Mekong regional approach to REDD

1. Mekong regional approach to REDD Pham Manh Cuong Werner Kornexl

2. Overview • General information • Rationale for development of regional REDD Prog. in the lower Mekong Basin • Work has been done • Objectives • Activities • Budget and Institutional management arrangement

3. 1. General information

4. Trends of forest cover changes

5. Rationale • Four countries are located in the lower Mekong Basin with similar natural and socio-economic situation; • Livelihoods of large parts of population rely on agricultural production and exploitation of forest products; • Stable biodiversity in Central Annamite Range and in the region – Environment protection and socio-economic development in the delta and International water area; • Joined various regional progs: All of 4 are members of ASEAN and MRC, and GMS Core Env. Prog; • The 7th ASEAN+3 Environment Ministers Meeting and the 8th Meeting of the ASEAN+3 Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (8th AMAF +3): Env. Declaration in Oct 2008; • VN and Lao agreement on FLEGT, CC

6. Rationale (Cont.) • Four countries are interested in implementing REDD; • Lao PDR and Vietnam was selected by FCPF, Lao completed R-Plan, and Vietnam is a pilot country of the UN-REDD; • Cambodia and Thailand R-PINs; • All 4 countries: established the Climate Change Committee and REDD Unit within FA and are implementing pilot REDD-related projects; • SFM brings co-benefit to people of 4 countries and regional environment benefit; • Donors are interested in supporting regional cooperation to avoid international leakage/displacement;

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8. Problems • Competing interests for land & resources: Natural forests have continuously cleared and degraded in all countries –caused environmental and socio-economic probs; • Driving forces and cross-border illegal timber trading? • A lack of capacity and data, and institutional barriers; • Risks of the REDD implementation in several countries: Displacement of emission;

9. Work has been done • Regional meetings and discussions among Forest Administration Agencies of four countries; • Consultation meetings and communication with stakeholders: research institutions (Queensland Univ., ITC), NGOs (RECOFTC) and several donors (USAID, AusAID, ADB, GTZ, The Netherlands, TNC, etc.); • Formulation of Concept Notes on regional cooperation in the REDD implementation

10. Work has been done • Regional meetings and discussions with FAs; • Consultation meetings with non-gov. stakeholders: research institutions, NGOs (RECOFTC), UN-REDD; • Organized pilot technical training workshops in 4 countries under support of Australia, Germany (GTZ), Switzerland (SDC), The Netherlands (SNV, ITC), the Nature Conservancy; • Managing Forests in Mekong Countries for Carbon Sequestration and REDD Project funded by the Asia Pacific Forestry Skills and Capacity Building program of Australian Gov and with additional funding from SDC, GTZ, SNV.

11. Work has been done • Workshop 1:Preparing for Mitigation of Climate Change in the Mekong Region, provided a broad overview of REDD issues and the current status of REDD in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Lao PDR; • Workshop 2: Preparing for the Technical Aspects of REDD, 3 – 5 November 2008; • Workshop 3:Role of Local Governance, Civil Society and Forest Land Users in a REDD program from 5-6 March 2009; • Next workshops will be organized in Lao and Cambodia; • ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry (ASOF) & FLEGT; • Technical Working Group on FLEGT and regional workshops (EC, Germany, WB, AFP and others)

12. Objectives Overall goal: to mitigate CC by reducing GHG emission and to support for SD in the lower Mekong Basin. Objectives: To support 4 countries in the region to be REDD-Readiness by 2012 in a regionally collaborated, coordinated and transparent manner, respecting national sovereignty and independence.

13. Activities • Establishment of a technical support facility; • Regional dialogue; • Support to institutional strengthening and capacity building to mainstream REDD in Env, socio-economic development policies and strategies; • Exchange information and experience: C projects (Cambodia and Lao), Tenasserim Biodiversity Corridor (Thai), PES (VN); • Support to technical capacity building, including development of MAV, application of RS data, data-sharing and guideline, training manuals;

14. Activities (Cont.) • Promoting the participation of relevant stakeholders, esp. indigenous people, CSO and private sector; • Facilitates policy formulation, and regional negotiation and cooperation by quantifying the risk of regional leakage; • Strengthening skills in international negotiations in CC.

15. Budget • USD 500,000 for 2009; • Total budget for period 2009-2012: USD 3.0 million

16. Institutional management arrangement • Technical support body (TSB) including int. and national experts; • Use an existing institutional platform: Under discussion with the GMS Environment Operations Center (EOC), MRC and ASEAN Secs with the following considerations: • Legal legitimate • Capacity to implement the program including coverage • Sustainability (permanence);