5379 giz VTN BZDP 2012 missionreport PartIII draft v1 1

Acronyms AFOLU Agriculture, Forestry and other Land Use BCEF Biomass conversion and expansion factor BDSG Bufferzone Support Group BMZ Bundesministerium für Zusammenarbeit; German Federa

Published by :

PHONG NHA-KE BANG BUFFER ZONE DEVELOPMENT PLAN

– MISSION REPORT AND GUIDELINE

- Mission Report Part III -

the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park Region, Quang Binh Province

PHONG NHA KE BANG BUFFER ZONE DEVELOPMENT PLAN – MISSION REPORT AND GUIDELINE

CONTENTS

PHONG NHA KE BANG BUFFER ZONE DEVELOPMENT PLAN – MISSION REPORT AND GUIDELINE 1

PART III: REDD+ 6

Background 6

REDD+ prerequisites and links with activities on National level 7

Related Project activities 9

Principal steps for conducting REDD+ 9

Forest classification systems and REDD 11

Available Baseline data/GIS data 13

Satellite images 14

Forest inventories 15

SFE Inventories 16

Participatory Carbon Monitoring 16

Upcoming activities 17

Next steps/Recommendations 17

Further Reading 18

Consulted Webpages 18

Annex 19

Time schedule 19

Further Reading 22

Project Related Documents 22

Studies 24

Regulations 25

TOR/MoU for Carbon assessment with Carbon Forest 26

Acronyms

AFOLU Agriculture, Forestry and other Land Use

BCEF Biomass conversion and expansion factor

BDSG Bufferzone Support Group

BMZ Bundesministerium für Zusammenarbeit; German Federal Ministry for Economic

Cooperation and Development

BZDP Bufferzone Development Plan

CBA Cost Benefit Analysis

CEM Committee of Ethnic Minorities

CFM Community - based forest management

CIFOR Centre for International Forestry Research

CITES Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species

CPCU Communal Project Coordinating Unit

DARD Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

DOF Directorate of Forestry

DOLISA Department of Labor, Invalid and Social Affairs

DONRE Department of Natural Resources

DOST Department of Science and Technology

DPC District People’s Committee

DPI Department of Planning and Investment

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FCPF Forest Carbon Partnership Facility

FES Forest environmental services

FFI Fauna Flora International

FIPI Forest Inventory and Planning Institute

FLEGT Forest law enforcement, governance and trade

FLITCH Project for forestry development and livelihood improvement in the Central Highland

funded by ADB FLMS Forest Land Management System

FOMIS Forest management information system

FPD Forest Protection and Development Center

FPDF Forest Protection and Development Fund

FPIC Free prior and informed consent

FREC Forest Resources and Environment Center (under FIPI)

GHGI Greenhouse Gas Inventory

IUCN World Conservation Union

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, UN Body

JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency

KfW Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, German Development Bank

M&E Monitoring and evaluation

MARD Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

MOLISA Ministry of Labor, Invalid and Social Affairs

MONRE Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

MRV Monitoring, reporting and verification

ND-CP Government Decree

NFI National Forest Inventory

NGO Non-governmental organization

NQ-TW Central Resolution

NQ-TW Central Resolution

NTFP Non- Timber Forest Products

ODA Official Development Aid

PES Payment for environmental services

PFES Payment for forest environmental services

PFMB Protection Forest Management Board

PIA Participatory Impact Assessment

PPMU Provincial Project Management Unit

QD-TTg Prime Minster Decision

RAMSAR The Convention on Wetlands (named after a town in Iran, where it was signed) RBM Results-based management

REDD Reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation

REL Reference emission level

SEDP Social and Economic Development Plan

SEI Socio Economic Impact Assessment

SEIA Socio-Economic Impact Assessment

SFE State Forestry Enterprise

SFM Sustainable forest management

SNV Stichting Nederlandse Vrijwilligers (Netherlands Development Foundation)

SRTM Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, Radar data

STDP Sustainable Tourism Development Plan

SUFMB Special use forest Management Board

TTLT Interministerial Circular

TWG Technical working group

UNCCD United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNEP United Nations Environmental Programme

UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

UNFF United Nations Forum on Forests

UNREDD REDD- Programme of the United Nations

VNFOREST Viet Nam administration of forestry, MARD

WFP World Food Programme of the United Nations

WU Women Union

WWF World- wide Fund for Nature

The full mission report covers the documentation on the Buffer Zone Development Plan (PART I), the

Buffer Zone Development Guidelines (PART II) and the REDD activities (PART III) at the time of the

mission and For better readability they have been separated in three documents Original timeframe can be found in the Annex

PART III: REDD+

Background

Viet Nam is one of nine countries initially identified for country programming under the UN-REDD

Programme It was also one of the first countries to receive approval for a Readiness Project

Identification Note (R-PIN) under the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) In 2010,

MARD established the National REDD+ Network and REDD+ Working Group to create awareness of the REDD+ mechanism and built capacity at national and provincial levels to coordinate activities by ministries, other international agencies and organizations (Decision No: 2614 /QĐ-BNN- LN)1 The

National REDD+ office was established in 2011 to coordinate and manage the process of developing

tools to implement Viet Nam’s National REDD+ Program.2

Quang Binh Province has not yet started to set up any structures for implementing REDD+ projects This is the case for the majority of the provinces in Vietnam unless a dedicated project, mostly spearheaded and funded by an international organisation, has started to set up REDD+ activities As pointed by the authors of Portfolio for Biodiversity [28], so far national discussions and development

of instruments has not yet resulted in significant implementation of REDD+ related programmes on sub-national level The recommendation of the authors was to set up REDD+ as a standalone project because it is a complex topic which requires resources beyond the envelope of a regular GIZ programme or project Additional funding will need to be identified Therefore it is fair to say that the current REDD+ activities in the programme are meant to be scoping activities and to set the groundwork as preparation for a full REDD+ project

The starting points for any project lies in strengthening the provincial capacity and initialise the set up

of the required structures in the form of a Working group The Working group was prescribed during a

Kickoff REDD+ workshop in Dong Hoi and the PPC announced its conclusion in Ref.:1818/TB-VPUBND

In order to fulfil donor’s conditions and to bring the project into implementation, PPC Quang Binh assigned DARD to take the lead in collaboration with DPI, Department of Finance, Department of Transport and other line agencies to undertake the following tasks:

1 Elaborate a written REDD+ project proposal and send to PPC requesting GIZ support

2 Assign relevant members from line departments to join the provincial REDD+ Working Group and concurrently provide advice to PPC on the leading agency and focal point for working with GIZ

3 To consider and propose good members for the Provincial REDD+ Steering Committee

The following authorities and agencies participate: xx A study tour has been organized to xx where SNV has been implementing REDD+ activities

To start the analysis process, Carbon Forest, with seat in Laos, has been commissioned to work on the satellite image interpretation and the stratification Expertise on this is not readily available in the province and agencies on national level with the relevant expertise were found to be too busy to start the process in 2012 still Additionally, Carbon Forest, has been conducting carbon analysis for the GIZ

programme in Laos and a positive spill over effect can be expected in the light of a closer collaboration

on the topics Biodiversity, Climate Change and REDD+ for both GIZ programmes

REDD+ prerequisites and links with activities on National level

The following UNFCCC3 REDD+ Safeguards had been agreed on in Copenhagen:

1 Consistency with national forest programmes and international agreements (policy coherence)

2 Transparent and effective governance structures

3 Respect for knowledge and rights of indigenous peoples and local communities

4 Full and effective participation of relevant stakeholders

5 Consistency with conservation of biodiversity and ensuring against conversion of natural forests

6 Addressing risk of reversals (ensuring permanence)

7 Reducing displacement of emissions (addressing leakage)

In the Vietnam context a study [34] assesses the importance of the safeguards as follows:

