Bach Ma National Park (BMNP), Thua Thien, Hue Province
By Bach Ma National Park (BMNP) and ICRAF Vietnam

Bach Ma National Park (BMNP) is situated in Central Vietnam, 45km south-east of the old imperial city of Hue. The core zone of the park is located in Thua Thien, Hue Province (lat: 16°05’ - 16°15’ N; long: 107°43’ – 107°53’ E, elevation: 40m to 1,712m a.s.l). The park is located within the transition zone of northern (Sino-Himalayan, Indo-Burmese) and southern (Malaysian) floras and is regarded to be an important ‘Floristic Biodiversity Centre’ for Indochina (Tran & Ziegler, 2001). The buffer zone of BMNP also located partly in Quang Nam province. The area is characterized by humid tropic, with annual rainfall of 3000 mm, mean temperature is below 20⁰C and mean humidity is 90%. The rainy season is September to February and the dry season is from March to August. The temperature does not fall below 4⁰C in winter or exceed 26⁰C in summer. Due to the high rainfall and mainly intact forest, water sources in Bach Ma are rich. They are the main water sources of, among others, Hue’s Perfume River, which supplies domestic water, irrigation and landscape beauty for Hue city.

BMNP is identified in Vietnam’s Biodiversity Action Plan as one of the last remaining Type A primary forests, which should receive the highest priority for protection due to its biodiversity value. The National Park is also important for conserving the only green transect left in Vietnam, stretching from the South China Sea to the border with Laos. For all above mentioned roles, BMNP was established in 1991 with the initial area of 22,031ha, but expanded to 37,487ha in 2008. According to 2008 data, rich forest occupies largest areas (10700 ha), followed by poor forest (at around 9 500 ha), average forest (8500 ha), bare land (4800 ha), restoration forest (3000 ha), some plantation (300 ha) and others (500 ha). The dominant habitats are tropical evergreen monsoon forest in the lower areas and subtropical evergreen monsoon forest at altitudes higher than 900m. The flora of Bach Ma includes at least 2,146 species. This represents around 20 percent of the entire flora of Vietnam in only 0.07 percent of Vietnam’s total land area (Le Vu Khoi & all, 2004). The main threats to the park are illegal hunting and logging for trading, timber exploitation for households need (each household need around 0.4m³/year) and firewood collection (around 8.5 steer/household/year) (BMNP, 2007).

Since 2008, there is no resident living inside the core zone of BMNP. However, in the buffer zone, there are around 25,257 households with over 79,000 people. More than 80% of people in the buffer zone are Kinh while other ethnic groups include KaTu (15.15%), Van Kieu (0.68%), Muong (0.04%) (BMNP, 2008). The population density ranges from 10 to 790 people/km², and the average density is around 159 people /km² (FIPI, 2006). About 71.2% of population is involved in agricultural farming. The average income per head is low, at around 250 USD per year (70 percent of the national income per head). 40 percent of all households are classified as poor; among them the poorest households living near core zones depends on forest products for their livelihood. Furthermore, natural catastrophe in these areas made local people depending more on forest for living. The severe flood in 1999, for example, has reduced the growth rate in the agricultural sector considerably. Consequently, many households continue to use and commercialize illegal forest products, such as timber, firewood, and non-timber forest products. According to a survey of 137 households reported in the park (Mohd, S.H.O, NGA, D.T., HUY, H.T,2007) some 55% of these households have their main source of income coming from the forest mainly for non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Most of the NTFPs harvested are conical leaves and rattan.

The park has a total 75 staff of which 65 are permanent staff and 10 are contracted staff. Among the 75 staff, 32 are administrative and service officers and 43 are working in forest protection stations of the park. From the funding of the 661 program, every year the park makes contracts with about 50 local labours (mostly youths) to strengthen the forest patrol and protection.

 

REDD+ Strategy of Bach Ma National Park, Thua Thien, Hue Province, Vietnam - Findings from A Rapid Assessment of Carbon Stock (RaCSA)

Nguyen Vu Linh¹, Minh Ha Hoang^2
1 Bach Ma national park, Thua Thien Hue province, Vietnam
² ICRAF-Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam
 

Study background

Bach Ma National Park (BMNP) as many other national parks in Vietnam is facing with problem of financial shortage for its forest protection tasks such as to combating deforestation and degradation, and to implement forest rehabilitation and biodiversity conservation. Government funding allocated to NPs is not sufficient enough; therefore alternative funding is urgently needed to cover the shortage of operational budget. Payment for environmental service (PES), including carbon sequestration service provided by forest, can be an option for BMNP in fund raising. In the context of climate change mitigation, exploring Rewards/Payment for Reduce Emission of Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) is a promising approach. Carbon quantification over time and space is the first step of the development of such the REDD and PES mechanisms. Rapid carbon stock appraisal (RACSA) - rapid carbon stock assessment at plot and landscape levels allows quantifying carbon in a participatory, scientifically and cost-effective manner. This method hopefully can be help to build up a transparent carbon accounting basis for negotiation with voluntary carbon buyers for payment/rewarding. The second purpose for applying RACSA is to get a big picture of forest status in BMNP after 20 years of its establishment. From April to October, 2009, RACSA in combining with the GIS and satellite images were applied in BMNP to assess C-stock and its change over the last 20 years, following five steps with methods used (Table 1).

