“Recognizing the importance

and benefits of REDD+, Vietnam

has proactively taken early steps

to implement REDD+. Vietnam is

one of nine first countries select-

ed to pilot the UN-REDD Pro-

gramme and also one of the first

countries to receive approval of

its Readiness Plan Idea Note (R-

PIN) under the Forest Carbon

Partnership Facility (FCPF) initia-

tive of the World Bank (WB). The

Government of Vietnam, UN-

REDD Programme and World

Bank are providing joint support

to REDD+ readiness preparation"

- VRO -

Main Contents Review NRAP Progress

Vietnam’s R-Package ap-proved and Emissions Re-duction Program Document submitted

Progress on the SIS and SOI development

JICA's TCP in REDD+ up and running

Ethnic Minority Network in UN-REDD Programme -Promoting full and effective Participation

Participatory assessment for forest governance en-hancement

Global REDD+ implemen-tation

Forest of Ngu Chi Son mountain, Lao Cai Photo by: DuGia

Vietnam REDD+ Office Vietnam REDD+ Office (VRO) is a standing body, assisting the National REDD+

Steering Committee (NRSC) in Vietnam, under the direct instruction of the NRSC

Chairman and management of the Director General of the Vietnam Administration of

Forestry (VNFOREST). VRO is responsible for the proposal and organization of

activities related to REDD+ and forest carbon credits, as stipulated in Article 2 of

Decision No. 106/QD-BNN-TCCB dated 05/3/2016 of the Minister of Agriculture and

Rural Development (MARD).

December, 2016

NEWSLETTER

REDD+ In the recent years, the role of forests and forestry in environmental protection and climate change adaptation is widely

recognized, particularly in the context of Vietnam, as one of countries most affected by the impacts of climate change. Along with

the joint efforts of the international community, Vietnam has become one of the first countries participating in the REDD+

initiatives and has taken steps to prepare for REDD+ readiness. With new successes of the international negotiations recently,

REDD+ has become an important factor supporting efforts to respond to climate change not only at the global and regional level

but also at national level, contributing to the overall development of the forest sector in Vietnam, and particularly promoting its

restructuring process.

REDD+ newsletters REDD+ newsletters are communication products in the communication plan of the

VRO, providing information on REDD+ policies and activities from all REDD+

programs and projects in Vietnam and other countries. REDD+ newsletters are

elaborated and released on a quarterly basis to the NRSC and relevant ministries,

committees, provinces as well as to relevant REDD+ program and projects and donor

community.

Newsletter No.1

Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) was assigned by the MARD assigned to coordinate with UN-REDD Program Phase II to hold the National cconsultation workshop on the Draft Decision of the Prime Minister ap-proving the National REDD+ Action Pro-gramme from 2016 to 2020 and a vision to 2030 in Ha Noi on 2/11/2016 getting comments and recommendation from target REDD+ provinces, relevant international organizations and projects and experts and managers on some certain content as well as the entire draft Decision.

MARD is sending the official dispatch to the ministries concerned, target REDD+ provinces implementing pilots REDD+ programs and projects to get comments in writing for the Draft Decision of the Prime Minister approving the National REDD+ Action Programme from 2016 to 2020 and a vision to 2030.

Technical guidance at Binh Thuan Photo by: Hoang Van Mat

Review NRAP Progress Pham Van Binh, VRO

The initiative of “Reducing Emissions from Efforts to reduce Deforestation and Forest Degradation, Sustainable Management of Forests, Forest Carbon Stocks Conservation and Enhancement” (called REDD+ initiative) is an international initiative in the Unit-ed Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). To facilitate the implementation of this initiative, “National REDD+ Action Programme 2011 – 2020” at was approved by the Prime Minister at Decision No. 799/QD-TTg (Decision 799) on 27 June 2012. After 4 years of implementation, the REDD+ Action Programme has achieved a number of outputs as follow:

Making a contribution to capacity building and institution development for REDD+ activities management, such as: propaganda, educa-tion and training for staffs; organization establishment; establishing a system of REDD+ implementation organization, management and coordination; guiding the establishment of provincial REDD+ action plan;

The Forest Reference Emission Level (FRELs/FRLs) was submitted to UNFCCC by Vietnam; Measurement, Report and Verification (MRV) system was built based on existing system;

The Scheme of Vietnam REDD+ Fund was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; and further research and model setup for its organization and operation in ongoing;