1 Policy coherence: There is clear potential for synergy with the allocation of forestland to local

communities, as Vietnam’s future REDD+ Program can help to expand forestland allocation and simultaneously benefit from the clarification of forest tenure Land allocation has been identified as an issue in PNKB Region in the assessment on forest ownership [3] and in the gender, poverty, ethnicity study [18]

International agreements: Of particular relevance is the United Nations Declaration on the

Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) to which Vietnam is a signatory

2 Transparent and effective governance: The REDD+ program offers the opportunity to address

some governance problems that have reduced the effectiveness of past forestry programs, such as the 661 Program.4 There are strong overlaps between REDD+ and efforts to restrain illegal logging if both initiatives build on the recognition of local communities’ rights

3 Respect for the knowledge and rights of indigenous people and local communities: REDD+

offers a new opportunity to reduce forest conflicts, strengthen the existing rights, and expand allocation of forestland to local communities

4 Full and effective stakeholder participation: The national REDD+ program will require

renewed efforts by the Government to obtain active participation of underrepresented stakeholders, such as local communities and civil society organizations, in participatory carbon monitoring, for example This is of major relevance for Quang Binh province, since parts of the carbon monitoring will be conducted with involvement of the communities and local stakeholders to create awareness, to get their buy-in and to conduct capacity building

5 Actions to address the risks of reversals 5 : The REDD+ program will need to introduce a robust

and credible performance base for the disbursement of benefits, one that can be applied for all types of forest managers, especially local communities REDD+ will assist strengthening forestland allocation and supporting law enforcement as key measures for reducing the risk of

and protection activities Building on the existing platforms, such as the REDD+ Network6, REDD+

sub-technical working groups7, as well as the Vietnam Non-Governmental Organisations and Climate

Change network8 will help to increase this objective and create awareness

Decision No.: 799/QD-TTg, from the Prime Minister, goes into details on the scope and the target of the national REDD+ programme, the key tasks, funding as well as the implementing organisations of the REDD+ activities.9

There is also a National REDD+ strategy and a background document for the National strategy; however both have been published on the internet as draft versions only Allegedly, the Vietnamese version has evolved further It is recommended to verify this information and get a copy of the Vietnamese version

The background document, compiled by UNREDD, Draft Version 3 from February 2011 can be found

A good overview on all laws, decrees, decisions relevant to REDD and related topics like Land Use, Climate Change, PFES, Forest Management and SFE/Logging can be found here: http://vietnam-

5

A risk reversal is commonly used for stock markets; in Carbon monitoring the phrase is used for describing the intentional or unintentional release of carbon back to the atmosphere due to storms, fire, pests, land use decisions, and many other factors

redd.org/Web/Default.aspx?tab=newsdetail&zoneid=152&subzone=156&child=177&itemid=520&lang=en-US

Related Project activities

Apart from Community Based Forestry, which has been conducted in Quang Binh since 2004 and

which is currently supported by the KfW component of the project, there are also other studies and activities which are of relevance to the REDD+ activities

A key document will be the Participatory Social Impact Assessment, conducted by the same

consultant who also elaborated the Gender, Poverty and Ethnicity Study This Assessment will look at deforestation drivers, FPIC10, indigenous and minority rights as well as land use planning and forest management practises and will complement the quantitative analysis

Additionally, the Assessment of current forest land use and ownership by SFEs and other land use in

the buffer zone [3], does give a good overview on land allocations, forest management and forest inventories, which are necessary for the REDD+ activities as well

Relevant for a province-wide REDD assessment are also the efforts of the second GIZ programme active in Quang Binh: Promotion of Sustainable Management of Natural Forest and Marketing of

Important Forest Products The project itself is based in Hanoi and supports Truong Son SFE in setting

up sustainability management practises In this capacity, it also assists in conducting forest inventories More about the project can be found in chapter Next Steps: Forest Inventories

Principal steps for conducting REDD+

This chapter briefly outlines the steps commonly followed when setting up a jurisdictional REDD+ system11 This is not exhaustive, since the required actions will also depend on the situation in project, province and the links to the national level as well as the buy-in of all relevant stakeholders