Table 1. Methods used in five research steps of carbon stock estimation

No	Study steps	Methods and Materials	Outputs
1	Initial appraisal of landscape April - June, 2009	-  Study digital topography and forest cover maps 2007 -  Staff meetings and discussion and collection of data and maps at scales 1/25,000 and 1/10,000. -  Review of secondary data such as reports, related scientific articles of BMNP, legislation documents, policies and plans.	Issues were mapped and 22 points representative to 5 main land cover types (rich, medium, poor, restoration forest and bare land) were defined on digital map of 2007.
2	Review of local ecological knowledge May – June, 2009	-  Semi-structure interview, site observation -  Review of secondary data such as reports, related scientific articles of BMNP, legislation documents, policies and plans.	Plan of the field survey on the selected sample plots
3	Estimation of carbon stock using RACSA methods July - September	-  Total number of main plots: 22 main plots/5 main types of land cover in BMNP -  Main plot size: 100m x 20m plot  to measure tree biomass with BhD over 30cm; and 40mx5m plots to measure tree biomass with BhD >5cm and < 30cm -  Sub-plot size (square): 03 1mx1m sub-plots/1 main 40mx5m plot are setup for sampling the under-storey and root biomass	Carbon stock at the measurement time
4	Assessment of C-stock change September - October	-  Remote sensing analysis to assess C-stock change through time: LandSAT 1989 & 2009 maps: -  Calculate the average C-stock in each type of land cover (rich, average, poor, restoration forest and bare-land). -  Base on the data of forest type area (2007 forest status map) to calculate the total C-stock in each land cover type and then sum up for calculation of total C-stock in BMNP  -  Adjust the satellite maps (LandSAT 1989 and 2009) of BMNP on the basis of the Park boundary of the 2007 digital map. -  Position the GPS marks of the sample plots to identify the area of each forest type on the satellite maps of Landsat 1989 and 2009. Then the total C-stock in each type of land cover as well as the whole area of BMNP is measured at the two time points of 1989 and 2009. From this the forest state of BMNP (deforestation and degradation) was assessed	Carbon stock changes over last 20 years
5	Scenario development October	Review of potential plans of dam construction. Use of Fallow software to show the C-stock loss scenarios.	C-stock loss scenarios

 

Main result

Lost of rich forest lead to lose of more carbon, how about the lost of other co-benefits?
Findings of RACSA showed the range of carbon stock (in terms of T C/ha) of five forest land categories as follows: Rich forest>Medium forest>Poor forest>Restoration forest>Bare land = 401> 163>65>37>33 T C /ha. Rich forest is 2 times higher than medium forest, and about 5 times higher than poor forest and in carbon content. Over last 20 years, more than 1000 ha of poor forest and 4600 ha of medium forest naturally become rich forest. However, equal amount (>1,000ha) of rich forest turned into poor forest and more than 3000 ha of rich forest turned into medium forest. Furthermore, more than 2000 ha of medium forest degraded to poor forest (Table 2). This results that the net increase of the total C-stock of BMNP only 106,605 ton in 20 years, or 5330 T C per year. Given the fact that BMNP is a protected area, and current forest monitoring based on forest coverage showed significant forest coverage increase (how much?), this finding is the main surprises. We also wonder how this degradation has been influencing other co-benefits, such as the rich biodiversity of BMNP, NTFP as well as water conservation, that are important for livelihood of buffer zone people as well as downstream people in Hue city. The need for further studies is under discussion as a part of the new REDD+ strategy for BMNP, which open the closer and long-term collaboration between BMNP and ICRAF Vietnam.
 

Table 2. Matrix of dynamic changes of land covers in BMNP through 1989 to 2009

Sum of area (ha)	Bare land	Restoration forest	Poor forest	Medium forest	Rich forest	Water & others	Total Year 2009
Bare land	72	660	420	49	17	61	1,280
Restoration forest	212	977	2,009	603	246	86	4,132
Poor forest	51	305	2,440	2,454	1,097	65	6,413
Medium forest	8	137	2,500	5,009	3,373	36	11,064
Rich forest	66	16	1,166	4,600	8,020	22	13,890
Water & others	199	23	237	79	29	141	709
Total Year 1989	608	2,118	8,773	12,794	12,783	410	37,487
	: Unchanged through 1989 to 2009

 

Rewarding for carbon alone is not sufficient enough for forest protection.

If price of carbon in voluntary carbon market would be around 5 USD per T Carbon, the total annual income due to carbon increase during the last 20 years only at 26 650 USD, equal about 500 millions VND (exchange rate of 18400 VND per USD). Given the fact that government funding allocated to BMNP is about 5-6 billions VND per year, the current government funding to BMNP is about 10 times higher than the total annual income the park would get from the voluntary carbon market for their carbon increase. Still, the current government budget is not enough for an efficient protection given the degradation process is going due to illegal logging. This shows the fact that rewarding for carbon alone is not sufficient enough, but co-benefits that BMNP provides, such as biodiversity and water protection and other non-monetary benefits such as social and cultural protection, need to be taken into account. Given the fact that BMNP plays extremely important for water supply to Hue city, biodiversity conservation, and for its landscape beauty, strategy for BMNP should be REDD+. As agreed with the policy of Vietnam, all funding to be raised from ES provided by forest should be used for forest protection; setting up a forest conservation fund is necessary. Several potential ES buyers are water users of Hue, tourist branch of the city, irrigation companies, drink water companies, and international communities that want to conserve rare species of BMNP.

Piloting fund raising for all ES provided by forest, defining ‘best practices’ from previous integrated conservation measures to be disseminated as ES rewarding measures, is recommended as further steps.

This require interface with other TULSEA tools. For example, RHA will be useful to define interrelations between five studied land categories (rich forest, medium forest, poor forest, restoration forest and bare land) with water availability in streams as sources of Huong river basin. RABA will be useful to link bio-diversity with those five land categories. Fund raising for forest protection in BMNP is recommended to go hand in hand with benefit sharing of REDD+ in Vietnam. A pilot study to develop RES/PES mechanism for carbon ES and co-benefits is recommended. ‘Best practices’ for livelihood improvement of people in buffer zone while reducing pressure on forest, from previous integrated conservation project should be defined and disseminated as options for rewarding. Participatory approach using five assets frame developed by DFID should be used for this study.

Reflection on the methodology

Application of RACSA methods in rapid assessment of C-stock in national parks is easy to do. It is fast to get data and save time and money. Besides, we can combine the RACSA method and remote sensing analysis of satellite maps to assess the change of forest in order to make better plan for protection. However, because of time and budget shortage, the number of sample plots is limited with only 3 to 5 plots for each type of land cover that may cause inexact of the results. On the other hand, the quality of satellite maps and the techniques of image analysis are the two most important factors which decide the accurate of the assessment. In case we could do more sample plots and have more high quality satellite maps (repeated in 5 years, for instant), the study results would be more scientifically trusted. Besides, the estimation of wood density to be equal to 0.8 (heavy), 0.5 (average) and 0.3 (low) for moisture forest applied for the calculation of tree biomass may cause big differences. To limit the different variances, trees in sample plots should be identified in Latin names in order to look up the value of their wood density supported by former researches such as publication of ICRAF South East Asia or researchers could collect samples to calculate the wood density for trees which are not listed in the scientific publication.

