Project News

The joint meeting of six TWGs

Lao PDR has established six Technical Working Groups (TWG)^[1] to promote REDD+ in Lao PDR. Each of the TWGs plays a key role in designing the national policies and institutions related to its own area. It is also important the six TWGs jointly address cross-cutting issues and synchronize their efforts.

The analysis of land use and forest cover change is one example. It is essential for the development of the National REDD+ Strategy^[2] to understand how the forests of Lao PDR have been changing and the underlying factors of such changes. This becomes a common ground for each TWG to develop countermeasures in their respective areas of work.

The Forest Type Maps of year 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015, and the Deforestation and Forest Degradation Drivers Analysis, which are both being developed by the DOF, serve as the base information to analyze the land use and forest cover change. These efforts aim to reveal the status and the challenges Lao PDR has been facing using satellite-based remote sensing technologies.

On 12 January 2017, the REL/MRV TWG hosted a joint meeting of the six TWGs in Vientiane to introduce and discuss the interim results of the abovementioned work by the DOF. Lao experts of the six TWGs and donor and development partners in attendance shared constructive views and advice based on their vast experience. Points for further improvement and the need for consultations with local-level stakeholders were also recognized. This was a useful opportunity for the participants to re-confirm the importance of a participatory process when developing the National REDD+ Strategy.