In general, here are the basic steps for kickstarting a REDD+ analysis, adapted from Carbon Forest:

1 Define Area of Interest

2 Determine Historical Analysis Period (ex 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2012)

3 Acquire Necessary Imagery

A Landsat for Classification

B SPOT, RapidEye for accuracy assessment For current map (i.e 2012) Ground Truthing Points can be used for the accuracy assessment

4 Classify most recent "benchmark" image (i.e 2012) based on nationally accepted forest classification system

5 Determine locations for ground truthing points based on access, slope and forest class

10

Free Prior and Informed Consent, a key principle in international law, stipulates that a community has the right to give or withhold its consent to proposed projects that may affect the lands they customarily own, occupy or otherwise use More information also on challenges can be found here: http://www.forestpeoples.org/guiding-principles/free-prior-and-informed- consent-fpic

11

Comprehensive guidelines on the requirements for setting up a jurisdictional REDD+ system have been compiled by VCS [46]

6 Travel across province to ground truthing points (forest and non-forest areas ie fallow and grasslands also)

A Determine real forest type through visual inspection

11 Establish randomized/grid plot locations within each forest class Number of plots should be double minimum required in order to account for access/measurement problems

12 Install permanent biomass sample plots based on point 11, minimum based on 95% CI 10% std error OR collect enough timber inventory data already gathered by other projects, apply BCEF14 to estimate total biomass, establish whether or not additional biomass plots are required and go back to point 11 to fill in any missing forest types insufficiently surveyed

13 Establish forest carbon stratification by tallying new biomass data (Tier 3)15, converting to carbon and combining with 2012 benchmark map

14 Forest classes with carbon stocks greater than 20% difference are broken into separate strata layers

15 Combine the historical 1995, 2000, 2005 forest/non-forest maps with the stratification to determine overall gains and losses in carbon

16 Apply UNFCCC (or better) emissions factors (EF) for each forest type in order to calculate the unadjusted historical Reference Emission Level

17 Apply computer simulation model to determine:

A pixel-based threat analysis

B future deforestation model

1 Train model over 2000-2005 period

2 Verify model over 2005-2012 period

18 Use threat analysis to target mitigation activities

Tier 1 is usually referred to as data obtained from analysis, not through direct measurements, therefore it does not require

new data collection It uses IPCC default values [56] It provides all relevant default values, assumptions and methods While permitting the easiest way to calculate emissions, it contains the highest degree of uncertainty

14

BCEF, e.g Biomass conversion and expansion factor has been elaborated to assist with Assessing Carbon Stocks by

applying a set of ranges, depending on forest type and growth, to include above ground biomass /growing stock estimates FAO as well as IPPC have developed tables with ranges However, there are slight differences in how the factor has been obtained and what in included.

19 Use future deforestation model to determine future deforestation curve from 2013-2023

20 Use stratification and future forest/non-forest satellite change monitoring as basis for MRV system against deforestation model results

More information on the actual TOR’s can be found in the Annex

Forest classification systems and REDD

The issues most, if not all, of the provinces will be facing when implementing REDD activities are that reference level and baseline map data on forest and forest types is not readily available The data has not been updated on a systematic basis and most agencies do not keep a log file, allowing them to see when an area or one plot of a forest unit has been newly classified or measured

Forest change detection, not too complex to conduct with appropriate satellite images, will hardly be enough to assess the quality of a forested area, since the main problem is actually degradation; e.g valuable Primary forest is cut and replaced with forest plantations To assess the quality, species and density, full forest inventories should be carried out Those should be participatory Community Forestry is an entry point for benefit sharing

The classification system for Forests has been specified in Circular 34/2009/TT-BNNPTNT (MARD), however, this classification is not optimized for Carbon content measurements and REDD+ activities, since the forests are assessed by usage

The most widespread version is the Three Types of Forest (Article 4), classifying by purposes of use in

Special Use, Protection and Production forest Currently, an update for this classification is underway

on provincial level and is expected to be finalised by June 2013

Article 5 specifies classification by Types of Origin and distinguishes between Natural (Primeval and

secondary), Recovered, Post-harvest, Planted (new, replanted after exploitation, naturally regenerated) or by growing time