RaCSA proved to be a carbon monitoring method that is much more participatory, efficient and transparent than the current monitoring way based on forest cover only. The implication of its findings is beyond monitoring, but contribute to setting up REDD strategy for BMNP.

Reference
BMNP (2000 – 2009). Annual reports of on forest protection from 2000 to 2009.

Kurniatun Hairiah, SM Sitompul, Meine van Noordwijk and Cheryl Palm (2001). Methods for sampling carbon stocks above and below ground. International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, Southeast Asian Regional Research Program.

Le Vu Khoi, Vo Van Phu, Ngo Dac Chung, Le Trong Son (2004). Fauna diversity of Bach Ma national park Results of independence research project. Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment. Thuan Hoa publication, Hue.

MARD (2009). Decree 34/2009/TT-BNNPTNT of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development dated on 10th June, 2009 about the regulation on criteria used for identification and classification of forest in Vietnam.

MARD (2005). Technical Decision 682B/QĐKT of the former Forestry Ministry dated on 1st August, 1984 about the regulations used for forest business and design which refers to forestry land use classification system according to natural vegetation status.

MARD (2004). Manual of Forestry sector, chapter of “Use classification, planning and forestry land allocation”, Project GTZ-REFAS, Publication license No 41/XB-GT issued on 18th November, 2004. GTVT publication, Ha Noi.

Nguyen Nghia Thin, Mai Van Pho (2003). Flora diversity of Bach Ma national park Results of independence research project. Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment. Agriculture publication, Ha Noi.

S.H.O, NGA, D.T., HUY, H.T. (2007). Opportunities for sustainable financing in Bach Ma National Park and to assess some possibilities for livelihood improvements within the buffer zone of the park. Consultancy Report. Hue Forest Protection Department

Tran Thien An, Stefan Ziegler (2001). Harvest and utilization of medicinal plants in Bach Ma national park. Medicinal plant conservation, Vol 7.
 

back to top ▲ RaCSA Application in Lam Son commune, Luong Son District, Hoa Binh Province
By Forest Science Technology Application Research Centre (FSTARC)

The Lam Son commune is located in Luong Son District, Hoa Binh Province, Vietnam, where the hilly terrain is primarily limestone. The Muong people are the majority ethnic group in a village where manufacturing techniques are backward, productivity and living standards are low and economic development is slow. Per capita incomes are just 5,500,000VND (US$323.50) per year. In recent years, unused land has been brought back into production by planting trees and household income from silvicultural activities has increased, thanks to the Luong Son silviculture company’s Plantation of Economically Beneficial Forest development program (people’s committee of Lam Son commune, 2008).

RaCSA was used to assess Carbon emission in a suburban area where industrial factories, commercial, service and tourism activities are booming. The establishment of Luong Son Golf Yard (314 ha) and the cultural village of Hoa Binh groups (141 ha) in the large forest land area of Lam Son commune could potentially increase carbon emission. It was found during RaCSA implementation that there was a significant discrepancy between secondary data on area for each land use type provided by the commune and the satellite image analysis. Scenario analysis showed that the total carbon stock will remain stable if forest management strategies are applied in such a way that: the area of medium natural forests is well protected and the total area is unchanged; the entire area of vacant land will be used for Acacia mangium forest and open area kaingin; the area of poor natural forests is replaced by Acacia mangium plantations and kaingin; the area of kaingin doubled by using land from commune vacant land and from poor forest.

From implementing RACSA in Hoa Binh, a new carbon monitoring method has been transferred to Forest Science Institute of Vietnam (FSIV), a leading organization on sivilculture in Viet Nam. The study was carried out by the Forest Science Technology Application Research Centre (FSTARC) within FSIV, a centre for research and science and technology transfer. In recent year, FSIV and FSTARC have conducted research on ability to absorb carbon of some major types of forest, and on building the tree growing criteria for CDM by analyzing the carbon content of plants (above ground biomass) and below ground biomass in soil samples which can be extrapolated to below ground biomass for the whole forest land. However, this research has mainly focused on specific plants while landscape-level carbon stock has received less attention. There is a lack of methods for forecasting the amount of carbon that is absorbed and generated at the landscape level based on local regulations, policies, and schedule for development. Arising from that, the testing of RaCSA is valuable as a new approach which was carried out by a group from FSIV. The RaCSA in Lam Son village produced a good case study for applying RaCSA method in Vietnam and has implications for area where urbanization is exerting increasing pressure on the environment such as by increasing Carbon emission.

 

back to top ▲ Carbon Stock at Plot and Landscape Levels in Tan Thai Commune, Dai Tu District, Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam
By Thai Nguyen University of Agiculture and Forestry (TUAF)

Author: Do Hoang Chung¹, Minh Ha Hoang², Do Trong Hoan^2
1 Forestry Faculty, Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry (TUAF)
² ICRAF Vietnam

Study background

Tan Thai commune is located in Dai Tu district, Thai Nguyen province. The commune belongs to the area of watershed protection forest to protect the catchment of Nui Coc reservoir. Among land uses of the commune, forest land is the dominant (39.05%), following by agriculture land (37.09%) and agriculture land (14.43%). Main income sources for local households are agriculture and forestry activities, such as paddy farming, cattle grazing, tea plantation and forest products exploitation. Tea plantation is the most popular agricultural activity, which contributes to 11.27% of agriculture land, and also gives the highest economic return for farmers among different income sources.

Due to its relatively high economic value, there is an increasing conflict between local demand for tea plantation area and the Government’s need for maintaining protection forest area around the Nui Coc reservoir. The conversion of forest land into tea is assumed to significantly reduce carbon in landscape. However, there is still lack of Carbon data reflecting this assumption, since the carbon accumulation and storage in tree-based land use systems in the areas, including Tan Thai commune, have not yet been quantified. Information on carbon storage by tea plantation, and native forest vegetations and changes in land use system will fill in the gaps.

From April to October, 2009, a study has carried out to assess the current C-stock of four most common land use types and predict C-stock change. RaCSA method was applied in combining with the GIS and satellite images analysis (Table 1).

