Determine r coefficient for redd+ benefit distribution in phu gia commune, huong khe district, ha tinh province, vietnam

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF FORESTRY STUDENT THESIS Title Determine R-coefficient for REDD+ benefit distribution in Phu Gia commune, Hu

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF FORESTRY

STUDENT THESIS

Title Determine R-coefficient for REDD+ benefit distribution in Phu Gia commune, Huong Khe district, Ha Tinh province, Vietnam

Major: Natural Resources Management

Code: D850101

Faculty: Forest Resources and Environmental Management

Student: Nguyen Huyen Thuong Student ID: 1253090033 Class: K57 Natural Resources Management Course: 2012 - 2016

Advanced Education Program Developed in collaboration with Colorado State University, USA

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Phung Van Khoa

Hanoi, Oct/2016

TABLE OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1

ABTRACT 2

I INTRODUCTION 3

II BACKGROUND 8

III GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 16

3.1 Goals 16

3.2 Objectives 16

IV METHODS 17

4.1 Study area 17

4.2 Determine the R-coefficient rule 18

4.3 Secondary document collection method 19

4.4 Field data collection method 20

4.4.1 Direct interview 21

4.4.2 Indirect interview 21

4.5 Data analysis 22

V RESULTS 23

5.1 Survey and interview results of individuals, households and departments in the application of the R-coefficient in the benefit distribution system of REDD+ 23

5.2 The calculating results of the R-coefficient 33

5.2 Propose some solutions to improve efficiency in payment mechanism for REDD+ project 37

5.2.1 For people perception 37

5.2.2 For management 37

5.2.3 For participation of community 38

VI DISCUSSION 39

VII CONCLUSION 43

REFERENCES 45

APPENDIX 47

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Summary of the natural characteristics, socio-economic of Phu Gia

commune 18

Table 3.5: Factors being considered for the R-coefficient of REDD+, Vietnam 9

Table 3.6: Weight of each component factor of the R-coefficient Ri 15

Table 4.1: Survey and investigate results of indicators based on component factors of the R-coefficient 23

Table 4.2: Calculating the R-coefficient for REDD+ 34

Table 4.3: Descriptive statistic for results of R-coefficient 36

Table 5.1: The total payment for each household per year 39

Table 5.2: Responsibilities and coordination in the process of calculating the R-coefficient 41

Once again, I would like to give our gratitude and look forward to receiving guidances and comments from fellow scientists and colleagues

In conclusion, I guarantee that the results and data presented in the research is honest and objectively

I sincerely thank you!

ABTRACT

The success of REDD + depends on the distribution an efficient and equity the payments based on results UN-REDD Programme supported for Vietnam Government determined that the key issues need to solve when the build a benefit distribution system (BDS) that suit with REDD+ requirement Especially, the UN-REDD Programme in Vietnam

is assisting the design of the BDS framework for REDD+ in a number of way, including the design and testing of a payment coefficient for benefits, “the R-coefficient”, as a mechanism

to help REDD+ deliver multiple benefits in Vietnam The R-coefficient can also be regarded

as a kind of the ensure safety policy on the environment and society is being implemented through the mechanisms of BDS Therefore, the determined of payment mechanisms for REDD + through R-coefficient effectively will reflect differences in the cost of emission reduction between the groups or different locations In this study, the survey and investigation are conducted at Phu Gia Commune, Huong Khe District, Ha Tinh Province The payment mechanics of the R-coefficient are calculated, discussed and explained in the formula and the proxy-measures used for measurement The benefits are calculated at the level of households and based on 3 main factor groups: Social (Rs), Environment (Re) and Difficulty (Rd)

