In recent years, Vietnam’s forest coverage has recovered to 42%. Of this amount, artificial forests account for 31%, resulting in people dubbing it the era of artificial forests. Artificial forests are made of short-rotation, fast-growing trees  such as acacia, which is also exported to Japan. Moreover, provincial governments in the mountainous areas of northern Vietnam have begun to focus on cinnamon plantations in recent years.

Forest management is generally challenged by a need to secure income during cultivation periods. Nevertheless, cinnamon is a valuable source of cash income because cinnamon oil can be extracted from the branches and leaves of young forest trees through thinning and pruning. Cinnamon forests are cut down every 10 years or so, and no tree is thrown away; the wood is used for building materials and supports, the bark for cinnamon spice, and the branches and leaves for oil. Cinnamon is expected to be an important forest product for the region, as its management  requires less effort (than that of farmland) for mountain village residents and it can be converted into cash when needed. However, cinnamon forest management involves short-term cutting and whole-tree collection. Concerns have been raised that repeated cinnamon production will reduce the yield from the second generation onwards owing to a decline in soil fertility.

The forest management method, which utilizes an entire cinnamon forest, from trunks to branches and leaves, can be transformed into a sustainable management method that recycles nutrients by returning bark compost from unused residues after the extraction of cinnamon oil to the forest land.

The investigation of methods for returning compost to forest land at low cost while conserving forest soil and getting sustainable cinnamon forest management on track is expected to contribute to the conservation of natural forests.

Bark compost production is anticipated to stabilize residents’ livelihoods, prevent land degradation, and reduce development pressure on natural forests.

Ash is mixed with the unused residue from oil extraction to make compost. Ash reduces minerals, but its addition is not mandatory.

Adding a nitrogen source to compost and increasing the carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio is essential. A cheap nitrogen source that is available locally is best. In this case, fish powder and cow manure are mixed in.

For composting to be complete, the mixture needs to be turned over and matured sufficiently. This process takes at least a year in Japan, and even in the tropics, it takes several months.