UN-REDD: Viet Nam

Firstly, it will build capacity at the national level to permit the Government of Viet Nam, and especially the REDD focal point in the Department of Forestry (DoF) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), to coordinate and manage the process of establishing tools to implement a REDD programme.

Secondly, it will build capacity at local levels (provincial, district and commune) through pilots in two districts in Lam Dong province that demonstrate effective approaches to planning and implementing measures to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Regional displacement of emissions is known to be a significant problem in the lower Mekong Basin. If REDD is to be implemented effectively so as to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation within the Lower Mekong Basin, as a contribution to global efforts in this regard, there will be a need for coordinated regional action. Outcome 3 will mobilize efforts in this direction.

December 2009

Over the past few months a team of national and international experts has analyzed the needs and constraints to the creation of a REDD-complaint payment distribution system for Viet Nam, related to Outputs 1.4 and 2.3 of the Viet Nam UN-REDD Programme. Their recommendations have been presented to the government and will be made public at COP15.

November 2009

Following up on the national inception workshop held in September, a local inception workshop was held on 26 November 2009 in Lam Dong province, selected as the pilot area for the Viet Nam UN-REDD Programme. H.E. Hua Duc Nhi, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Vice Chairman of Lam Dong People’s Committee, H.E. Stale Torstein Risa, Ambassador of Norway, UNDP Country Director Setsuko Yamazaki, FAO Representative Andrew Speedy, UNEP Regional Climate Change Coordinator Mozaharul Alam participated in the event. Discussions covered:

• selection of districts within Lam Dong province as piloting sites for UN-REDD programme activities
• improving the technical capacity and management and coordinating mechanisms from central to local levels.
• mainstreaming REDD into provincial and local land use plans
• expanding the exchange of information and international cooperation to learn from other countries and apply these lessons to Lam Dong, including raising people’s awareness through dissemination work and attracting the involvement of the local community as well as domestic and foreign businesses and organisations to the programme.
• benefit-sharing mechanisms with households, the local community and organisations involved in carrying out the UN-REDD programme

October

Staff have been recruited and started their work on the Viet Nam UN-REDD Programme. A National Programme Director  was appointed by MARD, and a national technical advisor, (international), Programme Manager, Accountant, and Secretary/Interpreter have been recruited by UNDP. The Senior Technical Advisor position has been shortlisted.

September

The UN-REDD Inception Workshop took place September 15-17. The first day was an internal session to ensure that PMU staff are fully familiar with both the programme itself, and the policies and procedures to be followed during implementation. The second day was an open session for stakeholders, during which PMU staff will present the programme for comment and analysis. The third day also consisted of an open session for more detailed planning, focusing on deadlines, budgeting and resources, and reviewing indicator targets.

Other activities

Activities UNDP and DoF agreed to commence activities for some critical Outputs (1.1, 1.3, 1.4, and 2.3), using funds advanced from UNDP core resources. A National REDD Network (Output 1.1) was initiated, and was formalized through a decision of the Minister of MARD imminently. The Network has met twice and begun to develop a revised REDD Roadmap for Viet Nam.

July- August 2009

Approval of “Detailed Project Outline” (DPO) and signature of JP document:

The DPO was reviewed by various agencies under the direction of the Ministry of Planning and Investment and submitted to the Office of Government for approval in July. The Prime Minister approved the DPO on July 21st and assigned MARD to assess whether the DPO adequately responded to the needs of the country. MARD completed this assessment on July 31st, with the approval of the DPO, and asked its own International Cooperation Department to confirm that there were no inconsistencies between the DPO and the JPD. Meanwhile, the Minister of MARD, Cao Duc Phat and UN Resident Coordinator, John Hendra on an interim basis on August 6th. Following confirmation that the DPO and JPD were consistent, Minister Phat signed the DPO on August 27th, allowing the three participating UN agencies to sign the JPD. FAO signed on August 28th, and UNDP on August 31st.

March 2009

The budget allocation for the Viet Nam UN-REDD programme was approved by the UN-REDD Policy Board at its first meeting, March 9, 2009, in Panama.

Lessons learned for UN-REDD Programme JP processing

1. Internal government approval processes are often lengthy, so opportunities to shorten the process through parallel processing of documents need to be explored.
2. As Viet Nam was the first UN-REDD programme country to approach project signature, detailed discussions concerning principles and practices of implementation had not previously been discussed. This impacted the speed at which the Viet Nam documents could be processed; other countries will benefit from these discussions having taken place in the context of Viet Nam.
3. The rapidly evolving REDD international negotiation and policy environment, and the desire of many development partners to support REDD readiness makes it very difficult for the JP document to remain up-to-date. At some point, an acceptance that new developments will not be reflected in the document, but can be addressed during the inception workshop needs to be reached.