Pilot REDD+ projects were implemented. 24 provinces have been chosen for REDD+ pilot implementation so far;

Experience exchange, sharing and cooperation with regional countries on REDD+ were promoted;

However, primary assessment of Decision 799 implementation shows following main issues:

Legal framework on REDD+ was not completed, such as: legal papers have not been issued on forest carbon rights, financial resources from REDD+ management mechanism; appraisal and verification of emissions reduction result; priority REDD+ areas and activities at national level were not clearly identified;

Core factors of REDD+ under Warsaw Framework (COP 19) were not fully established, such as: Measurement, Reporting and Verification system (MRV), Safeguards Information Systems (SIS), REDD+ Monitoring and Evaluation system; Vietnam REDD+ Fund was not set up;

REDD+ network operated irregularly, ineffeciently and lack of orientation; coordination function of the network was weak and dependent on the support of other projects for operation;

Coorporation and experience sharing with other countries in the regon was limited.

Drivers of the above issues:

REDD+ was a new topic, many requirements rising on the process of REDD+ implementation were not met by Vietnam in such a short time due to a shortage of staffs and experts in REDD+ and climate change, and had to ask for support of international experts causing a delay in implementation;

Local financial resources for REDD+ implementation was limited; the resources mobilized from society, especially enterprises were inconsiderable and it was mainly based on international sponsorship;

The coordination among state authorities at all levels involved in REDD+, especially agriculture and rural development, natural resources and environment and finance were limited; the focus was mainly with agriculture and rural development;

It took time to proceed consultation compliant to international requirement; REDD+ agreements was scheduled to be signed sooner and more comprehensively but the fact did not happen as expected; this led a delay in some activities;

Too many changes were made in international negotiations on REDD+, many technical REDD+ guidelines were approved Intended Nationally Determined Contribution of Vietnam (Vietnam’s INDC) was submitted by Vietnam Government, of which Vietnam

was committed to reduce GHG emissions by 8% with domestic resources by 2030 compared to the Business as Usual scenario (BAU). The above-mentioned contribution could be increased up to 25% with international support.

From those basic reasons, it is critical to admend and supplement the Decision 799 to create a favorable legal basis for organizing National REDD+ Action Programme effectively, relevantly and conforming to international requirements.

Vietnam’s R-Package approved and Emissions Reduction Program Document submitted Nguyen Thi Le Trang, FCPF

At the 22nd Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) Participants Committee in Accra, Ghana from 26th to 30th September 2016, the Vietnam’s R-Package has been approved at Resolution PC/22/2016/5.

Vietnam’s R-Package is the result of the self-assessment process which is in accordance with “A Guide to the FCPF Readiness Assessment Framework”. During a year, the project on “Support for the REDD+ readiness preparation in Vietnam” collected, synthesized and analyzed relevant information and held eight consultation workshops at all levels for the completion of R-Package report.

R-Package is a a comprehensive assessment of REDD+ readiness in Vietnam, including 4 components: readiness organization and consultation; REDD+ strategy preparation; reference emissions level/reference levels and monitoring systems for forests, and safeguards. The re-port is based on 34 criteria and 58 questions following “A Guide to the FCPF Readiness As-sessment Framework”. The R-Package documents the country’s progress, captures lessons learned, assesses remaining gaps, and identifies activities for the way forward to transitioning to the implementation of performance-based activities.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, Vice Director of “Support for the REDD+ readiness prepara-tion in Vietnam” project said that R-Package is one of the conditions for Vietnam to join Carbon Fund, moving forward REDD+ implementation and result-based payment. A comprehensive assessment provides an opportunity for REDD+ countries to demonstrate their commitments, transparency in REDD+ readiness and assurance of social and envi-ronmental risks addressed. R-Pakage helps REDD+ coutries get international recognition of initial REDD+ activities and generates feedback, technical guidance and new interna-tional funding in forest protection and development.

The project also developed Emissions Reduction Program Document in line with FCPF Methodology Framework – one of the conditions for Vietnam to join Carbon Fund. In the program, Vietnam proposed REDD+ implementation in the North Central Coastal, includ-ing six provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue.

With technical support from the Worlk Bank, VNFOREST, Vietnam REDD+ Office, Man-agement Board of Forestry Projects and participating provinces, the project has complet-ed and submitted the report to FCPF in October 2016. The Emissions Reduction Pro-gram Document will be presented at the 15th Carbon Fund meeting in December 2016, towards signing Emissions Reduction Payment Agreement in 2017.