Table 1. Methods used in five research steps of carbon stock estimation

No	Step	Materials and Methods	Duration	Out puts
1	Scoping	Communal reports . Interview 10 key farmers in four villages, including village leaders, head of women association, knowledgeable farmers. Among them 3 female and 7 male	19 April – 22 May 2009	Issues of the study area were defined through survey of local perception and reviews of secondary reports and data
2	Selection of study land use systems	Land use map (scale: 1: 25 000), topography map (scale: 1: 25 000 of 2007) Using GPS to check location of the main land use systems	19 – 20 April 2009	Study land use systems were defined through analysis of tree coverage on maps and in the fields
3	Study dependency on land use by local people	Questionnaire on household income from four study land use systems (tea, forest plantation, shrubs and grass land, secondary forest), conducted with 25 households	22 – 25 May 2009	Dependency of local people on the main land use systems were defined
4	Carbon estimation	At plot level: Hariah, 2001 At landscape level: RACSA method, 2007	20 – 30 June 2009	Carbon storage of the main land use systems, at plot and landscape levels, including building the logistic equation biomass of tea tree, were defined
5	Scenario development	With assumption that bare land will be used for forest and tea plantation. Carbon estimation for scenarios using measured carbon stock and land use areas in 2009 and 2029	12  - 16 September2009	Scenarios for potential land use changes and landscape carbon were estimated.

General information about the site where the tool is implemented

Tan Thai commune, Dai Tu district in Thai Nguyen province is located about 80 km north of Hanoi, Vietnam, from 21035’21,54” to 21037’20,19” N and 105040’18,40” to 105042’42,51” E (Map 1). It is a mountainous midland commune with elevation from 46 meters to 380 meters above sea level. 791 households with total population of 3715 people are living in the commune of 1900 ha.
 

Figure 1. The study commune - Tan Thai commune, Dai Tu district, Thai Nguyen province

The climate is characterized as humid tropic with two distinct seasons, rainy season from May to October and dry season from October to May. Annual mean rainfall is 1869mm with the highest is 2380mm and the lowest is 1385mm. Annual mean humidity is 70% -80% and annual mean temperature ranges is about 25° C. The highest temperature is in June (32° C) and the coldest in January (11° C). Three main soil categories are (1) mountainous soil formed by the weathering of rocks on the magma, metamorphic and sedimentary; (2) Mountainous soil suitable for forestry development, watershed reforestation, forest protection, forest production; and (3) hills mainly formed on sand, clay powder and old alluvium tectonics. The main land uses are agriculture and forestry, particularly suitable for perennial crops and fruit trees, especially tea (a specialty of the Thai Nguyen). Lands along the streams are scattered and vulnerable to severe flash floods, droughts, etc., thus are less feasible for cultivation.

The main land uses are forest land (39%); agriculture land (14%), where tea occupies 11%; and other lands (47%). The main land use types related to carbon change in the commune identified including forest plantation in the bare land, converting tea plantation to forest plantation, and change of forest species, such as Eucalyptus forest by Acacia forest, as well as forest exploitation.

Main result

Carbon stock of poor secondary forest is about the same as tea plantation

Among the land use systems at around 20 years old, the range of carbon stock of studied land use systems is as follows: Eucalyptus plantation > Tea plantation, Poor secondary forest > Shrubs with tree generation > Shrubs vegetation, Grass vegetation (see Table 1). Other studies in midland of northern Vietnam showed that carbon stock of Eucalyptus plantation of 5 years old is around 70 MgC/ha while poor secondary forest ranges between 24 – 45 MgC/ha (Ngo Dinh Que, 2008).

Table 2. Carbon stock of studied land use types at plot level

 

Landscape carbon stock does not reduce when forest land converse to tea plantation

On the basis of the analysis of policies for protected forests at national and local levels, wish from local people through PRA survey, and own forestry management experiences, the changes in the studied land use systems in coming 20 years are estimated as:

• Eucalyptus plantation turns into bare land after two rotations
• 70 ha (38%) of shrubs alternating tree generation turn into Tea plantation and 112 ha (62%) of shrubs alternating tree regeneration enrich into poor secondary forest
• All grass land regenerate into shrub vegetation.
• All grass vegetation enriches and turn into shrub.

As a result of the above mentioned scenarios, net carbon change at landscape level estimated to increase at + 3500 MgC in 20 years or 174 MgC. year-1. We can say that at the landscape level, carbon stock does not reduce if shrubs alternating trees (forest land) change into tea plantation (Table 2).

Table 3. Estimated landscape carbon in 2009 and projection of 2029.

No	Land cover type	Area*  (ha)		Plot C-stock (MgC/ha)	Landscape C (MgC)
		2009	2029		2009	2029
1	Eucalyptus plantation (15 - 20 ages)	15.5	0	56.39	874	0
2	Tea plantation (20-25 ages)	357.15	427.15	35.57	12704	15194
3	Poor secondary forest (25 ages)	83.35	195.93	33.73	2811	6609
4	Shrubs alternating tree regeneration	182.58	134.7	21.02	3838	2831
5	Shurb vegetation	134.7	68.41	9.2	1239	629
6	Grass vegetation	68.41	15.5	6.02	412	93
Total		841.69	841.69	-	21878	25357

* The study area occupy 44% of the total area of the commune

Reflection on the methodology

RACSA application showed surprises that tea plantation (an AF system) contain almost equal amount of carbon as forest land. Furthermore, tea plantation also provides important co-benefits in terms of economic value of its products that can help to improve livelihood of local people.

Application of RACSA methods for estimation of C-stock at plot level is easy and efficient since it saves time and money. In order to scaling up C-stock from plot to landscape level, availability of spatial data and GIS experts is essential. In this study, we use other way to scaling up, i.e. on the basis of the potential changes in land uses. The findings may help to change perspective of policy makers, when trade off between conservation of forest and promoting AF. It also provides a very useful case study in teaching in the fields of Agroforestry for climate change.

Reference

Kurniatun Hairiah, SM Sitompul, Meine van Noordwijk and Cheryl Palm, 2001.Methods for sampling carbon stocks above and below ground. ASB lecture note 4b. Bogor, Indonesia.

Meine van Noordwijk, 2007. Rapid Carbon Stock Appraisal (RaCSA). ICRAF, Bogor, Indonesia.