In Article 6, the site forming conditions, e.g geomorphology comes into play and discerns by forests

developed on hills and rocks, flooded forests, mangrove swamps, alum earth, freshwater flooded and sandy soils

The Tree Species are picked in Article 7, differentiating between Broadleaf deciduous and Evergreen,

Semi-decidous broadleaf, Needle leaf, as well as mixed broadleaf and needle leaf forests Bamboo, Palm-like and mixed versions of wood and bamboo are also distinguished In Article 7, the canopy, e.g tree cover is also taken into consideration

The last classification, explained in Article 8, classifies by reserves and therefore looks at the stands

and their volume It then labels Very Rich (.300 m3/ha), Rich (201-300m3/ha), Average 200m3/ha), Poor (10-100m3/ha) as well as Forest without reserves Bamboo has a specific set of rules which also takes tree species, diameter and density into account

(101-For REDD, ideally all 5 carbon pools, e.g carbon in live trees (above and below ground), carbon in

dead trees and wood, carbon stock in under-storey vegetation (seedlings, shrubs, herbs, grasses), carbon stock in forest floor (woody debris, litter, humus) and soil organic carbon, are quantified However, to assess all of these, destructive measurements have to be conducted, where some sample

trees are actually cut Normally this is only done for some sample plots There is a draft guideline for destructive measurements compiled by UNREDD/FAO, accessible online:

Before going into the inventories (which are explained in more detail here), new and historical data on vegetation types are being compared for change detection on deforestation and afforestation If no historical or new mapping exists, satellite image analysis can be conducted This should take three points in time into consideration, ideally evenly spaced over time with a minimum of two years difference between a set of satellite images More on satellite images can be found here

For this vegetation analysis, a classification of vegetation ecotypes should be utilized Several slightly different versions of ecotypes have been discovered, though originally they are all based on the

vegetation studies conducted by Thai von Trung in 1978 His work, continued for many years,

comprises the most thorough vegetation studies After his work was published a lot of authors looked

at the classifications and refined them for their purposes In Vietnam, vegetation types for maps are predominantly used for Protected Forest/National Parks etc

The five variations examined were extracted from the Draft version of the National REDD Strategy, the JICA supported Forest Change Detection Study, UNREDD generic classification, the KfW TOR for Satellite interpretation as well as the classification used in the Operational Management Plan of PNKB [16] The fifth system was a modification introduced by SNV for their Forest Cover Change Mapping in Nghe An and Lam Dong [41] This system was chosen as a base for the TORs for Carbon Forest16, because it is closely linked to Circular 34/2009 TT- BNNPTNT forest inventory cycle classifications from MARD and SNV had compiled definitions and a visual key based on satellite images for each type This makes it easier to identify suitable ground –truthing data, which consists of GPS point and picture of vegetation type.17

The following ecotypes will be mapped out:

activities Timber volume is more than 201m3/ha Forest symbol: IIIa3, IIIb, IIIc, IV

Medium evergreen forest Natural forest is impacted by human

activities at the medium level Timber volume is about 101 – 200 m3/ha Forest symbol: IIIa2

Poor evergreen forest Poor forest is re-grown up on the shrub

Tree density is more than 1000 trees/ha, tree radius > 10 cm, tree cover > 40% Symbol: IIIa1

Coniferous forest Coniferous trees are more than 75%

Mixed forest (Bamboo and woody)

Woody covers more than 50% and bamboo and shrub is less than 50%

16

The TOR’s as elaborated by the mission and Carbon Forest can be found in the Annex

17

Ground truthing is normally refered to as information collected on the ground, e.g at a specific location It is normally sued

to verify the image analysis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_truth

Bamboo forest Forest is covered by bamboo

Ever green forest on limestone

Forest grown on limestone Young forest Woody covers >10%, forest symbol: IIc, IIb

