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Despite the Payment for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) program being recognized for its achievements in promoting environmental conservation and empowering forest-dependent communities, its vertical impacts require a more nuanced investigation, given the constantly changing policy landscape in Vietnam. In 2023, we employed the Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) approach to examine gender disparities in PFES participation, resource accessibility, decision-making power, and knowledge of PFES across 66 households in A Luoi district, Thua Thien Hue province, Vietnam. Our findings reveal striking gender gaps in PFES participation, resource accessibility, decision-making power, and knowledge, with men dominating meetings and training programs, and having their names predominantly listed in forest land certificates, while women's perspectives are often overlooked. These inequities are deeply entrenched in patriarchal ideologies and traditional social prejudices, which have systematically excluded women from development programs. Moreover, our research uncovered a significant lack of knowledge about PFES among both men and women in the study community, partly attributable to institutional factors and command-and-control structures. We argue that achieving gender-equitable governance requires a multifaceted and nuanced approach that recognizes the complexity and diversity of institutions at the household and community level. Gender equality is a constantly evolving process with a wide range of issues and debates at various levels. Therefore, a long-term, gender-sensitive approach that empowers women and recognizes their critical role in forest governance is imperative for promoting equitable and sustainable development.

This study explores the factors influencing residents' decisions to participate in community-based tourism (CBT) in the coastal lagoon region of central Vietnam. Using a mixed-methods approach, including a survey of 315 residents and regression analysis, the results indicate that community awareness of tourism resources and supportive policies significantly influence participation intentions. Factors such as household characteristics, livelihood benefits, tourism resources, local CBT development planning, and community organization positively impact participation. Conversely, adverse events and operational barriers negatively affect participation. The study highlights the importance of enhancing community awareness, developing tourism resources, and providing supportive policy frameworks to promote sustainable CBT and improve local livelihoods. Additionally, it emphasizes the need for resilience-building measures to mitigate the negative impacts of adverse events such as the COVID-19 pandemic on community tourism activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Market access plays an important role in increasing smallholder’s income; however, informal markets are typical in developing countries. Traders often dominate agricultural markets. In Vietnam aquaculture, collectors are important actors and act as an intermediary in linking farmers and buyers. This research aimed to explore and analysis the functions and the dominance of collectors in linking with smallholder fish farmers in Tam Giang lagoon, central Vietnam. The qualitative research is applied through 55 semi-structured interviews including smallholder fish farmers, collectors, wholesalers, retailers, officers of local government and second information from statistic data and reports. The research findings showed that linking of smallholder fish farmers to output market has dependence on collectors while all aquatic products have to pass on collectors before distributing to next buyers. Collectors always have strategies to maintain the relationship with smallholders and they always have an advantage status in aquaculture value chain. Collectors are also considered as a barrier of smallholder farmers to access potential marketing channels. Informal transaction and trust are characterized in the interaction between collectors and smallholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]