Content with Safeguard E E4.1 .

E4.1.1. Policies, laws and regulations for incentivising conservation

In Viet Nam, the term “forest environmental services” is defined as “the work to supply the use values of the forest environment” and includes:

Soil protection, reduction of erosion and sedimentation of reservoirs, rivers, and streams;
Regulation and maintenance of water sources for production and living activities of the society;
Forest carbon sequestration and retention, reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases through measures for preventing forest degradation and loss of forest area, and for forest sustainable development;
Protection of natural landscapes and conservation of the biodiversity of forest ecosystems for tourism services;
Provision of spawning grounds, sources of feeds, and natural seeds, use of water from forests for aquaculture.

To incentivise these forest environmental services means to put in place mechanisms that provide for monetary or non-monetary incentives for their protection.

Viet Nam’s Decree No. 99/2010/ND-CP on Payments for Forest Environmental Services (PFES)^[1] defines types of forest environmental services (including carbon sequestration/storage) and creates a mechanism for environmental service users to pay for the services provided by State Forest Management Boards, households and communities. The decree also sets out the methods of payment to a centrally- or provincially-managed fund and how the benefits should be distributed to service providers.

Prime Minister’s Decision No. 30a/2008/NQ-CP supporting rapid and sustainable poverty reduction in 61 poor districts^[2] provides a mechanism for poor households to receive funds to invest in planted forests and/or receive support for participating in forest protection and development in contracted areas. Decree No. 75/2015/ND-CP^[3] provides a mechanism to support poor and ethnic minority households through the provision of increased financial incentives for their participation in forest protection and development activities.

Decree No. 117/2010/ND-CP on Management and Organisation of Special Use Forests^[^4] sets out the roles of management boards and their orientations towards supporting forest protection and biodiversity conservation. The decree also makes provisions for buffer-zone investment in support of community/livelihood development in neighbouring communes. Circular No. 78/2011 TT-BNNPTNN^[^5] provides further details and guidance. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Circular No. 38/2014/TT-BNN on guidelines for sustainable forest management planning^[^6] provides for the participation of communities so that they may access socio-economic benefits from sustainable forest management.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the provincial Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development within their respective localities, are responsible for forest protection and development planning. Forest management boards are responsible for site-level planning, under the oversight of the provincial Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, and for implementing conservation management and buffer zone development. Provincial, District and Commune People’s Committees are responsible for implementing poverty reduction programmes. Provincial Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development and Provincial Forest Fund agencies are responsible for collecting and distributing payments for environmental services.

[1] Viet Nam’s Decree No. 99/2010/ND-CP on Payments for Forest Environmental Services (PFES). Vietnamese; English

[2] Prime Minister’s Decision 30a/2008/NQ-CP supporting rapid and sustainable poverty reduction in 61 poor districts. Vietnamese; English

[3] Decree No. 75/2015/ND-CP. Vietnamese; English

[4] Decree No. 117/2010/ND-CP on Management and Organisation of Special Use Forests. Vietnamese; English

[5] Circular No. 78/2011 TT-BNNPTNN. Vietnamese; English

[6] MARD Circular No. 38/2014/TT-BNN on guidelines for sustainable forest management planning

E4.1.2. Incentives for conservation in the National REDD+ Programme

The principles of Viet Nam’s National REDD+ Programme (2017)^[^1] include Principle 1.5 on maximising the benefits of forests and mobilising resources for their protection and management:

‘The REDD+ Programme contributes to progressively shifting priority to improving the quality of natural forest and plantations and reducing forest loss in order to maximise social, economic and environmental benefits; extracting more value from the environmental services from forests, and mobilising financial resources for the protection and sustainable development of forests.

A number of policies and measures in the National REDD+ Programme also aim to improve the provision of incentives for the conservation of forests, including natural forests and their biodiversity and ecosystem services. These include:

Improving forest governance and livelihoods for people living near and in the forest, such as through supporting collaborative management of natural forests and employment and livelihood programmes for people in hotspots of deforestation and forest degradation;
Piloting, evaluating and replicating sustainable models for natural forests enhancement, protection and conservation, including cooperation between forest owners, local communities and the private sector on business models contributing to forest conservation (e.g. through non-timber forest products and other environmental services);
Enhancing the economic and financial environment for forests, such as though ‘green’ investment and credit mechanisms for forest protection and development, developing and piloting economic valuation of forests with integration of forest values into national financial processes, and assessing the feasibility of a domestic carbon market.

Information under Safeguard B2.3 on benefit sharing is also relevant to this safeguard on incentives for conservation. As noted under B2.3, as part of the implementation of the National REDD+ Programme, the Government of Viet Nam will issue detailed guidance on the implementation of a REDD+ benefit sharing mechanism, and on a co-management mechanism for Special Use Forests (SUFs), drawing on the results of pilot activities on REDD+ benefit distribution^[2], and on a benefit sharing mechanism in the management, protection and development of SUFs^[3]. The NRAP (2017) also specifies activities to develop and implement financial management mechanisms for REDD+, including an appropriate incentive delivery system/benefit distribution system, involving assessment of current and potential incentive mechanisms for forest protection and development, issuing of a regulation on forest carbon rights, and finalisation of a REDD+ benefit distribution system, mainstreamed into Viet Nam's 'forest incentives landscape' (E4.1.1). Please see Safeguard B2.3 for more information.

[1] NRAP 2017, Decision No 419/QD-TTg dated 5/4/2017. Annex: Policies and Measures for REDD+ implementation for period of 2017 – 2020

[2] Implemented according to MARD Decision No. 5399/2015/QD-BNN-TCLN on issuing regulations on piloting REDD+ benefit distribution under the framework of the UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II Programme.

[3] Implemented according to Prime Minister’s Decision No. 126/2012/QĐ-TTg on the pilot policy on the benefit sharing mechanism in management, protection and development of special-use forests, piloted in Bach Ma and Xuan Thuy national parks.

E4.1.3. REDD+ benefit sharing

The following information shows outcomes related to

The incentive and benefit sharing mechanisms identified for REDD+ in Viet Nam. These include the results of the REDD+ benefits sharing mechanism as well as national trends in forest protection contracts and Payments for Forest Environmental Services (PFES). See links:

B2.3.3. Outcomes of REDD+ benefit-sharing

B2.2.6. Trends in land use certificates in conflict