Ngo Dinh Que, 2008. Impact of some forest types on enviroment in Vietnam, Agricultural Publishing House.
 

 

back to top ▲ Leng River Watershed, Ba Be District, Bac Kan Province
By ICRAF Vietnam and Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry

Ba Be National Park, surrounding Ba Be Lake, was established in 1992, with a core (protected) area of 10,048 hectares and a buffer zone of 34,702 hectares. Land conflict is a serious problem between the park and local ethnic shifting cultivators in five villages in the Quang Khe commune. Before the 1990s, the community used this land for shifting cultivation and they have no other land available for food production. For the conservation purpose, shifting cultivation is prohibited and villagers cultivate around 210 hectares of 10,048 hectares (about 2% of the park) for growing upland crops such as maize, soybean and cassava. Payment for Environmental Services (PES) as an alternative income for local people is considered as one of important solutions for poverty reduction and conservation in this area.

 

Applying PALA and RHA 

Minh Ha Hoang, Ho Dac Thai Hoang, Tran Thi Phuong, M.van Noordwijk, Nguyen Hoang Quan, Tu Vi Sa

The Leng River basin, upstream of Ba Be Lake has water flowing through the Quang Khe and Dong Phuc communes. This river basin is located within Ba Be district, Bac Kan province, with communes in the core zone (Nam Mau commune) and the buffer zone (Quang Khe commune). Within Dong Phuc commune, the Ta Lang Hydropower plant is under construction and due to come online in the next few years. The Ta Lang Hydropower dam covers 38 km2 and provides 4,500 kw/h, which is very small compared with Na Hang at 342,000 kw/h. These two hydropower companies and tourists to Ba Be Lake should be the potential buyers of this water-related ES provided by land owners/foresters in Ba Be and Pac Nam (Figure 1).

 

Figure 1. Mapping issues of Ba Be lake

 A quick field survey suggests that road and dam construction may well be a greater source of sediment in the river than upland erosion. Extensive rice areas exist in the valley of the Len River that are periodically flooded and potentially transfer nutrients and pesticide to the river and lake. Reduction in chemical use may have to be negotiated as a voluntary scheme to secure the water quality in the lake. Given the size of the sub-catchment and the potential resources through visitors to the park, such a scheme may be feasible.

Field surveys, with 2 weeks of PaLA and 2 weeks of RHA, were carried out by an interdisciplinary team of five members in summer 2009 in Leng river basin. The objectives are:

1. To define upstream-downstream relationships using PaLA
2. To define causes-effects of land-use changes in upstream areas to water quality and quantity of Leng river, using RHA.

The findings from PaLA and RHA will be used for the development of perform-based mechanism of rewarding upland poor, who provides water ES through forest conservation. Several PRA tools such as village sketches, transects, timeline, together with brainstorming techniques were applied during the PaLA to identify local perceptions related to water relationship between upstream and downstream areas in Leng river basin as well as two sub-catchments within Dong Phuc and Quang Khe communes. Impacts of forest on water and water on cultivation were further analysed during RHA survey. The RHA surveys focused for gathering LEK and GIS data and maps to catch water-land use relationship patterns at landscape level. Administrative borders from village to communal and district levels were used as strata for stakeholders sampling (Figure 2).

 

Figure 2. Stakeholders sampling and studied issues

Primary data include present land use and agricultural production of local communities, stream system and its “hotplots” on Ta Leng river watershed, hydrological feature river system. Ground trust of land use were collected with local key participants which were recorded during group discussion, and key informants interview.

Secondary data for the study including socio-economic information of Bac Kan, Ba Be and three relative communes, land use map, spatial information and geographical information system were also collected. Socio-economic data were collected by mean of group discussion at province, district and commune levels. Spatial and geographical information system of Ta Leng river watershed covers an area of approximately 16,708 ha. Maps were digitized from maps of administrative boundary of Nam Mau, Quang Khe and Dong Phuc; geology map of three commune at scale 1:10,000; land use map (1:250,000); forest and forest land map (2007); Landsat images of 1994, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 were gathered from U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Geological Survey (http://glovis.usgs.gov).

Reviews of secondary data showed that Ta Leng river watershed (22016’ N to 22028 N and 105034’ E to 105047 E, Fig. 2) is located at the valley of Phiabjooc mountains of Ba Be district, which covers about 16,708 ha, and occupies almost three communes, Dong Phuc, Quang Khe and Nam Mau, in the valley of Phiabjooc mountain range. The topography is partitioned strongly, slopping 150 – 230 with many small streams watering to Ta Leng river with the total population of around 15,000 people, of which ethnic minority occupies about 80% of the total population. Three main ethnic groups in the study site are Tay, Nung, Dao. The valley area generally falls under the typically high mountain climate in the North of Vietnam with 2 main seasons, the rainy season from April to September and the dry season being from October to March of the next year. Annual rainfall is about 1,450 mm and 60% of them concentrates on June and July. The partitioned topography in the upstream and downstream the river and impacts of illegal forest cutting for agricultural land created 6 land use types, which are natural forest in limestone, shrub, hilly agricultural cultivation, terrace paddy rice and water body of Ta Leng river. About 54% of the total household of Dong Phuc, Quang Khe and Nam Mau commune are listed in poor household (2007). Actually, poverty in Bac Kan province is the highest in Viet Nam with an average income of USD 309 per head, or about VND 4.95 million (Minot and Epprecht, 2003; VASI, IRRI, IRD, 1999).

