Progress and future plan discussed at the 4th JCC Meeting

Gathering together on December 6, 2024, the fourth meeting of the Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) was held in Vientiane, where the Government of Lao PDR and JICA aimed to jointly review the progress and achievements made in 2024 and discuss the plan for 2025.

Co-chaired by Dr. Oupakone ALOUNSAVATH, Deputy Director General of Department of Forestry, and Mr. Noriyuki ITO, Senior Representative of the JICA Laos Office, 19 participants attended the meeting in person, representing JCC members, project counterparts and the JICA expert team, with others from JICA headquarters and some project experts joining online.

2024 was a year of great progress for F-REDD 2. Policy updates, such as the Forest Strategy 2035 and the Prime Minister’s Decree on Protection Forests, have raised expectations for strengthened sustainable forest management. In July, Laos received its first REDD+ result-based payment — approximately $16 million — from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility’s Carbon Fund, kicking off reinvestment into forest landscapes in six northern provinces.¹ Additionally, the National Forest Inventory — co-financed with the World Bank and GIZ — has been launched and will survey the state of forests nationwide. Finally, the Provincial Deforestation Monitoring System (PDMS) was approved as the official national tool by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and is moving towards broader extension.²

The Project has reached a turning point. With two years remaining, excitement is building to keep the momentum rolling and, with renewed dedication, ambitiously pursue our goals for Laos’ forests and see things through to achievement.

¹ The Lao PDR received a payment of $16 million from the World Bank-administered Forest Carbon Partnership Facility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
² The Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has approved PDMS, supported by JICA, as the official forest monitoring tool for Laos.