Afforestation in Can Gio Biosphere Reserve in Ho Chi Minh City (Illustrative image). Photo: VNA The Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) Office in Vietnam held a conference in Hanoi on October 7 to evaluate the nation’s readiness to implementing the initiative.
The event is part of activities to complete the readiness package (R-package) report, which enables Vietnam to join the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), before it is submitted to the FCPF in January 2016.
The FCPF is funding REDD+ readiness preparation support in Vietnam with 3.8 million USD from 2013-2015.
Participants at the conference agreed that thanks to the early formation of the National REDD+ Steering Committee and the active engagement of organisations in the project, almost all 10 criteria of the project have been fulfilled.
However, they also pointed to the need to improve accountability and transparency and build REDD+ supervision and evaluation mechanisms suitable to Vietnam’s laws and international practices.
To this end, it is necessary to encourage stronger engagement of the community, private sector and social organisations in the implementation of REDD+ projects, they said, adding that it is crucial to institutionalise the involvement of ethnic minority people, forest-dependent communities and women in the REDD+ implementation.
According to a representative of the REDD+ Office, REDD+ activities in Vietnam have been launched in 2007 after the 13th session of the Conference of Parties.
In 2009, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) formed a national REDD+ network with six working groups.
The national action plan on REDD+ for the 2011-2020 period was approved by the Government in 2012, which was considered one of the most important documents in realising the initiative in Vietnam and part of the country’s efforts to ease the impacts of climate change.
According to Dr. Dinh Duc Thuan from the REDD+ Office in Vietnam, 24 REDD+ related projects with total investments of 18.65 million USD were completed from 2009-2014 and 20 others ảe implemented at a cost of 65.66 million USD, including 37.77 million USD disbursed.
Major sponsors of the initiative include the governments of the US, Germany, Japan and Norway; multilateral organisations including the UN-REDD, Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), Global Environment Facility (GEF) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); together with the European Union; private funds; and companies, he noted.
Along with the action plan, the REDD+ has been connected to the national strategy on climate change since 2011. The same year, the MARD also approved a project to reduce emissions in the agro-forestry and fishery sector and rural development until 2020.
So far, the REDD+ has been linked to almost all national programmes and strategies related to climate change response, green growth, and agriculture and rural development in Vietnam, said Thuan.-VNA