PaLA findings on upstream and downstream relationship

No clear cause-effect relationship between deforestation and water availability along the main Leng river basin
Water plays a very important role in rice cultivation and domestic use of all villages in three studied communes. Most of interviewed stakeholders in all levels (village, communal and district) perceived forest cover in upstream relates closely with water availability in downstream. But this relationship does not clearly shown in the large Leng river basin. GIS map analysis of the whole Leng river watershed shows more forest was in downstream - Nam Mau commune, followed by Quang Khe commune in the middle part of the watershed, and least forest in the upstream commune - Dong Phuc. Furthermore, the comparative analyses of water issues in three villages Pac Ngoi village (in Nam Mau), Cho Leng village (in Quang Khe) and Ban Chan village (in Dong Phuc) do not show any clear cause and effect relationship between deforestation and water availability. (Table 1)

Table 1. Water-related issues and causes of three villages in upper, middle and downstream of Leng river basin

Ban Chan village (upstream)	Cho Leng village (middle)	Pac Ngoi village (downstream)
Water-related issues
Lack of water Agricultural cultivation mainly depend on rain water Disease Deforestation Cattle grazing in the forest Shifting cultivation Water pollution	Lack of water River bank erosion Lack of land for cultivation Flooding Cattle grazing in forest Shifting cultivation	Flooding Cattle disease after flood occurrence Environment pollution
Timeline of water-related issues
Deforestation from 1989 to 1994 Water resources recover by time since 2000 Depending on water available of local streams (Khuay Bon and Ta Khit streams)	Deforestation from 1989 to 1994 Water resources recover by time since 2000 Depending on water resource (Leng river and Khuay Sao stream)	Deforestation from 1989 to 1994 1992 protection by Ba Be NP   Not much depending on water resource

Number of terrace fields and forest coverage in upstream villages influents water availability in downstream villages
Different topography and partition of mountains created sub-catchments for smaller streams to discharge water to the main streams of the river. Two among 17 sub-catchments found within Leng river basin were selected for deeper studies. The first sub-catchment is in Quang Khe commune and covers Na Le village in upstream area and Na Chom village in downstream area. The second sub-catchment is in Dong Phuc commune covering Tan Lung village in upstream and Ban Chan village in downstream areas. Through spatial and temporal analyses, it was found that within each sub-catchment, water availability in downstream village depends not only on forest cover in the upstream village but also area of terrace rice fields. The larger are of terrace fields in upstream the less water in downstream. Forest protection and conservation was considered by both upstream and downstream villages as main solution for water conservation for long run while irrigation channels building for better distribution of water is option for a short term basis.
 

RHA findings

Land formulation and land lost due to water flows from upstream to downstream areas

Findings from GIS map analysis showed that most of streams originate from natural forest in the higher mountains of Dong Phuc commune and along the river throught shrub areas, terrace paddy field to the main Ta Leng river The different altitude between the upstream end and the downstream end of the river is about 50 m but its length is about 19 km, therefore, it is not a speedy-flowing river. This explains the formulation of new land along the river. On the other hand, many opinions of interviewed stakeholders about direction of strong water flows can erode land along the river other sides of river (as the lost for land users). In short, water flows with sedimentation from upstream areas can bring both winning and losing situation to lowland farmers along the river. But sediment and alluvial soil is also narrowing areas of Ba Be Lake at Pac Ngoi village (located at the downstream end of Leng river). Drought in dry seasons and flood in rainy seasons with higher frequency were recorded by FGD meeting in Pac ngoi village.

Implication of PaLA and RHA findings for PES/RES negotiation

Awareness on the importance of forest protection as main solution for water conservation, particularly important for terrace rice should be used for the negotiation between communities that provide water service and those benefit from the service. Forest coverage over time against areas of rice irrigation can be used as indicators for participatory PES/RES and monitoring.

Links between deforestation rate in upstream villages, sedimentation accumulation and frequency of flooding in Pac Ngoi village in downstream end of Leng river, found by RHA, are good indicators of causes and effects. That potentially can be served for the negotiation of rewarding the poor upstream communities by the better-off communities living in surrounding areas of Ba Be lake. If more scientific evidences are obtained, these cause-effect relationships can also be served for negotiating with tourist branch of the province and district for sharing tourist fees at Ba Be lake for the forest conservation works in upstream areas of Leng river catchment.

Reflection on the methodology

The temporal PRA tools such as village history, timeline and seasonal calendar tools are useful for defining trends especially factors influencing water. Seasonal calendar, where crop cultivation activities were visualized together with rainfall over one year, has been shown to be a good tool for analyzing water availability. The spatial PRA tools such as village sketch and transect walk are important for defining hotspots for deeper studies in each village as well as inter villages. With the support from Global Position System (GPS), findings from transect walk was able to link with GIS maps. Participatory GIS mapping was used to identify sub-catchments that are the basic maps for participatory identification of water system and land use systems, transect walk with key informants to get local information.

The PaLA method, that required four weeks to explore, plan and implement, was reasonably successful in clarifying the general understanding and perception of the local people on upstream and downstream relationship and impacts of land use on water in sub watershed and watershed scales. The result of PaLA method in Local Ecological Knowledge was used as one important part of Rapid Hydrological Appraisal (RHA).

The RHA applied in this case is limited to LEK and some GIS data and maps. However, in order to obtain SEK more useful data on soil, water, hydrology, weather, vegetation, human activities, should be gathered. GenRiver recommended as modeling part of RHA is a semi-distributed process-based model that extends a plot-level water balance to sub-catchment level but it needs various data, and thus may not be applicable to Ta Leng conditions. Due to data/time limitation in the study areas, a model simpler than GenRiver in term of data requirement should be applied to the watershed. An action plan for 2010 is prepared for obtaining inputs for this simple modeling (Nguyen Cao Don, 2010).

References

Nguyen Cao Don, 2010. Report on Short-term study on Leng river watershed, RUPES project, Bac Kan province. ICRAF Vietnam

 

RaCSA Application

In the case of Quang Khe commune, RaCSA was used in assessing/estimating carbon stocks in different agroforestry land use systems such as shifting cultivation, home garden, fruit garden and secondary forest. The total time averaged carbon stock from secondary forest was shown to be largest while that from shifting cultivation was the smallest. Similarly, the below-ground carbon stock will be reduced significantly if land use changes from secondary forest to home garden, fruit garden or shifting cultivation. During the implementation, it was found that participation by local people and staff plays a key role that determines the success of RaCSA method in assessing carbon stock of different land use systems. Information on land use history, land use planning (preferred future land use systems and demands for expanding any particular systems), and the rotation time for each system is essential for defining boundaries and for calculating time average carbon stock of different systems. Moreover, the participation of local people in these research activities help them understand roles of trees in carbon sequestration, effects of land use changes, as well as what they can benefit if they manage and protect these land use systems effectively.

