This year, with the backing of a new government policy, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Vietnam will pilot some of the first payments to poor village communities in north-east Vietnam for the environmental services their forests provide.

The Payments for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) 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. ICRAF will collaborate with communities in Pac Nam, Ba Be and Na Ri districts in Bac Kan province to test methods and tools to prepare the communities to receive payments.

Forests provide a number of essential services including: protecting soil, lakes, rivers and streams from the effects of erosion; maintaining water sources for production and living activities; storing carbon and reducing emissions; supporting underwater agriculture; and protecting natural beauty and biodiversity which supports tourism. The Bac Kan trial will result in payments for a ﾑbundle' of services including carbon storage.

The first-ever pilot in Vietnam concluded recently in Lam Dong and Son La provinces and created the foundation for the development of the governments new policy-Decree 99. The decree stipulates specific users who will be required to make payments for the environmental services they use. These include users such as hydro-power plants, clean water production facilities, industrial production facilities, and tourism companies or individuals.

As part of the project work in Na Ri district, ICRAF will test mechanisms for supporting communities to participate in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+). The government's Decree 99 policy does not specify who will pay for the carbon storage and emission reduction service. At present, those who will potentially pay for this service are voluntary buyers and the national REDD+ pilot program coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The team from ICRAF will work with farmers in four villages and other key stakeholders to assess and document the communities ability to manage the forest to maintain, sustain and increase it's capacity to store carbon. They will assist the village to produce documentation as ﾑproof' of this capacity to attract potential carbon buyers.

These village communities were the first in Vietnam to receive whole-community land tenure. As part of this process they established rules for maintenance, use and protection of forests. These initiatives have placed them as potentially ideal candidates to engage the emerging international carbon market and to participate in the REDD+ pilot.

As one of the few countries selected to test the REDD+ mechanisms and one of the few projects testing at the community level, this pilot will provide valuable learning both for Vietnam and the world.

Photo 1 (above): A farmer in Na Ri district, Bac Kan province proudly displays the ﾑRed book' certification for whole-community forest land tenure. ICRAF will work with farmers and other key stakeholders to assess and document the communities ability to manage the forest and whole landscape to maintain, sustain and increase it's capacity to store carbon. Photo: ICRAF Vietnam/Lisa Fitzgerald

Photo 2: Forests provide a number of essential services including maintaining water sources for production and living activities. Photo: ICRAF Vietnam/Lisa Fitzgerald

Photo 3: Farmers provide valuable knowledge to ICRAF scientist during a field visit in Na Ri district, Bac Kan province. Community participation is essential to the success of PFES initiatives in Vietnam. Photo: ICRAF Vietnam/Lisa Fitzgerald