthermore, in some cases, such as in that of the Ma, absolute numbers barely increased, and in other cases they even dropped dramatically. For example, the Tho population in the province fell from 8 184 in 1976 to 522 in 1989 (see Table 9). Only one group, the Tay,³⁹ migrating down from the north, grew substantially, although the overall total remained modest: the number of Tay increased from 224 to 6 605, still barely 1% of Lam Dong's total population. Other groups, such as the Nung, nearly managed to maintain their proportionate demographic share, also possibly thanks to migrations from the northern provinces.

The continuing expansion of settlement

The fact that planned migrations of Kinh settlers probably reached their apex during the late 1970s cannot be confirmed by the 1979 and 1989 census figures. These do, however, reveal that these migrations were continuing. It seems that what the Vietnamese themselves call spontaneous migrations have remained quite substantial, somewhat like in Indonesia, where the migrations of "spontan" settlers are nearly as important as those of official transmigration settlers (De Koninck and Déry 1997). In Viet Nam and, possibly even more so, in Indonesia, the authorities remain evasive regarding the overall numbers involved. Nevertheless, we were able to assemble some information on this topic (Table 12).⁴⁰ This seems to confirm the widespread but insufficiently documented fact that spontaneous migrations have been on the rise throughout Viet Nam. Such was the case between 1987 and 1993 in each of the eight districts of Lam Dong for which figures were obtained. In addition, thanks to frequent field trips carried out throughout the province, several members of our research team were able to witness the ongoing progress of the pioneer fronts.

Figure 25. Lam Dong: population density and proportion of Kinh in the population, by commune, 1989. Source: Viet Nam Census Office, Hanoi (1989 census). Note: inh., inhabitants.

In fact, if one looks more closely at the number of people involved, this renewed thrust toward Lam Dong seems quite substantial. During those 7 years (1987–93), 23 000 families of spontaneous, or independent, pioneers, or some 100 000 individuals, settled in this province whose population, in 1986, was still less than 600 000. Such inmigration figures seem quite plausible if one considers that between the two census years of 1979 and 1989, Lam Dong's population went from 388 244 to 639 224, a 65% increase over a 10-year period (see Table 11).

Some districts, in particular Bao Loc, Di Linh, and Lam Ha, appear to have been prime destinations for the incoming settlers, although the most noticeable impact seems to have been felt in the small district of Cat Tien, with an area only one-fifth that of Bao Loc. In fact, the increasing importance of the three small western districts for pioneers, already revealed by the changes in land use (see Figures 19–21), is confirmed by another phenomenon: diachronic mapping of the gravity centre of the province's agriculture shows that it was moving westward (Figure 26). Such a mode of illustration has it limits, of course, as it does not account for the specific nature of the agricultural expansion. Furthermore, this specificity, the exact origin of the colonists, the routes that they followed to the highlands, and the timing and conditions of their actual settlement in their new environment are not sufficiently known.

Nevertheless, through our frequent field visits and the interviews and data collection we carried out among the population and with the local authorities in various localities of the Central Plateaus, we could identify, at least on a broad scale, some of the characteristics of the pioneering momentum. Thus, in a country where the land market has been experiencing a real boom, it seems that the so-called spontaneous migrations would be better described by the term clandestine. It does seem that the Central Highlands have continued to be a favoured destination for the representatives of ethnic minorities migrating down from the six northern provinces bordering on China (Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Lai Chau, Lang Son, Lao Cai, and Quang Ninh). Owing to severe environmental deterioration, caused at least partly by excessive farming on steep slopes, these provinces generate a lot of outmigration. As a result, Hmong and Tay–Nung families, after moving southward to the Central Plateaus, settle temporarily on the margins of the pioneer areas.⁴¹ There, they take charge of cutting down the forest, and the cleared land is then made available for cultivation, for a fee, to Kinh colonists who have generally recently moved into the area from the lowlands of Annam or the Red River delta.⁴² Such a division of labour often leads the authorities to lay the blame for the destruction of the forest solely on the ethnic minorities.

The agricultural frontier thus continues to expand rapidly at the expense of the forest, with the newly planted crops, such as coffee or cashew trees, generally being of the perennial type. Given both the pace at which the frontier is spreading and the reticence of the authorities to actually admit this and to recognize the nature of the alliances that fuel its overall progression — including the role of members of the armed forces, some of whom are actively involved on the timber market — it is very difficult to accurately account for all of its features. In any case, among the more evident illustrations of the dynamism of this progression, one provides a nearly indelible, if partial, testimony: the toponymic imprint.

Figure 26. Lam Dong: spatiotemporal changes in cultivated land, 1958-92. Source: Subdivision No. 2, Forest Inventory and Planning Institute, Hanoi (1994 centrographic analysis).