The scenario analysis shows that the total carbon stock for the landscape will continue to decrease by 39,743 Mg C in the scenario that the land use change patterns from 1995 to 2008 are to continue for the 2009 - 2020 period. In contrast, the total carbon stock will increase by nearly 4,000 Mg C in the scenario where population growth and forest management are well controlled and there is no shifting from secondary forest to other land use systems. This suggests the crucial role of good management for secondary forest ecosystem and reduction of shifting cultivation activies in Quang Khe. Changes in carbon stock for each scenario is crucial to assess potential for PES/RES projects in the area, and can be considered as a determining factor for choosing appropriate land use systems when the project is selected.

 

back to top ▲ Testing the Rapid Hydrological Appraisal (RHA) and Participatory Landscape Analysis (PaLA) tools for Coc Lake in Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam
By Thai Nguyen University (TUAF)

Coc Lake is an artificial waterbody located in Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam. It was created by a dam on the Cong River in Phuc Triu commune, Thai Nguyen City; this river is part of the larger Cau River watershed. The Coc Lake catchment covers around 535km². Its water surface area is about 25km². Coc Lake plays a role in supplying water for 12,000 ha of agricultural land as well as Thai Nguyen City. The lake’s beautiful surrounding landscape has also made it a very famous tourist destination. However, the impacts of human activities on natural resources are now a big problem. Natural resource protection and environment service payments need to be assessed and evaluated as soon as possible.

The RHA testing in Coc Lake was the first RHA implementation site in Vietnam as part of the field work during the first TULSEA training for Vietnamese partners. The research was further developed by staff from Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry to assess the applicability of GIS model in RHA method. It was shown that applying digital elevation model (DEM) can rapidly and accurately determine watershed borders. In this research, Arc GIS 9.2 and Arc View 3.3 software were employed to map the rivers, streams, roads, bridges, drains, land use and DEM model. Furthermore, the combination of LEK, PEK and GIS data helped define PES potentials and issues for the negotiation when introducing environmental service fees in the watershed of Nui Coc lake. A local ecological knowledge (LEK) survey provided quantitative information on a time line of changes in water quantity and annual hydrological regulations in the research area. Transect walks in the upstream, middle and downstream villages provided a better picture of land use patterns and relationships between land use changes, water quantity and quality issues. PEK was conducted to study knowledge, awareness, and planning of the governmental institutions/organizations and various stakeholders, that have connections with Nui Coc Lake watershed, such as irrigation enterprise, protective forest management board.

The RHA in Coc Lake was combined with PaLA application using the GIS. By linking findings from transect walks, including information from local key informants, with GIS maps, places with major issues and cause-effect relationships between upstream and downstream can be drawn. Similarly, the combination of GIS and PaLA were effective in identifying boundary of the watershed, while data collected by PaLA helped select hotspots within that boundary.

 

back to top ▲ RHA Application in Binh Thanh commune, Cao Phong District, Hoa Binh Province
By Research Centre for Forest Ecology and Environment (RCFEE) and ICRAF Vietnam

Binh Thanh commune of Cao Phong district of Hoa Binh province locates in watershed area of Hoa Binh reservoir hydropower plant, with its coordinate is from 20047’20”-20049’00” North and 105016’30”-105018’00” East. This area has altitude of 300m asl, with slope of 25-30⁰ and strongly separate topography condition. The annual average temperature in this area is 23⁰C and the annual average rainfall is 1,800-2,200 mm. These bio-physical conditions create numerous of streams such as: Cai, Tran, Chieu and Nu. They supply water sources to Hoa Binh hydropower plant and production and livings of the local people.

The main soil types in this area is Ferasol, that was developed on neutral basic magma. This soil type is relatively good for forest development. There are approximately 1,730 hectare of forest land (occupied 66,3% of the total of land area) in Binh Thanh commune, whereas the area of natural forest land is 884 ha and the plantation forest land is 846 ha. Forests distribute widely in this area has remarkably contributed to regulate water for many streams that supply water for life and production of local people and influence on production of Hoa Binh hydro prower plant indirectly. These forests also are being considered to play the important roles in protecting this area as they can reduce soil erosion and restrict flood in rainy season. The Forests also contribute to economic development and stable the local people’s life. Local people are the beneficiaries who use forest products, receive the protection from forests and at the same time they are also the people who protect forests.

RHA in Binh Thanh commune, a sub-watershed of Hoa Binh hydropower dam, provided a useful lesson learnt about the importance of selecting an RHA research site of suitable scale and issues. Due to the importance of Hoa Binh hydropower plant, a largest power plant in Vietnam, the need to study water environmental service is acknowledged. However, the RHA study was for a small site in Binh Thanh commune sub-watershed only, because of limitations in budget and timeframe. Given that the total volume of the Hoa Binh dam is 9,000,000m³, the assessment of water contribution from the selected sub-watershed in Binh Thanh commune is marginal.
 

back to top ▲ Biomass and Carbon Stocks Inventory of Perennial Vegetation in the Chieng Khoi watershed, Northwest Vietnam
By University of Hohenheim, Dept. of Plant Production and Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics, Stuttgart, Germany, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Vietnam, Institute for Agricultural Environment, Hanoi University of Agriculture, and Center for Agricultural Research and Ecological Studies (CARES)

Author: O. Zemek¹, C. Marohn¹, T. Hilger¹, M.H. Hoang², V.D. Tuan^1,3, N.T. Lam⁴, G. Cadisch^1
1 University of Hohenheim, Dept. of Plant Production and Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics, Stuttgart, Germany
² World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Hanoi, Vietnam
³ Institute for Agricultural Environment, Hanoi, Vietnam
⁴ Hanoi University of Agriculture, Center for Agricultural Research and Ecological Studies (CARES), Hanoi, Vietnam
 

Study background

The mountainous regions of Northern Vietnam witnessed drastic changes in land use during the last decades. Nowadays, large parts of the steep slopes are intensively cropped with maize and cassava, leading to soil erosion and fertility depletion. One strategy for farmers to maintain or improve their welfare level is to diversify their incomes.

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects may be one option to provide new income opportunities through financial compensation and employment for the increasing population and at the same time help to use the land more sustainably.

This study was carried out in the Chieng Khoi commune, Yen Chau District, Son La province in NW Viet Nam (Fig. 1) within the special research program Research for Sustainable Land Use and Rural Development in Mountainous Regions of Southeast Asia (SFB 564 – The Uplands Program).

