A number of agricultural and environmental officials gathered in Hanoi on April 22 for the country’s first ever conference on biodiversity offsets for forests and other ecological systems in Vietnam.
The conference was jointly organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and the Business and Biodiversity Offset Programme (BBOP).
The event focused on the new concept of biodiversity offsets and the benefits and challenges that may arise from introducing a biodiversity offset policy in Vietnam.
According to scientists, biodiversity offsets refer to the process where prevention and mitigation measures are taken to compensate for significant lasting adverse biodiversity impacts that arise during a project’s development.
Nguyen Van Tai, Director of the Institute for Natural Resources and Environmental Strategy, said that the MoNRE is working on a draft policy on biodiversity offsets to submit to the government.
Over many years, he said, the issue of restoring environments and conserving biodiversity has always been given top priority in Vietnam , which is reflected in the country’s current legal provisions.
However, he added, the biodiversity of Vietnam’s forests is becoming more and more threatened due to fires, illegal logging, mineral mining and hydropower plants.
Vietnam is one of the 16 richest countries in the world in terms of forest biodiversity. Yet, with over 800 hydropower plants of various sizes and over 5,000 mineral mines, the biodiversity of its forests has been seriously damaged.
Vietnam is fully aware that the possible consequences could upset the ecological balance, speed up climate change and hamper socio-economic development, said Ha Cong Tuan, Vice Director of the General Administration of Forestry.
MARD’s statistics show that every year, natural disasters cause losses of up to 6 trillion VND or 1.5 percent of GDP and leave 750 people dead or missing.
The government, Tuan added, has assigned the MARD to prepare a draft decree on paying for environment forest services – a model that has been successfully used on a trial basis in the northern mountainous province of Son La and the central highland province of Lam Dong./.
The conference was jointly organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and the Business and Biodiversity Offset Programme (BBOP).
The event focused on the new concept of biodiversity offsets and the benefits and challenges that may arise from introducing a biodiversity offset policy in Vietnam.
According to scientists, biodiversity offsets refer to the process where prevention and mitigation measures are taken to compensate for significant lasting adverse biodiversity impacts that arise during a project’s development.
Nguyen Van Tai, Director of the Institute for Natural Resources and Environmental Strategy, said that the MoNRE is working on a draft policy on biodiversity offsets to submit to the government.
Over many years, he said, the issue of restoring environments and conserving biodiversity has always been given top priority in Vietnam , which is reflected in the country’s current legal provisions.
However, he added, the biodiversity of Vietnam’s forests is becoming more and more threatened due to fires, illegal logging, mineral mining and hydropower plants.
Vietnam is one of the 16 richest countries in the world in terms of forest biodiversity. Yet, with over 800 hydropower plants of various sizes and over 5,000 mineral mines, the biodiversity of its forests has been seriously damaged.
Vietnam is fully aware that the possible consequences could upset the ecological balance, speed up climate change and hamper socio-economic development, said Ha Cong Tuan, Vice Director of the General Administration of Forestry.
MARD’s statistics show that every year, natural disasters cause losses of up to 6 trillion VND or 1.5 percent of GDP and leave 750 people dead or missing.
The government, Tuan added, has assigned the MARD to prepare a draft decree on paying for environment forest services – a model that has been successfully used on a trial basis in the northern mountainous province of Son La and the central highland province of Lam Dong./.