I INTRODUCTION

Greenhouse gas emissions are rise lead to climate change and cause greater consequences for the economy and human life In an attempt to reduce, the financial mechanism have extremely important role This is the basis and opportunity for developing countries to cooperate with developed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD), and now it be developed for REDD+ with additional goals "sustainable forest management"; "conserve"; and "increasing forest carbon stocks" in the Bali Action Plan at COP13 in 2007 The Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) identified five REDD+ activities: 1) reducing emissions from deforestation, 2) reducing emissions from forest degradation, 3) conservation of forest carbon stocks, 4) sustainable management of forest, and 5) enhancement of forest carbon stocks

Currently, reducing emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) has attracted attention worldwide and many countries because of the potential contribution of the mechanism on reduce to climate change While, the introduction

of this concept from international policy discussions into national policy is complex As a nation of risk seriously affected by climate change, Vietnam has been deeply involved in the international discussion and the process of implementing REDD+

In the process of implementing REDD+, benefit sharing mechanisms has an important role for creating motivation necessary to change the behaviors Because REDD+ is based on the compensation of conditions for reducing emissions of carbon, the financial mechanism need have a system of delimited: the object of compensation is, reasons, conditions, rates, and time will be compensated The Benefit Distribution System (BDS) has therefore emerged as a key design consideration in the implementation of REDD+ activities

in Vietnam UN-REDD Program has supported the Vietnam government identified the key issues when developing a benefit distribution system (BDS) in accordance with the requirements of REDD+, and this is based on the principles of equity (equity in the distribution of costs and benefits), transparency (including updating and providing information, and the ability of benefit groups to understand the benefits to be transferred how and why), additionality (interest groups only get payment for the actions that they have to do without the previously expected The compliance "additional" principle to ensure the efficiency of the payment system, and the reduction of the total), and based on results (this principle to ensure the emission reduction actions actually creates a result And it shows the need to eliminate the traditional approach before that mainly based on action) The environmental and society have benefits also emphasized in the design process of the BDS In Vietnam, the national Payments for Forest Ecosystem Services (PFES) scheme has laid the foundation for multiple benefits in the benefit sharing from ecosystem service provision One feature of the PFES approach is proposed to payment differently across different service providers such as households, communities, etc by calculating the coefficient of payment for forest environmental services - the K-coefficient The Government has regulation about the payment level of forest environmental services must be adjusted according to effective of environment Forests which have more environmental effectiveness will have more payment The payment for forest environmental services to suit with types of forests, forest quality, levels of difficult associated with management, forest origin of each forest plot The K-factor

is based on different environment and geographic conditions, and serves as a mechanism to promote equity by rewarding those who are generating a higher quality service in more ecologically valuable areas The above therefore excludes any social variables However, the k-factors are a tool to promote equity, but R-coefficients are not-they are a tool to promote the

capture of multiple benefits Because of the nature of the environmental services being captured under PFES and REDD+, the two seemingly analogous tools play different roles

In particular, the UN-REDD Program in Vietnam is exploring the use of a payment coefficient for REDD+ activities, the R-coefficient, as a mechanism to help REDD+ deliver multiple benefits in Vietnam The R-coefficient proposed the important payments for beneficiaries based on the consideration of geographic, environment, and society factors The R-coefficient is made up of a series of factors such as: income, ethnicity, gender, biodiversity, watershed, accessibility, and protection impact Each factor is weighted with a score depending on the different environmental, social and difficulty conditions of a given area This score will be multiplied by the size of the net emission reduction produced through REDD+ activities in the given area In this way, the R-coefficient will either increase or decrease or leave unchanged the total performance payment received by a household/village/community group (UN-REDD Programme in Vietnam) The efforts of the management, protection and development of forests, the beneficiaries of REDD +, and economic role of the forest ecosystem, the impact level on forests, etc are different Not only that, people need to understand of the obligations and rights when participating in REDD + activities Thus the R-coefficient will ensure fairness, transparency and scientific in payments This is also the objective of establishing the R-coefficient The R-coefficient offers a potentially powerful method of achieving this through the higher weighting of payments to disadvantaged communities, to those living in or near higher value conservation areas, and to those conserving carbon in areas which are more difficult to access and thus require more effort on behalf of the actor to carry out REDD+ activities The R-coefficient may be used to calculate the direct payment from REDD+ to a certain forest ownership beneficiary such as household, local community, forest enterprise, etc However, the basic units for calculating are households and the amount of carbon accumulated (or equivalent)