R-Package Workshop at Hanoi Photo by: Nguyen Thi Le Trang

FCPF Project

The project “Support for the REDD+ Readiness Preparation in Vietnam” is funded by Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) through the World Bank with the total amount of US$ 4.432 million.

The project phase 1 lasts from January 2013 to No-vember 2016 in Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Dak Nong. Management Board of Forest Projects is the proposing agency.

The purpose of the project is to support for strength-ening institutional and technical capacity of National REDD+ Steer-ing Committee, VNFOR-EST and relevant central organizations and three pilot provinces (Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Dak Nong) to be REDD+ ready to contribute to successful implementation of the Na-tional REDD+ Action Plan (NRAP).

After 4 year implementa-tion with significant out-comes, Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the World bank have signed FCPF Readiness Fund Grant No. TF0A1122 dated No-vember 18, 2016 to assist the Additional Readiness Preparation Activities, with the amount of US$ 5.7 million, lasting from No-vember 2016 to December 2019. Activities will be implemented in Hanoi and provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri to support Vietnam to become ready for future REDD+ imple-mentation by preparing the key elements, sys-tems, and policies needed in a socially and environ-mentally sound manner.

UN-REDD Viet Nam

Phase II Programme

The UN-REDD Programme is the United Nations Collabora-tive Programme on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in de-veloping countries with tech-nical support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Develop-ment Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environ-ment Programme (UNEP).

In 2009, Viet Nam started to implement REDD+ following step-wise approach to prepare for REDD+ readiness through the UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase I Programme in Lam Dong province.

The UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II Programme started officially in July 2013. The National Executing Agency is the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). The National Implementing Partner is Vietnam Administra-tion of Forestry (VNFOREST). The Programme is implement-ed in 6 pilot provinces namely Lam Dong, Ca Mau, Binh Thu-an, Ha Tinh, Bac Kan and Lao Cai. The Programme’s Objec-tive is “To enhance Viet Nam’s ability to benefit from future results-based payments 4 for REDD+ and undertake trans-formational changes in the forestry sector”.

The Programme has 6 Out-comes as follows:

- Outcome 1: Capacities for an operational National REDD+ Ac-tion Programme (NRAP) are in place

- Outcome 2: The six pilot provinc-es enabled to plan and implement REDD+ actions

- Outcome 3: National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) for Monitoring and Measurement, Reporting and Verification and National REDD+ Information Sys-tem (NRIS) on Safeguards are operational

- Outcome 4: Stakeholders at different levels are able to receive positive incentives

- Outcome 5: Mechanisms to ad-dress the social and environmen-tal safeguards under the Cancun Agreement, established

- Outcome 6: Regional coopera-tion enhances progress on REDD+ implementation in the Lower Mekong Sub-Region.

Progress on the SIS and SOI development Le Ha Phuong, VRO

The Cancun Agreements of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) call on countries choosing to implement REDD+ to address and respect seven broad safeguards – the so-called Cancun Safeguards. Countries are fur-thermore requested to develop a “system for providing information on how safeguards are being addressed and respected throughout the implementation of REDD+ activities” at UNFCCC Decision 1/CP.16 (commonly known as a safeguards information system or SIS), which is one of the three key REDD+ safeguard-related requirements outlined by the UNFCCC and is a prerequisite for linked to the delivery of results-based payments.

Since late 2015, the Viet Nam REDD+ Office (VRO) has facilitated a participatory pro-cess with Sub-Technical Working Group on Safeguards (STWG-SG) and Safeguards core group to implement a country approach to safeguards for the SIS development. Viet Nam has already made significant progress on SIS design, including:

1) Identification of SIS objectives: The short-term objective is to meet UNFCCC report-ing requirements and produce the Summary of Information (SOI). The long-term objective is to support monitoring of 'prioritised activities' in the forestry sector, such as Payments for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) and more broadly, to con-tribute to the enhancement of governance in the forestry sector.

2) Identification of SIS scope: the proposed scope is the country’s proposed REDD+ PaMs to be implemented under the National REDD+ Action Programme (NRAP) and PRAPs; taken into consideration the feasibility of expanding scope for reporting on activities beyond REDD+.