Plantation

forest

Plantation forest Forest is planted by human

Perennial tree Land for planting Coffee, Rubber, Cashew,

Pepper, Tea

cover < 10%, tree density is < 1000 tree/ha

Forest symbol: Ib, Ic

symbol: Ia

close to houses

River, Lake

Table 1: Forest Types, classes and their definitions, adapted from SNV report [41]

Available Baseline data/GIS data

Assessing available data sets is an important step before embarking on a further analysis in order to get a feel of what information is available, what type of similar projects have been completed on national level, and how many resources will have to be allocated to gather data for Tier 1 or higher level

For Quang Binh province, the forest classification on Three Types of Forest, last updated 2006/2007, is

readily available and is used by all agencies involved in land use, mapping and forest management/protection As mentioned before, a revision started and should be completed in 2013 Mapping of tree species and functions as detailed in Article 7 have not been updated recently 2010 should have seen the revision of the inventory but it was stopped because of lack of funding In theory all provinces should have completed a revision for 2010, but since those type of inventories are costly and according to the regulations should cover 2% of the forested area, this is a huge undertaking The project (GIZ and KfW component) assisted with land use planning, which was updated accordingly, however, this only covers a small part of the province, since according to the forest advisor only production forest area was considered and small villages with small land resources were not covered

The last complete forest inventory for Quang Binh province was produced in 1999 This has been

updated partially, but since the stakeholders update on a needs’ basis and do not keep track which areas have been changed, the same dataset will most likely be different, when used by DONRE, DARD, FPD or FIPI No agency has been assigned to keep a logfile or metadata about their changes so selective updates do not show on the map Refer also to Part 1

Updating the forest inventory maps through fieldwork is a major undertaking and requires a dedicated budget More on the topic of forest inventories can be found here

SFE have harvest records which are believed to be more accurate than what is normally being

recorded on a provincial level where allegedly the yearly quotas for harvesting timber are not always adapted to the situation on the ground These are not easily available and a close collaboration with the GIZ Hanoi project will be necessary to ensure that the data can be accessed and shared Allegedly, they also have established permanent plots, this remains to be verified

JICA supported a nationwide forest cover, forest change study, for which satellite imagery dated from

1900, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010 was acquired.18 The study was completed in March 2012 and is with

VNFOREST, under MARD JPG images illustrating the forest cover change in Quang Binh Province could

be obtained for verification purpose; however the authorization to utilize the study and for the digital data needs to be sought from VNFOREST

Satellite images

Satellite images are an integral part of conducting REDD+ project They are required for assessing deforestation and forest degradation over time, since there are few countries where reliable historical data is available After conducting carbon inventories with accurate GPS points, it is also possible to extrapolate the values based on satellite image analysis over a larger homogenous area; e.g the carbon values calculated from the inventories are applied to the satellite image This requires expertise in remote sensing

Images can be purchased internationally through the respective companies producing them (e.g SPOT: Astrium; GeoEye: IKONOS) In Vietnam, the Remote Sensing Centre of MONRE has the authority

to sell images or rather their right of use The Centre consists of six SubCenters of which the Image Ground Receiving and Processing Centre, hosts the images and can search for coverage They have SPOT 4 and 5 as well as Envisat in their archives The SPOT images19 were of interest and all processing levels, except for 1B, are available at the Centre For the project, 2A was the most interesting because the image has radiometrically been corrected and is already georectified.20

Unfortunately, the Centre did not have a full coverage of Quang Binh province for more recent images

It is a requirement that satellite images for a region ideally are from the same year, if not feasible they are not supposed to be more than 2 years apart for the analysis The first full coverage for Quang Binh consists of images from 2010/2009, but since these were the years the nationwide study from VNFOREST, financed by JICA, had been conducted and images analysed, and since for the province it would be more useful to have images for 2012 or 2011, only the two sets of historical images were identified and ordered from MONRE According to the REDD guidelines [46], an analysis must be conducted for three points in time, therefore SPOT 4 from 1995/1996 and SPOT 5 from 2005/2006

20

More information on processing levels can be found here: location-accuracy