Following a series of surveys concerning the origin of place names, which we reported elsewhere (De Koninck et al. 1996), we were able to reach a certain number of conclusions. One is that the toponymic imprint of the Kinh penetration in Lam Dong province is clearly evident in Cat Tien, Da Teh, and Lam Ha districts. In each of these, several communes bear names identical to those of Tonkinese or Annamese provinces (Figure 27). These are in fact the very districts that have received the majority of the more recent Kinh migrations (Tran Si Thu 1993). Overall, Tonkinese place names are very frequent on the frontier, which tends to confirm, if need be, that the Red River delta is a major reservoir for the colonists headed toward the Central Highlands.

In any case, the nature and specific local impact of Kinh pioneer settlements on the preestablished communities and on the environment have not been assessed to any great extent. In the context of our project, one study was recently completed in Don Duong district. Its specific purpose was to measure the degree of reliance on firewood among the communities of each of the nine communes making up that district, located in eastern Lam Dong. Among its findings were, first, further evidence of the pioneer communities' very high degree of dependency on the energy resources of the forest (for both domestic and cottage-industry purposes); and, second, the likelihood, unless consumption patterns are modified or new affordable resources are made available, that by 2004 the forest would no longer be able to meet the local demand without being itself irrevocably threatened. One of the other studies that emanated from our project and is currently under way aims to compare the overall living conditions prevailing among some pioneer settlements with those of the villages of the colonists' origin.

Other factors?

Even less than in Tuyen Quang province did the data made available to us and those we collected ourselves in Lam Dong allow us to specifically calculate the impact on the forest cover of the agricultural or other activities and practices of the ethnic minorities. Most likely, this impact is not negligible, not even in the district of Lac Duong, where Kinh settlers are still few and population density remains low. Furthermore, it remains to be verified whether this impact has been predominantly self-generated or results from external pressures exerted on the communities, notably by the expanding frontier. But whatever the nature and extent of that impact on the forest, it obviously cannot be compared with that of Kinh agricultural expansion, as illustrated by the comparison of land use in 1958, 1979, and 1992 (see Figures 19–21). This expansion, essentially a phenomenal enlargement of the areas devoted to the cultivation of cash crops, especially coffee, was possibly carried out, for a while, predominantly in areas blessed with basaltic soils. But this comparative advantage can no longer be evoked to explain the attraction of Lam Dong province, for it seems that for several decades now neither agricultural expansion nor land abandonment has taken place in areas that can be singled out pedologically. In other words, neither of these two processes has favoured or spared any specific type of soil (see Figures 17 and 19–21).

Figure 27. Lam Dong:origin of some commune names, 1994. Source: De Koninck et al. (1996); Tran Dac Dan, University of Agriculture an Forestry, Ho Chi Minh (personal communication, 1996).

To anyone traveling through the Central Highlands, timber trade, including illegal timber trade, appears quite prevalent. In addition, it seems closely linked to agricultural expansion, with the cutting down and the clearing of large expanses of forests for cultivation generating huge quantities of a valuable commodity: timber. If the responsibility for the actual felling seems to lie mostly in the hands of the colonists themselves, the trading techniques and networks are not so easy to identify. In addition, the nibbling at the remaining surrounding forests, for which the settlers also seem to be responsible, may involve more than mere firewood or edible-plant collection — it may involve outright timber felling, including felling of large dipterocarpaceous trees. Evidently, such activities are not easily measured; nor is their specific impact. One thing is certain: they are largely linked to the dynamics of the frontier, in the midst of which numerous forms of trading and barter can prosper. The complexity of these marginal or clandestine activities and especially of the networks that link them is particularly great, given that their hinterland extends beyond the western borders of Viet Nam and that they occasionally involve representatives of the state. Obviously, much work lies ahead for the local and national authorities before order can be established on the frontier.

Finally, we attempted to find an answer to one last question: What were the short-, medium-, and long-term impacts of the defoliants sprayed on the forest by the US Air Force during the Viet Nam war? As it turned out, we were able, thanks to data provided by the FIPI, to construct a map schematically representing the distribution of sprayings that occurred over Lam Dong between 1968 and 1972; the western portion of the province, now corresponding to Cat Tien, Da Hoai, and Da Teh districts, was most affected. Juxtaposing this map next to the land-use maps for 1958 and 1979 (see Figures 19 and 20) is not very conclusive, to say the least. Notwithstanding the fact that traces of these sprayings are still evident on the ground near several villages, for example, in Cat Tien district, the actual land-use maps do not point to any meaningful correlation between the areas that had been sprayed with defoliants in 1968–72 and those that were without forest cover in 1979. In Lam Dong, the reconstitution of forest cover in the defoliated areas does not seem to have been especially impaired. On other equally if not even more important issues, such as the long-term effect on soils and plants that may still have some harmful toxic content, we cannot provide any rigorous information, let alone any interpretation.