3) Identification of information needs for the SIS to demonstrate how safeguards are being addressed and respected throughout the implementation of National REDD+ Action Programme (NRAP) and the Provincial REDD+ Action Plans (PRAPs). Clari-fying the Cancun Safeguards in accordance with national circumstances and se-lecting Policies and Measures (PaMs) are the crucial inputs for determining infor-mation needs for a basic SIS.

4) Identification of information sources for the SIS through reviewing existing infor-mation systems and reporting mechanisms to identify and assess information that can be used to provide information on how safeguards are being addressed and respected.

5) Identification of core functions of SIS; and

6) Identification of relevant institutional arrangements proposed for each core function of the SIS.

SIS design framework will be finished expectedly by the end of 2016. An operational SIS will be the key source for appropriate information and provide the basis for the sum-mary of information (SoI) as part of Biennial Updated Report (BUR), to be submitted to UNFCCC by MONRE who is a national focal point on Climate Change.

Forest in Ngu Chi Son mountain, Lao Cai Photo by: DuGia

Anoectochilus Photo: Internet

Initial Results of SIRAP in

My Phuong commune

Vuong Lan, UN-REDD Programme

My Phuong is one of the first communes of Ba Be District, Bac Kan Province piloting participatory approach in REDD+ Action Plan at Site level (SIRAP) within the UN-REDD Phase II Programme activity framework. Devel-oped through a fully participatory pro-cess by engaging forest owners, com-munities and other relevant stakehold-ers at the site, SIRAP follows the princi-ples and process of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). My Phuong Commune’s People Comittee signed SIRAP in July 2015. So far, notable REDD+ results have been achieved in My Phuong. In term of land and forest allocation, 1.196,3 hectares have been allocated to 720 households and individ-uals, accounting for 41.5% of planned target of which 635,5 hectares of natural forest and 560,8 hectares of production forest have been allocated to 241 households and 479 households re-spectively. It is expected that forest will be continuously allocated to villages for protection in the time to come. It is re-ported that the Convention on Forest Protection and Development in Khuoi Lung and Vang Kheo villages have been approved. Forest owners and villagers across 17 villages have partici-pated in communication courses on raising awareness of forest manage-ment and protection. During May to August 2016, 1.131 participants attend-ed 20 livelihood-training courses, of which the proportion of men and women were 44.4% and 55% respectively and ethnic participations consisted of 98.7% of training courses. Notably, the medici-nal plantation under forest canopy mod-el has been implemented in the com-mune with total area of 8.000 hectares including 2.100 Anoectochilus setaceus herbs, 2500 Ardisia sylvestris Pitard herbs and 800 jiaogulan herbs. This activity has restored medicinal planta-tion in My Phuong in contribution to the conservation of local medicinal herbs and job creation for local people.

JICA's TCP in REDD+ up and running

Baku Takahashi , JICA

JICA's Sustainable Natural Resource Management (SNRM) Project is a bilaterial technical cooperation project with the project period of five years (2015-2020). It officially has the total budget of over USD 12 million with the MBFPs as manage-ment agency. The project has four components including (1) policy support, (2) REDD+/SFM, (3) biodiversity, and (4) knowledge sharing. Its Component 2 is an extension of the JICA's previous technical cooperation project in REDD+ in Dien Bien Province (2010-2015) with aim of replicating the experience in Dien Bien to the entire Northwest region including Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, and Hoa Binh.

SNRM's Component 2 has three sub-components: (a) PRAP formulation/revision, (b) field activity implementation, and (c) improved forest monitoring. All the activi-

ties have been kick-started since early 2016 with provin-cial authori-ties. These four provinc-es have al-ready estab-lished the PRAP Task Force and expect to have draft PRAPs, in-cluding a revised one, by early 2017

with some field (village-level) implementation experience accumulated simultane-ously to build capacity to implement these PRAPs. These provinces have also launched the Forest Monitoring Task Force to improve the annual forest monitor-ing and reporting under Sub-FPDs.

In order to back up the PRAP implementation financially in these four Northwest provinces, JICA is currently discussing the provision of a concessional loan with the Vietnamese government. If realized, the loan would become an important fi-nancial source for PRAP implementation, which is often insufficient in many prov-inces.

Apart from its support to the Northwest provinces, in collaboration with other donor projects such as UN-REDD2, FCPF, VFD, and FORMIS II, the SNRM Project is also extending its technical support in up to 16 provinces in PRAP formulation and/or improved forest monitoring using tablet PCs.

