Accelerating policy completion for the carbon credit market

On April 20, the Central Party Committee's Economic Commission, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Quang Binh Party Committee, held a conference in Quang Binh to review the 5-year implementation of Directive No. 13-CT/TW, dated January 12, 2017 of the Secretariat on strengthening the Party's leadership in the management, protection, and development of forests in the North Central region.

The North Central region consists of six provinces ranging from Thanh Hoa to Thue Thien - Hue, with a population of 11.09 million people and an area of 51,400 square kilometers, accounting for 15.5% of the total country. There are 3.1 million hectares of forest land with a coverage of 57.4% (accounting for 21.2% of the country's forest area). The North Central region holds a unique strategic position in the economy, politics, society, national defense, security, and international affairs.

Over the past five years, localities in the North Central region have actively followed the Party's guidelines on forest management, protection, and development, yielding notable results, causing a strong shift in awareness and raising the sense of responsibility of the entire political system and society.

Mr. Tran Thang, Chairman of Quang Binh People's Committee, stated that there exist certain limitations in applying current science and technology to forest protection work, not to mention the special-use forest material area was not developed. "The livelihood of the specialized forest protection force has yet to be secured in recent years, As a result, a new framework for poor forests, particularly for forest protection forces, is required," stated Tran Thang.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Giang, Vice Chairman of Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee, predicted that in the future, locals will be able to utilize and benefit from the forest using non-timber products, but this is no longer the case.

"The work of creating livelihood for communities to live at the forest's mouth and protect the forest from the outside is gradually less and less, causing difficulties for indigenous people, particularly ethnic minorities. Converting forests for natural disaster protection tasks is also a challenge," said Mr. Giang.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Tri, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, announced that the region's forest coverage rate had reached 57.35%, placing it first out of seven areas in the country. The region comprises 2.2 million hectares of natural forest. The North Central provinces have also increased the amount of forest planted. To date, the planted forest area has totaled around 1 million hectares, with timber exports totaling $500 million out of a total of USD 17.1 billion. In Nghe An province, the region's first hi-tech forestry park was created.

Ahead of the challenges of forest protection and development in localities, the Deputy Minister shared the difficulties and obstacles affecting the process of economic and social development, as well as local forestry, in recent years on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. "The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will work with local governments to eliminate, overcome, and minimize deficiencies".

Mr. Tran Tuan Anh, Politburo member and Head of the Party Central Committee's Economic Commission, said that, despite the positive results achieved, the management, protection, and development of forests in the North Central region still has limitations and problems that must be overcome.

"Local governments must study, assess, and tightly manage socioeconomic development plans and projects that have an influence on forest area and quality, as well as resolve conflicts and encroachment on forest land. Protecting and developing forests is associated with the implementation of our country's commitment at COP26 to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050," said Mr. Tran Tuan Anh.

Mr. Tran Tuan Anh agreed with the proposals and suggestions of the localities, emphasizing the importance of focusing on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of state management of forest management, protection, and development in order to completely resolve backlogs and problems in the management and use of forestry land originating from state-owned agro-forestry farms.

Having strong enough mechanisms and policies in place to develop the forest economy, renew investment policies, and provide support and investment incentives for forest management, protection, and development; accelerate the development of processing and trade in timber and forest products; to develop forestry infrastructure; promote ecotourism in conjunction with forest protection and development.

Mr. Tran Tuan Anh gave out specific instruction at the conference: "Effectively implementing solutions to improve the effectiveness of the policy on payment for forest environmental services; completing mechanisms and policies for the carbon credit market in Vietnam as soon as possible".