A series of six infobriefs produced by the UN-REDD Programme in 2019 captures main lessons learned from Viet Nam's REDD+ journey.
From driver to solution- coffee agroforestry
Viet Nam is the world's second largest coffee producer after Brazil. While the industry has bolstered the country's economy, it has had negative impacts on the environment. So when the UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II Programme selected Lam Dong province as one of its pilot provinces, the coffee sector as a driver of deforestation was squarely in mind. Turning this driver into a REDD+ potential would require addressing the carbon as well as the socio-political challenge revolving around forestland tenure.
Guiding stakeholder engagement for REDD+ implementation
This brief presents key issues that emerge from the assessment of stakeholder engagement and FPIC principles. It looks specifically into the extent to which guidelines, as the main tools, serve to provide possibilities for stakeholders who relate to, depend on, as well as manage the forest. This means that these guidelines are meant to guide stakeholder engagement through the entire process of planning, implementation, to monitoring and evaluation.
Interprovincial collaboration in Viet Nam- Plugging loopholes in forest law enforcement
As provincial boundaries mark the territorial limits of administration, they can present loopholes that prevent law enforcement staff from following up on forest violations, such as illegal logging or forest conversion to agriculture. To develop government capacity to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, the UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II Programme strengthened inter-provincial cooperation between provincial Forest Protection offices to tackle law enforcement issues of a transboundary nature and to plug persistent loopholes.
Medicine from the forest - Medicine for the forest
Traditional therapeutic medicine in Viet Nam has a long history. Treatments based on medicinal plants are still often used in addition to, or even instead of, allopathic medicine by many Vietnamese. Viet Nam is home to an estimated 12,000 species of high-value plants, of which 10,500 have been identified.
When the UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II Programme launched its pilot activities in Lao Cai province, it was this “green goldmine” that connected the issues of forest carbon, local livelihoods and forest land tenure, presenting a promising formula for sustainable forest management.
Viet Nam’s experience with developing Provincial REDD+ Action Plans (PRAP)
When Viet Nam’s Forest Administration (VNFOREST) designed the UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II Programme in 2012, it was proposed to tailor the broad provisions of the National REDD+ Action Programme (NRAP) according to conditions on the ground, thus developing Provincial REDD+ Action Plans (PRAPs) in each of the programme’s six pilot provinces. Developing PRAPs allows for more direct involvement of a wide range of provincial stakeholders, including sectors beyond forestry, in the planning process. This increases transparency, ownership and the social sustainability of REDD+.
Viet Nam’s approach to safeguards
Viet Nam became the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to complete the Warsaw Framework for REDD+ at the end of 2018 after fulfilling its safeguards requirements, which now makes the country eligible to receive REDD+ results-based payments.