Ha Tinh is one of six pilot provinces to implement the program of international cooperation of the United Nations and the action plan "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through efforts to limit deforestation and forest degradation, sustainable forest resources management, conserve and enhance forest carbon stocks " Currently, Ha Tinh has been implementing REDD+ program with scope deployed on 195 communes in 13 districts, towns and cities where have forest and forestlands In which, Phu Gia Commune, Huong Khe District is one of the area has natural conditions, geographical location, and other social conditions convenient for the implementation of REDD+ activities Therefore, I have chosen Phu Gia Commune, Huong Khe District, Ha Tinh Province, Vietnam to determine the payment mechanism for REDD+ project through the R-coefficient In other words, this report will focus on the proposed design and application of the R-coefficient in Phu Gia Commune, Huong Khe District, Ha Tinh Province, Vietnam To get there, it will be done by firstly recognizing how multiple benefits have been integrated into the design of benefit sharing systems globally

Some concepts:

- REDD+: an initiative aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and

protecting the climate system of the earth through the efforts of protection, management, sustainable use and development of forest resources in the developing countries with the support of technical and financing of the international community

- R-coefficient: the payments coefficient which has been designed to address the

delivery of co-benefits in the design of the BDS The R-coefficient introduces an artificial weighting of REDD+ performance-based payments which favours beneficiaries according to various social, environmental and geographical considerations (UN-REDD Programme in

- Interview method: This is a method of information collection that based on

communication process by verbal to the posed purposes In the interview, the interviewer raised the question in the direction of a program that is preset based on law of large numbers

of the mathematical

II BACKGROUND

In Vietnam, study on determine payment mechanism for REDD+ project, especially R-coefficient is major field in current time and long term In 2012, research project about R-coefficient for REDD+ benefit distribution was done with final report on “A Pilot of Establishment of R-coefficients for REDD+ Benefit Distribution in Di Linh District, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam” by national and foreign authors as Pham Minh Thoa, Phung Van Khoa, Adrian Enright, Nguyen Thanh Trung, and Nguyen Truc Bong Son The report focuses

on establishment of R-coefficient through explain formula, determine R component factors and weight of each component factors of R-coefficient as following:

- Establishment of R-coefficient for REDD+ Benefit Distribution in Vietnam

The R-coefficient for REDD+ BDS in Vietnam was determined as follows:

Ri = Ri1 · Ri2 · Ri3 · Ri4 …… Rin (1)

Where each individual Ri* represents a weighting factor contributing to the total „R‟ coefficient Ri The performance benefit for an individual beneficiary is now calculated as follows:

Bi = Ci · Ri · BC,R (2)

Where Bi ($) is the net benefit to the beneficiary and Ci (tC) is the net emission reduction or enhanced removal achieved BC,R ($/tC) is the price per unit of carbon, weighted over the emission reductions and R-coefficients of all beneficiaries combined:

BC,R = BT / Σ(Ci · Ri) (3)

Where BT is the total amount of benefits available for distribution (i.e income from trade in the carbon market, reduced by the implementation and transaction costs and any non-

performance benefits distributed before) This weighting is necessary to avoid overpayments

or ecological value and practical in term of measurement and implementation by sub-national authorities The series of R-factors which have been considered for inclusion into the R-coefficient with Ri1,Ri2, and Ri3 can be grouped into one group called Rs (i.e social), factors

