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In April, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Vietnam trained people involved in natural resources management in Bac Kan province in a range of tools to facilitate community participation in payment schemes for forest environmental services (PFES).
ﾑThey are flexible tools that can be adapted to the specific context in which they are used. Blanket approaches that aren't context specific will not be effective or sustainable. These tools provide a means for engaging the local community to collect data and make collective plans for managing their land,' ICRAF Vietnam country representative, Minh Ha Hoang said.
A Training of Trainers (TOT) approach was taken to ensure capacity building for stakeholders at provincial level from three districts, including Nari, Pak nam and Ba Be.
ﾑFor PFES to be implemented it is essential that there is widespread knowledge and understanding of these tools and their use. For this reason we have focused on training trainers who can then share their skills with others,' Ms Hoang said.
The ﾑTool Box in Natural Resources Management and Payment for Environmental Services in Vietnam (TUL Vietnam)' training was conducted in partnership with the IFAD project ﾑPro-Poor Partnership for Agroforestry Development (3PAD)' in Bac Kan province to support their PFES work among poor upland farmers in the province.
Four keys tools were covered including: Participatory Landscape Analysis (PALA) to assist decision making around land-use and land-use change; Participatory analysis of Poverty, Livelihoods and Environment Dynamics (PAPOLD) for identifying fair and sustainable payment mechanisms and target groups; Reverse Auction (RA) for the negotiation of payments for environmental services; and Rapid Carbon Stock Appraisal (RACSA) for identifying carbon Environmental Services.
RA was an important inclusion in the workshop in order to introduce it to Vietnam where it has not yet been used. Similar methods have been tried by ICRAF in Malawi and Indonesia.
The PALA and RACSA tools were brought to life in two weeks of in-field tests ensuring participants could successfully apply the tools in their local context. Opportunities to practice RA and PAPOLD are planned for later in the year.
ﾑGroup activities and discussions are very important for training in these tools. Participants came from various areas and levels-the exchange of ideas and knowledge is essential for the PES network across the province,' Mr Luong Chi Cong, Provincial Forestry Management Planner from 3PAD said.
ﾑThe PRA application, PALA, PAPOLD and RA tools are really useful for participants from the district level. They will use these tools to implement PES on the local level. RACSA and RA will be particularly suitable to technical staff working at the province level,' Mr Cong said.
ICRAF and 3PAD are currently piloting PFES in Bac Kan province with the backing of a new government policy which took effect in January 2011. The scheme has the potential not only to alleviate poverty in some of the poorest areas of Vietnam but also make a significant contribution to environmental sustainability.
The workshop also provided the opportunity for representatives from ICRAF and the 3PAD to celebrate a new partnership with the signing of a contract for the provision of technical assistance to the project. ICRAF Vietnam will support 3PAD with the development of mechanisms for Payments and Rewards for Environmental Services (PES/RES) in Bac Kan province.
The workshop was part of the Trees in multi-use landscapes in Southeast Asia (TUL-SEA) project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Deutsche Gesellschaft f�rTechnische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ).
Photo 2: Rohit Jindal asks workshop participants to sell him their mobile phones during a mock auction.
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Photo 3: A workshop participant in a mock auction submits a bid for the sale of his mobile phone.
Photo 4: A group debates the significance of organisations to create a VENN diagram-a method for data collection taught in the workshop.