AFoCO accompanies Vietnam’s forestry in strengthening climate resilience

On March 9 in Hanoi, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Quoc Tri had a meeting and working session with Mr. Park Chongho, Executive Director of the Asian Forestry Cooperation Organization (AFoCO).

As a member of the Asian Forestry Cooperation Organization, Vietnam is always ready to accompany AFoCO and cooperate for further development, demonstrating the consensus on the organization's operation direction over the years. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Quoc Tri said that the Government of Vietnam highly regarded the support of AFoCO through effective projects, bringing great benefits to the development of the forestry sector in particular and Vietnam’s agriculture in general.

Mr. Park Chongho expressed his appreciation for the support and assistance from Vietnam, helping AFoCO to implement forestry projects with high efficiency. After 10 years of operation, up to now, AFoCO has implemented many forestry projects in Vietnam, bringing positive changes to the project areas.

At the meeting, both sides shared and exchanged a number of contents related to the World Bank (WB) REDD+ Project in six North Central provinces (Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue). AFoCO has learned of the carbon credit trading project and wishes to carry out some feasibility studies, following the WB's project. This may serve as the basis for AFoCO to continue cooperation activities in the six North Central provinces in the near future.

AFoCO is currently in the process of developing a specific action plan related to climate change, with an estimated budget of approximately USD 150 million. Mr. Park Chongho is also seeking other funding sources from the private sector and countries interested in the forestry sector such as Germany, Norway, Switzerland, etc. “I hope that the Government of Vietnam will concretize the contents of the national target on climate change so that we can have a research base that would open up more opportunities for cooperation,” said Mr. Park Chongho.

Regarding the REDD+ Project, Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri said that after the Vietnamese Government signed Decree No. 107, the Vietnamese side had agreed on the contents of the benefit-sharing plan with WB and started implementing the carbon credit program in the six North Central provinces.

“This is the first program on carbon credits implemented in Vietnam and is a model process for Vietnam to develop specific actions and deploy widely on a national scale in the future. And since this is the first project, it is certain that the organization, implementation, as well as process of developing an implementation plan, will face many difficulties. I hope that AFoCO can help us in the process of training and capacity building from central to local levels, documenting implementation steps and project implementation methods, helping us to complete a standard process so that localities and relevant ministries and sectors can easily implement,” said the leader of the agricultural sector.

Currently, Vietnam’s forestry sector is facing a number of challenges in terms of gaining quick access to practical situations in localities and applying digital technology to support some of the sector’s activities. On the occasion of Mr. Park Chongho and the delegation of experts’ visit to Vietnam, Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri called for AFoCO's assistance in the field of digital transformation in the forestry sector and said he would invite relevant units and experts to provide information and discuss further with AFoCO about future climate change activities.

The development of the forestry sector is one of the focuses of the Government of Vietnam at present as it contributes greatly to green and sustainable development in Vietnam. In particular, the mangrove area is suffering from negative impacts due to natural disasters and climate change. Addressing issues concerning mangroves will help resolve many other issues related to the forestry sector, mitigating the effects of climate change. And according to Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri, AFoCO's mangrove projects are considered a typical model for mangrove projects of the Government of Vietnam. “This is a job that requires a lot of resources and time, so I hope AFoCO will contribute a part of its efforts in solving the above issues.”