Ri4 and Ri5 constitute Re (i.e environment), and the rest factors constitute Rd composite

notation (difficulty) are showed in the table 1

Table 1: Factors being considered for the R-coefficient of REDD+, Vietnam

Factor grouping: Social (R s ) Factors Multiple benefit justification Criteria and

legal basis

Data and information sources Notation Name

R 1 Income Provides higher payments to

poorer areas therefore providing

a correcting multiple benefit factor The income factor recognizes that REDD+ may plan an important role in

- Average capital income/year

- The poor and the proximate (marginal) poor are classified in

Statistic data

or census results

providing key additional income for poorer households Providing higher payments to poorer to poorer households may help to make REDD+ payments more attractive and substantial for poorer households

the Instructions

No TTg, dated on September 21,

1752/CT-2010

R 2 Ethnicity Acknowledges that certain

ethnic minorities have higher rates off disadvantage and should be awarded with higher REDD+ payments to try and help correct this disadvantage

- The ethnic minority and very limited ethnic minority

- In compliance

Government‟s policies (e.g

05/2011/NĐ-CP, dated on January 14th by the Government

Statistic data

or census results

R 3 Gender Recognizes that higher levels of

disadvantage and hardship are generally correlated with households where the number of woman labors is dominant

- Femininity labor

is usually at a disadvantage compared with the other

- In accordance with the common sense and public

Statistic data

or census results

conceptions as

encouraged by the government‟s policies

Factor grouping: Environment (R e )

justification

Criteria and legal basis

Data and information sources Notation Name

R 4 Biodiversity Higher payments would be

made to areas where the benefits from REDD+

activities are either directly

or indirectly contributing to a higher biodiversity value

- Diversity of indigenous

species and forest ecosystems (e.g

forest types)

- This factor is in accordance with the Biodiversity Law

Maps of the forest status

protection classification

watersheds and headwater parts in the watershed in recognition of the watershed co-benefits these areas provide

in the watershed

- This factor is compatible with the Decision No

BNN, dated on October 12, 2005

61/2005/QĐ-by the Minister of MARD

Factor grouping: Difficulty (R d )

justification

Criteria and legal basis

Data and information sources Notation Name

R 6 Accessibility Accounts for the different

effort associated with forest management practices For example, if households are required to travel long distances to reach the forest which is also located on very sloped terrain, they should be compensated through a higher payment than people needing to travel shorter distances and working in

Distance from residential areas to their forest

- Cadastral maps

- Field survey results (if possible)

areas which are somewhat easier to manage

R 7 Protection

impact

Accounts for the differences

in the threat the forest is exposed to A forest area deemed to have a higher threat of illegal deforestation for example, illegal cutting, fires setting, forest converting to agriculture crop, etc

The extent of negative impacts

Estimated by local

responsible people and authorities

(Source: Final report on “A Pilot of Establishment of R-coefficients for REDD+ Benefit

Distribution in Di Linh District, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam”)

- Determine weight of each component factor of the R-coefficient

Based on formula (1) for calculating Ri and Table 1, a pilot R-coefficient would take the following form:

Ri = Ri1 • Ri2 • Ri3 • Ri4 • Ri5 • Ri6 • Ri7 (4)

Where:

Ri1 : income factor, ranges from 0.95 to 1.05

Ri2 : ethnicity factor, ranges from 0.95 to 1.05

Ri3 : gender factor, ranges from 0.95 to 1.05

Ri4 : biodiversity factor, ranges from 0.95 to 1.05

Ri5 : watershed factor, ranges from 0.95 to 1.05

Ri6 : accessibility factor, ranges from 0.80 to 1.20

Ri7 : protection impact extent factor, ranges from 0.80 to 1.20

The proposed values of each component factor of the R-coefficient are presented in table 2

Table 2: Weight of each component factor of the R-coefficient R i

R s R1: income 1.05 (below

4,120,000/year)

1.00 (below 5,850,000/year)

0.95 (other cases)

R2: ethnicity 1.05 (very limited

ethnic minority)

1.00 (ethnic minority)

0.95 (other cases)

