Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program provides livelihood to the people

On April 22nd, in Lam Dong, MARD, in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has held a conference to summarize the Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program. The goal of the conference is to evaluate achieved results, lessons learned from the program and to share some suggestions for the development of Vietnam's forestry sector in the future.

According to information, Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program, sponsored by USAID, is a program about climate change with a capital of over US$ 31 million and is implemented by Winrock International Organization.

During the 2012 - 2021 period, the program has supported Vietnam in changing to sustainable development, low emission and climate change adaptation. After more than 8 years of implementation at a national level in provinces such as Quang Ninh, Nam Dinh, Son La, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Lam Dong, Long An, the program has achieved important results and has been recognized.

The program has aided MARD to apply the payment policy for forestial environment services on a national scale successfully and this structure is currently generating about US$ 120 million annually to pay for the management of 6 million hectares of forests in our country.

The payment policy for forestial environment services has helped to raise income and living standards for hundreds of thousands of people living in mountainous areas. The program also helps the MARD spread out the payment policy for forestial environment services with the goal to increase clarity, efficiency and effectiveness through the application of online payments in disbursement.

During recent times, the project has also trained about 350,000 people on climate change adaptation, forest management and livelihood development, and at the same time helping 200,000 people in the Cuu Long Rivers Delta and Red River Delta practice climate change risk reduction.

According to Mr. Bradley Bessire, Acting Director of USAID Vietnam, the Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program is the first climate change cooperation program between USAID and the Government of Vietnam.

“We are very proud to work closely with MARD and a number of localities to strengthen forest resource management and improve resilience for vulnerable communities in the Red River Delta and Cuu Long River Delta”, said Mr. Bradley.

USAID has announced 2 new programs at the event, including The Sustainable Forest Management Program (2020-2025) with the aim to avoid emitting carbon from natural forests conversion and to increase carbon sequestration through improved management of forests; The Biodiversity Conservation Program (2020 - 2025) which aims to maintain and increase the quality of forests, protect and stabilize wildlife populations in national parks and nature reserves in localities with high conservation value.

These two projects will be implemented in 12 provinces across the country and will promote the successes of the Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program.