Cẩm Tâm, Cẩm Châu and Cẩm Vân communes are located in the mountainous midland of Cẩm Thủy district, Thanh Hóa province. In addition to hills and limestone mountains, most of the project land is sloping land of up to 20% grade or more, which is often affected by erosion and landslides during rainy season and by drought in dry season. The lowlands along the Mã River are often flooded.

Total natural area: 7,397.51 hectares; Of which: (i) Agricultural land: 3,554.43 ha; (ii) Forest land: 2,783.11 ha; And (iii) Non-agricultural land: 1,143.13 ha; Wet rice land only occupies 10.17% of the natural area, but annually around 1 ha is affected by landslide and pebble gravel accretion due to the impact of flash floods and flooding. In addition, due to continual drought, the watersheds are depleted and the groundwater levels are too low. Therefore, some of the land in the project area becomes arid and there is a risk of desertification. The forest resources and water resources of the locality are increasingly depleted, agricultural production becomes unsustainable, and the livelihood of the community is increasingly threatened.

Total population of the three communes: 18,436 persons / 4,400 households; Of which: Mường people (48.47%); Dao people (9.73%). Total number of labor: 10,847 people, of which women accounted for 49.67%. Due to the poor land and bad weather conditions, the economy in the project area is under-developed. The percentage of poor households is high (accounting for 34.01% on average).