R3: gender 1.05 (household

having more than 50% of the main labor are women)

Not available 0.95 (other cases)

R e R4:biodiversity 1.05 (mixed forest) Not available 0.95 (pure forest)

R5: watershed 1.05 (very critical

protection class)

1.00 (critical class) 0.95 (other cases)

R d R6: accessibility 1.20 (forest is, on

average, more than

10 km from the household‟s

residential area or from the nearest village)

1.00 (the forest is 5

to 10 km far from the household‟s residential area or from the nearest village)

III GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 3.1 Goals

Improving payment mechanism for REDD+ projects in Phu Gia Commune, Huong Khe District, Ha Tinh Province, Vietnam

3.2 Objectives

- To determine the R-coefficient for the benefit sharing systems

- To propose solutions for improving the payment mechanism for REDD+ projects in Phu Gia Commune, Huong Khe District, Ha Tinh Province, Vietnam

IV METHODS 4.1 Study area

Data was collected from July to August, 2016 in Phu Gia Commune, Huong Khe District, Ha Tinh Province Phu Gia is mountainous border commune, far from Huong Khe town 6 km to the southwest Phu Gia Commune is located adjacent to the communes as follows: North borders: Huong Long Commune, Huong Binh Commune and Hoa Hai Commune; Southern borders: Huong Vinh and Phu Phong Commune; Eastern borders: Phu Phong Commune, Huong Khe Town and Huong Long Commune; West borders: Laos PDR (People's Democratic Republic)

Phu Gia is commune with more than 90% of the hill land area Commune has steep terrain from southwest to northeast Southwest region is mainly mountains; eastern region is relatively flat where the concentrate of the administrative center, residential areas and arable land The region has high from 20 meters to 33 meters over the sea level Land is divided into two main groups: Group of hill soils and valley soils

Phu Gia Commune is specific climate zone of the North Central region, the characteristic of region such as: hot and humid tropical monsoon and heavy rainfall, the annual average temperature about 24.100C, average annual rainfall about 1.500mm Phu Gia

is communes of Huong Khe district highlands, the climate is very harsh Topographical characteristics is located in the areas that suffer more the incident of weather, temperature amplitude difference between the seasons is quite large and leading to serious affect to the produce results of agriculture and forestry

The commune has 12 hamlets with 1,503 households and 5,233 numbers of people in families, and there are 58 households with 247 numbers of people in families of ethnic Laos

There are 41 household of Christian with 158 numbers of people in families, and 5 hamlets having population live in forest and near forest The number of households with the poor: 101 households with the poor accounted for 6.65% of the total households in the commune, and

122 households with the near poor accounted for 8.04% The population density is 37 people per square kilometer The population is concentrated in the center of commune and the east region Total labor force has 2,713 people with men having 1.722 labour-accounted for 65.3%, and women having 941 labour-accounted for 34.7%

Table 4.1: Summary of the natural characteristics, socio-economic of Phu Gia commune

The rate of natural population growth in 2014 1.1%

Field of manufacturing business Agriculture and forestry

The proportion of people live depend on forests 78% of the population of the commune Number of households received protection and

management of forests

245 households

Number of households have been forestland allocation 177 households

(Source: Kế hoạch thực hiện REDD+ xã Phú Gia, huyện Hương Khê, tỉnh Hà Tĩnh)

4.2 Determine the R-coefficient rule

- The R-coefficient is made up of a series of factors such as: income, ethnicity, gender, biodiversity, watershed, accessibility, and protection impact Each factor is weighted with a score depending on the different environmental, social and difficulty conditions of a

given area This score will be multiplied by the size of the net emission reduction produced through REDD+ activities in the given area In this way, the R-coefficient will either increase

or decrease or leave unchanged the total performance payment received by a household/village/community group ("R-coefficient fact sheet" of the UN-REDD Vietnam Programme)