Field trip during The Project Kickoff Workshop at Lai Chau Photo by: JICA/SNRM

Ethnic Minority Network in UN-REDD Programme

Promoting full and effective Participation Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, UN-REDD Việt Programe

The Ethnic Minority Network participating in UN-REDD Programme in Vietnam has been established in mid 2015, based on a survey in six pilot provinces in collaboration with Centre for Sustainable Development in Mountainous areas (CSDM) who facili-tated the local stakeholders to develop criteria and nominate EM representatives. The very first EM network meeting in Hanoi in November 2015 aimed to introduce the network members, key briefings to UN-REDD Programme and discuss the operational rule for the network and activities to promote full and effective participation in the Programme. Director of CSDM and Member of UN-REDD Programme Executive Board, Mdm Luong Thi Truong, has been actively participating in the process. The role of EM member in UN-REDD Programme Executive Board is to ensure that feedbacks from EM network are duly heard and reflected in Programme activities.

The Network members agreed to convene meetings regularly to review their observations and experiences in localities, to pre-sent concerns and recommendations from their community toward current UN-REDD Programme activities, to gain updates from Programme at National and Provincial levels, and to attend tailored capacity building sessions to improve quality of participation.

The most recent network event organised in early July 2016 was co-chaired by UN-REDD Programme Executive Board mem-ber, Mdm Luong Thi Truong, and Programme Director, Mr. Vu Xuan Thon. In this event, a lot of concerns and recommendations raised by EM representatives have been paid attention to and appropriately responded by the Programme Leader.

In September 2016 a dialogue between local ethnic people of My Phuong and Con Minh communes, Bac Kan province and UN-

REDD Provincial Management Unit has been organised. The dialogue focused on promoting understanding and participating in

REDD+ activities in the province.

SAFEGUARDS in REDD+ under the Cancun Agreement (a) That actions complement or are consistent with the objectives of national forest programmes and relevant international conventions

and agreements;

(b) Transparent and effective national forest governance structures, taking into account national legislation and sovereignty;

(c) Respect for the knowledge and rights of indigenous peoples and members of local communities, by taking into account relevant inter-

national obligations, national circumstances and laws, and noting that the United Nations General Assembly has adopted the

UNDRIP;

Ethnic Minority Network meeting at Da Nang, 2015 Photo by: Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy

(d) The full and effective participation of relevant stakeholders, in particular indigenous peoples and local communities;

(e) That actions are consistent with the conservation of natural forests and biological diversity, ensuring that the actions referred to in

paragraph 70 of this decision are not used for the conversion of natural forests, but are instead used to incentivize the protection and

conservation of natural forests and their ecosystem services, and to enhance other social and environmental benefits

(f) Actions to address the risks of reversals;

(g) Actions to reduce displacement of emissions.

Participatory assessment for forest governance enhancement Do Thao, UNDP

Good forest governance is key to the successful imple-mentation of REDD+. There is no doubt about that. However, the question that many developing countries working on REDD may ask is where to start. Robust and legitimate forest governance data made available through an integrated process involving broader stake-holders can be a good answer to this question. An as-sessment conducted through a participatory approach helps to arrive at information on sensitive governance issues that can serve both as guidance and evidence to policy-makers and which a wide range of stakeholders view as legitimate, commitment to meaningful participa-tion through multi-stakeholder.

For REDD+, participation builds on stakeholders’ reali-ties, experiences and views enhance not only the credi-bility of the REDD+ policy-making and implementation, but also the application of the most relevant policies and measures. This is precisely what the Participatory Gov-ernance Assessment for REDD+ (PGA) is aiming for: robust and credible governance data accompanied by a set of realistic and concrete recommendations for im-provements that may be used in REDD+ policy-making and implementation, produced through inclusive pro-cesses. PGA in Vietnam has so far been an attempt to balance between two dimensions: (i) between the contextualized/diverse inputs from stakeholders and the need of coherent input into the national policy process. (ii) the local stakeholder assessments and the expert approach.

