ABSTRACT
Vietnam has taken up the enormous challenge of reforming forest governance through decentralization and devolution, and has recognized the central position of local communities in managing forests. For generations, both groups have practised shifting cultivation with long forest fallows to restore soil fertility, and have developed specific forest-management systems enabling them to make use of the forest in a sustainable way. The Co Tu are animists who believe that every stream, river and hill, as well as particular stones, animals or trees, are possessed by spirits. The Bru-Van Kieu community lives in the Huong Hiep commune of Dakrong district, in nearby Quang Tri province. As well, the Co Tu believes in ghosts, particularly those of dead clan or family members. All villages in Huong Hiep commune still had between two and six ghost and spirit forests, managed under the leadership and supervision of the village patriarch.
