REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) social safeguards promote improvement of local communities’ livelihoods. However, discussion on benefit sharing in REDD+ has largely focused on coefficients for differentiated distribution of available funds. The question of economic incentives required to voluntarily establish and maintain tree cover has received limited attention. Using contingent evaluation, we elicited Willingness-To-Accept compensation for entering into contracts requiring farmers to 1) establish plantations, 2) abstain from logging mature plantations and 3) refrain from cutting indigenous hardwood trees in Ba Be and Na Ri districts in Bac Kan province, Vietnam. We found average WTA payments in the range of 231–402 USD ha⁻¹, 256–414 USD ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ and 387–594 USD ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ in these three scenarios, with WTA payments significantly higher in Ba Be district, characterised as poorer than Na Ri. Published estimates suggest payments of 38–43 USD ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ from PFES (Payment for Forest Ecosystem Services), REDD+ and government support combined and a one-off payment of 300 USD ha⁻¹ from government reforestation schemes. Hence, the inability to match WTA levels suggests a bleak outlook for PFES or REDD+ projects aiming to comply with social safeguard measures to protect rural household welfare. However, we note that everyone in the sample was willing to engage in these contracts given compensation.