Owning a village bamboo forest suddenly brings in over 1,000 billion VND per year: The secret lies in a special way of doing things

On Saturday morning, December 30, 2023, the villagers of Song Nhat village, An Cat district, Chiet Giang province, all woke up earlier than usual. Excitedly, they called each other to gather at the community center in the village very early.

Despite the biting cold of the winter days, the smiles on the faces of the villagers were always radiant. Everyone present here is waiting for a special “gift”. That is the “interest” money from “selling air”. Specifically, it is the money earned from selling “air” in the bamboo forest in Song Nhat village, An Cat district.

Faced with this buying and selling of “air”, many people in the village are still in a state of surprise, disbelief, and ecstasy.

“I can’t believe that the air in the bamboo forest can actually be sold for money”, said Mr. FangQi, a villager of Song Nhat village, who is still amazed to know that the bamboo forest in his hometown can generate such miraculous money.

Ms. ZhuFuGui happily holds a check worth 3,900 NDT (equivalent to about 13 million VND) in her hand, saying: “The bamboo forest has been diligently maintained all these years, and suddenly this year we have received an additional amount of money. It is like the money is falling from the sky without doing anything extra, it’s so happy!”

Not only the villagers of Song Nhat village, but also the people from 166 other villages in An Cat district, Chiet Giang province, also received the same joy.

According to statistics, the amount of money that 51,000 households in 167 villages in An Cat district received is 300 million NDT, equivalent to over 1,000 billion VND.

“It’s really unbelievable” became the chorus of Song Nhat villagers on this strange Saturday morning.

So what is this buying and selling of “air” really about?

In fact, the 300 million NDT is divided among the people of An Cat district from the sale of “carbon credits”.

Carbon credits are terms that reflect one of the key measures established to reduce carbon emissions globally.

In general, carbon credits can be considered as a kind of “license” that allows the owner to have the right to emit carbon dioxide (CO2), or other greenhouse gases that are converted to CO2 equivalent, with emissions equal to the number of credits they own.

1 carbon credit = 1 ton of CO2 permitted to be emitted into the environment.

For example, Factory A is only allowed to emit 10 tons of CO2 per year, but in reality their production requires emissions of 15 tons of CO2, then Factory A has to buy an extra 5 carbon credits to comply with the regulations of the relevant authorities on environmental protection.

Therefore, during the process of production and business, enterprises that emit CO2 or other greenhouse gases beyond the limit will play the role of buyers of carbon credits. On the contrary, those who own resources capable of absorbing CO2 and contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and global warming will play the role of sellers of carbon credits.

Of course, the forest is the most important resource for creating carbon credits.

The bamboo forest in An Cat district is one of the largest bamboo forests in China. With an estimated number of over 170 million stems by the end of 2023, it is considered a huge carbon sink. A green lung that filters the valuable air of Chiet Giang province in particular, and China in general.

To obtain this first installment of 300 million NDT, long ago, the Chiet Giang provincial authorities collaborated with Chiet Giang Agricultural and Forestry University to conduct research and build monitoring stations to measure the carbon absorption capacity of bamboo forests in An Cat district. These special monitoring stations were built and continuously measured for more than 10 consecutive years.

Through careful evaluation, they discovered that bamboo trees produce more oxygen, by over 35%, compared to most other types of conventional trees. Furthermore, bamboo can absorb more carbon, from 7% to 30%, compared to fast-growing tree species such as sequoia, or fir trees.

Professor ShiYongJun, Chiet Giang Agricultural and Forestry University, said: “Based on our research, each bamboo sample in An Cat has the ability to process 1.6 tons of carbon per year. The carbon processing capacity of the bamboo forest is immense”.

Based on the careful evaluation research, the Chiet Giang provincial authorities set up the Carbon Credits Trading and Storage Center right in An Cat district. At the same time, they encourage the people to voluntarily transfer the rights to use the bamboo forests to cooperatives.

In reality, the people in An Cat district can still cultivate and utilize bamboo as usual, but with additional guidance and approval from the authorities. This is all for the common purpose of building a huge carbon sink from bamboo forests.

The people in An Cat district can still exploit and sell bamboo as usual, while also receiving a large sum of money from selling carbon credits from the bamboo forests, with almost no additional work required.

Currently, the entire An Cat district has planned over 840,000 acres of bamboo plantations. Each year, the bamboo forests in An Cat can process over 1.4 million tons of carbon. With the current unit price of over 210 NDT/ton, An Cat district is estimated to receive a huge amount of money of about 300 million NDT (over 1,000 billion VND) annually, as mentioned above.

In addition to building a carbon sink from bamboo forests, the local authorities are also seeking to develop crafts for the people in An Cat. With the “double income” model from bamboo forests as at present, the people can cultivate with peace of mind.

Enjoying the “double income” from bamboo forests, young girl ZhuYuanHong, living in Song Nhat village, enthusiastically said: “With this model, everyone receives their payment, the forests will be protected, and the environment will gradually improve”.

The secretary of the Party Committee in Song Nhat village, Mr. ZhuXueXing, expressed his sharing: “In the future, we will strengthen the protection of the ecosystem, as well as utilize the available resources. Turning the blue sky, green water into golden forests and silvery oceans”.