His Excellency Hua Duc Nhi, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Director General of Vietnam Administration of Forestry, led a large group on a field visit to Bac Kan province, 3-5 June 2011.

Staffs from the ICRAF Vietnam office joined the trip because of their involvement with the Pro-Poor Partnerships for Agroforestry Development (3PAD) project in the province. The ICRAF team, through researching, had been recommending policy implications for improving the livelihoods of local people through agroforestry.

The group also included Dr. Hoang Ngoc Duong, chairman of the Bac Kan People's Committee, leaders of relevant Bac Kan government agencies such as departments of Agriculture and Rural Development; Finance, Planning and Investment; Forest Protection, and the heads of Quang Khe commune and Kim Hy Nature Reserve and representatives from the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute and the UN REDD program.

The field trip was timed to coincide with World Environment Day (5 June) and formed part of activities associated with marking the International Year of Forests. The main objective of the trip was to discuss opportunities and challenges for cooperating in forest protection and development in Bac Kan and collaborating on the implementation of new initiatives in the forestry sector. In particular, the trip allowed time to discuss preparations for the forthcoming pilot forest inventory and explore possibilities for implementing Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation plus Conservation (REDD+) mechanisms in the province.

The delegates had meetings with Bac Kan People's Committee, Quang Khe Commune People's Committee and the management board of Kim Hy Nature Reserve.
At the meetings, ICRAF staff made presentations to the Vice-Minister and representatives about projects that are being implemented in the province, such as Rewards for, Use of, and Shared Investment in, Pro-poor Environmental Services (RUPES), Reducing Emissions from All Land Uses (REALU) and opportunities for any REDD+ mechanism to receive forthcoming project results.

At Quang Khe commune in Ba Be district, Pham Van Tang Chairman of People's Committee expressed his great appreciation to ICRAF's RUPES project and the 3-PAD project for their contribution to improving the livelihoods of local people by introducing payments for environmental services schemes, aspects of which included eco-tourism, afforestation and improvement of water sources.

At the meeting with Kim Hy Nature Reserve in Na Ri district, ICRAF Vietnam staff took the opportunity to present the REALU project's activities in Lang San and Van Minh communes, including analysis of landscapes and livelihoods of local people, identifying carbon stocks of some major land uses and opportunity cost analyses for REDD+ implementation. These activities are providing valuable data for creating the project idea note and project design document for selling carbon credits from community forests in some villages in the two communes.

During the visit, the Vice-Minister, who was born in the province, expressed his gratitude and desire to continue to contribute to innovation and development in Bac Kan. The Vice Minister and the delegates highly appreciate pro-poor payments for environmental services projects and international non-governmental organisations included ICRAF Vietnam as one of the key actors contributing to poverty reduction and development in the Bac Kan.

Photo 1: (Above) Mr. Do Trong Hoan - ICRAF Vietnam technical staff reported initial achievements of ICRAFﾑs RUPES project in Bac Kan to the Vice Minister and the delegates.

Photo 2: Vice Minister Hua Duc Nhi and the delegates at the meeting in Bac Kan People's Committee.

Photo 3: Mr. Hoang Van Giap - Director of 3-PAD project and ICRAF technical staffs at the meeting in Bac Kan People's Committee.

Photo 4: Publications of RUPES and REALU project were distributed during the meeting.

Photo 5: The Vice Minister and the delegates.

Editor: Robert Finlayson
Photos: ICRAF Vietnam/Nguyen Ngoc Huyen