- The efforts of the management, protection and development of forests, the beneficiaries of REDD +, and economic role of the forest ecosystem, the impact level on forests, etc are different Not only that, people need to understand of the obligations and rights when participating in REDD + activities Thus the R-coefficient will ensure fairness, transparency and scientific in payments This is also the objective of establishing the R-coefficient The R-coefficient offers a potentially powerful method of achieving this through the higher weighting of payments to disadvantaged communities, to those living in or near higher value conservation areas, and to those conserving carbon in areas which are more difficult to access and thus require more effort on behalf of the actor to carry out REDD+ activities

- The R-coefficient may be used to calculate the direct payment from REDD+ to a certain forest ownership beneficiary such as household, local community, forest enterprise, etc However, the basic units for calculating are households and the amount of carbon accumulated (or equivalent)

4.3 Secondary document collection method

Before going to the field, we have collected and studied secondary materials that related to:

- Multiple benefits in BDS (Benefit distribution system) over the world in general and Vietnam in particular

- Characteristics of natural, economic and social in Phu Gia Commune, Huong Khe District, Ha Tinh Province, Vietnam

4.4 Field data collection method

- Making questionnaire for individuals and organizations in Phu Gia commune, Huong Khe district, Ha Tinh province, Vietnam

+ Closed questions: questions with answers available (Yes or No) or some options These questions are used to assess awareness and participation of community in

 Part I Respondent information

 Part II: Information on participation in the management, protection and development of forests

 Part 3: Income from the use of forest land by households

 Part 4: Questions for departments

- Identify beneficiaries are individuals or households have contracts for forest protection After that come to families to get information by direct interview and indirect interview

+) Preparation: Notebook, pen, camera…

+) Look for staff and suggest to interview

+) To ask them for prepared question

+) Note and save the answers

4.4.2 Indirect interview

We did some following steps:

- Step 1: Respondents: They are local people in Phu Gia Commune

- Step 2: Content: respondent information, closed questions and open questions in questionnaire

- Step 3: Location: Phu Gia Commune

- Step 4 Feasibility:

+) Choose respondents randomly and ask them to interview

+) Give them questionnaire and guide them to answer questions in there

+) Take back the questionnaire and check it out

4.5 Data analysis

- Based on the results of previous research, the general formula to calculate the coefficient for REDD+ BDS in Vietnam was determined as follows:

R-Ri = Ri1 · Ri2 · Ri3 · Ri4 …… RinWhere each individual Ri* represents a weighting factor contributing to the total „R‟ coefficient Ri

- Summing the comments of individuals to determine the component factors Ri of coefficient by the households interview process, and giving the results

R Summing the comments of individuals to determine the value range of each

component factors of R-coefficient (income, ethnicity, gender, biodiversity, watershed quality, accessibility, and protection impact) in payment mechanism for REDD+ project at Phu Gia Commune by survey method to the comments of local people and assess weight of them by 3 levels (maximum, average and minimum) based on table 2 above of the earlier research

V RESULTS 5.1 Survey and interview results of individuals, households and departments in the application of the R-coefficient in the benefit distribution system of REDD+

Surveys and interviews were conducted at Phu Gia Commune, Huong Khe District,

Ha Tinh Province to assess use of the payment calculation method of REDD+ by coefficients as proposed Result of amount of questionnaire:

R Emitted questionnaire: 45

- Received questionnaire: 45

- Decent questionnaire: 45

- 5 question for Commune departments

- 20 question for ethnic minorities and households

The total number of questionnaires was 26, and respondents had the following characteristics:

- Households: 45 households have contracts for forest protection

- Gender: 34 male and 11 female

- Ethnic minorities: 11 persons

- Departments: 6 persons

This survey is only concentrate to households had participate in REDD+ program activities or gave contracts for forest protection During the interview, the main issues that mentioned was the payment mechanism issue for REDD+ project, especially determine feasibility of factors of R-coefficient at Phu Gia Commune and comments of local people about assess the value range of this factors