Several steps of the Rapid Carbon Stock Appraisal (RaCSA) approach were used to provide primary data on perennial biomass and related C stocks as well as changes in C stocks and at the same time to assess the local potential for and benefits from mitigating climate change.

In a subsequent step the derived data was used to determine niches of the surveyed land uses that have the potential to increase aboveground (AGB) C stocks, by discussing different scenarios and finally evaluating the feasibility and outcomes making a CDM project beneficial for local farmers and the international community.

Figure 1. Location of the study area, Chieng Khoi commune. (Graphics and maps adapted from SFB 564-The Uplands Program 2009).

Based on a pre-survey 10 representative perennial land use systems were defined and investigated using a nested sampling plot design (Fig. 2). Overall, twenty 100m² nested sample plots were established, representing 2 plots per land cover type (LCT). The LCTs comprised: Protected natural tropical semi-deciduous forest, grazed secondary and bamboo forest, plantations of Tectona grandis, Mangifera spp., Dimocarpus longan, Musa ssp. (basjoo and paradisiaca), Chukrasia tabularis, Pinus massoniana and a mixed fruit tree plantation (including Artocarpus heterophyllus, Tamarindus sp., Dimocarpus longan and Mangifera indica). The survey area of two plots, respectively the sampled area per LCT, comprised samplings of over-, mid- and understorey vegetation and coarse litter on 2 x 100m², 2 x 25m², 4 x 1m² and 8 x 0.25m², respectively.


Figure 2. Nested sampling plot design adapted from Ponce-Hernandez (2004).

Aboveground biomass parameters of trees were measured non-destructively and parameters of mid- and understorey vegetation and coarse litter were sampled destructively. To compare the different land cover types the obtained data was time-averaged, according to the ASB (Alternatives to Slash-and-Burn Program) (Palm et al. 1999) - protocol. To explore local ecological knowledge (LEK) and to obtain public ecological knowledge (PEK) of tree/forest management and existing spatial planning rules farmers and local authorities were interviewed. GIS maps and interview outputs were used for temporal and spatial land cover change analysis.

Main result

At stand ages of 12 and 20 years, ABG carbon stocks of timber and fruit tree based systems differed significantly (Fig. 3). The calculated annual ABG carbon accumulation rate was 1.80, 0.73, 0.40 and 0.51 MgC ha^-1 for mango, longan, banana and the mixed fruit tree plantation. For the teak, Chukrasia tabularis and pine plantations the annual carbon accumulation rate was 3.78, 1.96 and 6.03 MgC ha^-1. Carbon accumulation of the secondary, bamboo and protected natural forest was annually 1.59, 3.84 and 4.35 MgC ha^-1 a^-1, respectively.

As shown in Table 2 CDM projects highly depend on the actual market price of carbon in order to be economically reasonable. Looking at the number of households it becomes obvious that there would have to be a framework that links the single households together. There will be a need for improved timber and non-timber product markets and lastly all these benefits will only be feasible when farmers are willing to participate. Extension services will have to inform farmers about climate change and the importance of their participation.

Figure 3. Time-averaged total ABG C-stock of 20 year old timber, fruit tree plantations and fallow land (forests). Differences were significant for timber vs. fruit tree plantations, as well as for fallow land (forests) vs fruit tree plantations.

Table 1. Time-averaged aboveground carbon stocks of land use systems sampled in Chieng Khoi.

Based on the estimated time-averaged aboveground C accumulation rates (Table 1), two scenarios for the implementation of CDM-projects were developed (Table 2):

• Scenario 1: The reforestation of upland fields, i.e. replacing maize and cassava cropping by pine tree plantations.
• Scenario 2: The replacement of extensively cultivated mango fruit tree plantations by teak tree plantations.

Moreover studies including the soil carbon storage pool have to be conducted. Since the scenarios were developed on the basis of carbon ES only, further socio-economic studies need to be conducted to predict the impacts of land use changes due to scenarios on livelihood of local people, before any policy recommendation on trade-off between CDM and economic development will be developed. The socio-economic studies in connection with scenarios developed will also enhance awarenss among local farmers on climate change topic. At the study moment, none of the interviewed farmers in this study had any idea about climate change.

 

Table 2. Two possible CDM-project scenarios

Reflection on the methodology

he detailed inventorying used in this study revealed important information in terms of variability of C stocks with perennial land use systems in the commune of Chieng Khoi. In order to increase the practical value of the tool at regional scale, scaling up carbon at plot level to landscape level is needed. Spatical data, PRA together with Land Use Change Impact Assessment (LUCIA) will definitely be useful to dynamically estimate carbon stocks and flows under different land use scenarios. which can help policy makers to evaluate, decide on and implement Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) or Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) projects.The information collected here may contribute to further develop and calibrate broader scale methods based on remote sensing and modelling approches, such as FALLOW and LUCIA. Results generated by the latter can be applied for land use planning authorities in Yen Chau people committee, and may thus improve the management of natural resources for sustainable development in the Northern Mountainous Region in Viet Nam. Further studies aiming at analyzing the feasibility of C sequestration in land-use systems should focus on the long-term continuity of C storage and biodiversity, on the potential for belowground C sequestration, and on social factors that may influence adoption of C sequestration practices.

References

Palm, C. A., Woomer, P. L., Alegre, J., Arevalo, L., Castilla, C., Cordeiro, D. G., Feigl, B., Hairiah, K., Kotto-Same, J., Mendes, A., Moukam, A., Murdiyarso, D., Njomgang, R., Parton, W. J., Ricse, A., Rodrigues, V., Sitompul, S. M. and van Noordwijk, M. 1999. ASB (Alternatives to Slash-and-Burn Program). Carbon sequestration and trace gas emissions in slash-and-burn and alternative land uses in the humid tropics. CLIMATE CHANGE WORKING GROUP FINAL REPORT. PHASE II. Nairobi, Kenya. Available online at http://www.asb.cgiar.org/pdfwebdocs/ Climate%20Change%20WG%20reports/Climate%20Change%20WG%20report.pdf, accessed 30/11/2009.

PONCE-HERNANDEZ, R. 2004. Assessing carbon stocks and modelling win–win scenarios of carbon sequestration through land-use changes. FAO, Rome.

SFB 564-THE UPLANDS PROGRAM 2009. Available online at: https://www.uni-hohenheim.de/sfb564/
 

back to top ▲