Head of Quang Binh REDD+ Steering Committee opens the workshop

The workshop was attended by representatives of the Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) and Vietnam National REDD+ Network; international organizations active in supporting REDD+ in Vietnam, Quang Binh Provincial REDD+ Steering Committee and MRV Working Group; internatonal and local NGOs in the province and local relevant agencies together with medical agencies.

The objective of the workshop is to present the approach and initial results of the REDD+ program in Quang Binh province; to share and discuss sub-national experiences and lessions learnt in the provincial REDD+ Readiness Preparation; and to discuss the REDD+ potential in Quang Binh province and next steps for formulation of the provincial REDD+ Action Plan.

In January 2013, Quang Binh was selected as one of the three pilot provinces in Vietnam for implementation of the "Support for the REDD+ Readiness Preparation in Vietnam" project funded by the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facilitiy (FCPF) (according to Decision No.58/QD-BNN-HTQT and the Official Letter No.233/TCLN-KH&HTQT dated 04/3/2013 by VNFOREST).

Since April 2013, with the continuous support of the GIZ, Quang Binh has conducted further steps in the REDD+ Readiness Preparation for the province. These included an analysis of carbon baseline levels and an assessment of REDD+ potentials for Quang Binh province (still under development) as well as a formulation for a provincial REDD+ Action Program. Many activities have been carried out in cooperation between the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), particularly Forestry Protection Department (FPD) and the GIZ. These mainly refer to the establishment of a provincial MRV Working Group, at land cover classification and mapping, at the conduction of a biomass forest inventory, at a driver and threat analysis, at threat mapping as well as at a safeguards scoping study and a pilot application of the FPIC process.

Speaking at the workshop, Vice Chairman of the provincial People's Committee highly valued the support of the GIZ and Vietnam National REDD+ Office, and close cooperation between the DARD, FPD and Mr. Jens Kallabinski, Chief Technical Advisor of Technical Cooperation Project in Quang Binh in the appeal for financial and technical aids in the Quang Binh REDD+ Readiness process.

Vice Chairman stressed that Quang Binh has a great potential for forestry with the highest forest cover in Vietnam (accounting for 69.5%). Adverse impacts of climate change on Quang Binh province moreover add to the challenges for sustainable development. The province identified the implementation of the National Action Program on REDD+ as a vital instrument for addressing some of the challenges. The province has thus taken pro-active steps in seeking support from relevant international organizations and national level in bringing forth REDD+ Readiness implementation at the sub-national level.

Reported by Dang Ha
(www.quangbinh.gov.vn)