²⁷ Starting in the 1930s, the French geographer Pierre Gourou repeatedly emphasized the extent to which malaria acted as a crucial demographic factor, that is, that it had a negative impact on the growth and territorial expansion of the population; see, for example, Gourou and Loubet (1934) and Gourou (1940, 1947a, b, 1953). Gourou and Loubet (1934) added that the highlands of Viet Nam were poorly endowed in terms of soil, but that was false. [BACK]

²⁸ Statistical data, notably those dealing with demographic characteristics, are particularly difficult to collect, process, and map out in the case of Lam Dong province. Among the reasons for these difficulties is the administrative history of Lam Dong, whose current boundaries are fairly recent. In fact, the very name Lam Dong is the result of a geographical and toponymical compromise, having components drawn from the names of two former provinces: the Lam comes from Lam Vien, a Vietnamized version of a local name (Lang Biang), and the Dong comes from Dong Nai Thuong, which means "Upper Dong Nai" (the Dong Nai River forms the major physiographic axis of the province). The province of Upper Dong Nai (the Haut Dong Nai of the French colonial administration) was established in 1899, and its boundaries have since been modified several times. The province of Lam Dong was established in 1958 from a regrouping of several preexisting districts and provinces, but its current boundaries were drawn in early 1976 (De Koninck 1996). In addition, since then several changes have been made, within the province itself, to the various district boundaries and, even more so, to the boundaries of the communes, whose names and numbers have been modified on numerous occasions (Figure 15). Given these problems and obstacles, any diachronic mapping is a genuine feat. [BACK]

²⁹ The work was burdensome for several reasons, including the need to rely on a very large number of land-use categories and the attempt we initially made to retain most of them. The digitization — to which several participants were being initiated — of this very detailed information became a monumental and costly task in terms of work time and material resources. [BACK]

³⁰ These forest types, as represented on the source maps (which were based on airphoto interpretation), were quite numerous. [BACK]

³¹ All figures assembled in Table 10 were computed by planimetry from figures 19-21. [BACK]

³² This description of the 1958 land-use map refers to districts as they have been known since 1987. For example, in 1958, the so-called western districts did not exist, that is, not under their current names, Cat Tien, Da Teh, and Da Hoai. [BACK]

³³ Although not represented on the map published here (Figure 19), these variations in the distribution of the two basic types of pine forests were quite evident on the airphotos we used to construct the map. [BACK]

³⁴ It should be pointed out that throughout our study, as our tables and maps testify, we made it a point to distinguish between bamboo-covered areas and areas under other types of tree cover. We considered so-called bamboo forests to be a degraded form of forests but recognized that they may also represent a stage in the reconstitution of climax forests. In either case, our figures concerning the actual extent of forest cover are both uncompromising and distinct from those produced by generous or conciliatory observers who consider — wrongly, according to us — a bamboo forest to be a genuine, complete, and closed forest. [BACK]

³⁵ The distinction established here (Figures 19 and 20 and Table 10) between rain forests and monsoon forests, on the one hand, and pine forests, on the other, is essentially operational, because the pine forests actually belong to the world of montane rain forests (Whitmore 1990). [BACK]

³⁶ However impressive, that figure of 23% for the share of barren lands in total provincial land use is significantly lower than that for Tuyen Quang province, which was 64.5% in 1992 (see Table 5). [BACK]

³⁷ We were able to collect only very scant and incomplete information — whether historical, geographical, or statistical — concerning these NEZs. [BACK]

³⁸ It should be pointed out that several Vietnamese government or quasi-government agencies regularly put out updated demographic data. But these are almost always the results of across-the-board mathematical projections that do not take into account the various differences that exist among the districts and communes, especially in the Central Highland provinces. Published in so-called yearbooks, these figures are of some use when they pertain to the whole country and perhaps the provinces, but they are very dubious and must therefore be handled with utmost caution when they pertain to districts and communes. [BACK]

³⁹ Some observers consider the Tho to be a Tay subgroup, one of the most Vietnamized. [BACK]

^40, This information was collected by Tran Dac Dan, of the UAF, and presented during the final project workshop, held in Hanoi in May 1996. [BACK]

⁴¹ A comparison of the 1979 and 1989 census figures does seem to confirm this migratory movement of the Nung, whose number in Lam Dong province increased from 5 750 to 8 491 (see Table 9). [BACK]

⁴² We were able to reconstruct this scenario in May 1995, on the occasion of a extended tour of several of the NEZs. It was verified further through additional field observations made in 1996, 1997, and 1998 by several members of the research team. [BACK]

Document(s) 7 of 10