The PGA is carried out within the CIP agreement between the Forest Protection Department (FPD) under VNFOREST and the UN-REDD programme phase 2 for outcome 5. The main objective of PGA is to produce governance data through an inclusive process in which multi-stakeholder platforms have been created for a broad range of stakeholders from commune to national level. Four Provincial Working Groups (PWG) and an Expert Group (EG) constitute these platforms. The PWGs have representa-tives from different stakeholders in the four provinces, namely Lao Cai, Ha Tinh, Ca Mau and Lam Dong. The EG has experts from universities, international and national NGOs, who are mandated to support the technical aspects of the process. More spe-cifically, the EG defines the scope of the PGA, selects methods for data collection and recommends governance improvements based on their findings. Thereby, the PGA is expected to contribute to a more transparent and effective forest governance struc-ture for REDD+ in Vietnam, as the country is working toward structuring the Safeguard Information System and drafting a Sum-mary of Information for the upcoming UNFCCC. If updated regularly, PGA will point to governance shortcomings and illustrate how Cancun safeguards (b) are being addressed and dealt with.

The process contains technical workshops with the Provincial Working Group at provincial level and Expert Group meetings. Since March 2016, each province has organized four technical workshops and selected the main forest governance issues for PGA based on the respective driver analysis and PRAP. The technical aspects of governance concepts and indicators are intro-duced through group works and ranking exercises. Initially, the PWGs agreed to select two main governance issues based on the driver analysis for their provincial assessment: one was the most critical issue related to deforestation and another the most criti-cal issue related to forest degradation. However, during consultation with the sub-technical working group (STWG) on govern-ance in September 2016, the scope of PGA was extended considerably. It was agreed that the initial two main governance issues were expanded to five issues linked to the five REDD+ activities which is why the timeframe for PGA process has to be extended into 2017. These governance issues will be assessed through three cross cutting elements: the legal and policy framework, ca-pacity of relevant actors, and actual implementation. The indicator framework, based on the main conceptual pillars of good gov-ernance such as transparency, accountability, cross-sectoral collaboration, is being developed and adapted to the extended framework in each province through technical workshops based on the contribution of each PWG.

Preserving forest is crucial for both present and future that demand join-efforts from us all. It requires participation from us all. “Participation - that's what's gonna save the human race."

Hội thảo PGA tại Lào Cai Ảnh: Đỗ Thảo

Contact

Please contact to Vietnam

REDD+ Office (VRO) if you

need any detailed

information

Vietnam REDD+ Office

(VRO)

1st Floor, A7 Building,

# 10 Nguyen Cong Hoan, Ba

Dinh, Ha Noi.

Telephone: 043 724 5805

Fax: (+84-4) 3724 5805,

Email: reddvietnam@gmail.

com

Website: http://www.vietnam-

redd.org

Global REDD+ implementation Cintapo, UN-REDD Programme

In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development was organized in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. During this conference, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Devel-opment, Agenda 21 on Sustainable Development, Declaration on Principles of Sustainable Forest Management, and Framework Convention of the United Nations on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Convention on Biodiversity Conservation were adopted.

On the 12.11.1997, the Kyoto Protocol - an agreement on greenhouse gas emissions reduc-tion - was completed and opened for signature in Kyoto, Japan. In 2002, the Johannesburg Action Plan on Sustainable Development was adopted. However, in the forest sector, the Kyo-to Protocol only mentions carbon trading under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for afforestation and reforestation, and do not include provisions related to deforestation and for-est degradation.

In 2005, in the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) in Montreal (Canada), the content of reducing GHG emissions from deforestation in developing countries (RED) was proposed and included in the agenda of the meeting.

In 2007, at COP13 (Bali, Indonesia), the concept of REDD (Reducing emissions from defor-estation and forest degradation in developing countries) was introduced.

In 2008, at COP14 (Poznan, Poland), the developing countries proposed the full concept of REDD+ (Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.)

In 2010, at COP 16 in Cancun (Mexico), REDD+ was formally adopted, including five (05) ac-tivities: i) Reducing emissions from deforestation; ii) Reducing emissions from forest degrada-tion; iii) Conservation of forest carbon stocks; iv) sustainable management of forests; and v) enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

However, not until 2013, at COP19 in Warsaw, Poland, the guidelines for the implementation of REDD+ in developing countries were finalized.

The 12th December 2015 is an important date of the global effort to combat climate change. In Paris (France), 195 member states of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted the Paris Agreement. This agreement is the result of 20 years of negotiations on the response to climate change. At the COP 21 in Paris, the 31-page Agreement, consisting of 29 articles, focusing on five major issues shall replace the Kyoto Protocol from 2020. Paris Agree-ment should be ratified by at least 55 countries, accounting for at least 55% of the GHG emis-sions, to enter into force.

Forest of Huong Khe district, Ha Tinh Photo by: Cintapo