Project News

In addition to primarily supporting the central government in realizing REDD+ results-based payment, F-REDD has also been supporting provincial REDD+ readiness and implementation. F-REDD initially provided institutional support, such as the establishment of a REDD+ Task Force and the formulation of the Provincial REDD+ Activity Plan (PRAP) in Luang Prabang Province. F-REDD also supported pilot activities in a provincial protection forest area as a part of an effort to strengthen provincial forest management, which is one of the priority aims in the PRAP (see Vol. 8 and Vol. 10).

In Luang Prabang Province, background studies and analysis and a series of local-level consultations have been carried out for the development of a management plan for the Phou Pheung-Phou Pha Thoun-Tat Kuang Si Provincial Protection Forest Area (PPT-PPTA). In February 2020, a workshop was held to approve the final draft of the PPT-PPTA management plan — the participants interactively discussed how to sustainably manage their forests. F-REDD, in collaboration with the LENS2 project funded by the World Bank, is also supporting pilot activities in selected villages in the PPT-PPTA area to enhance their land and forest management and improve local livelihoods to mitigate deforestation. In March, training sessions on village fund management were held in the target villages in order to enhance sustainability and the supported activities.

In Oudomxay Province, F-REDD has also been supporting pilot activities to control deforestation in village forests in the upstream watershed of the Nam Beng River, a major river running through the province. From January to March 2020, local forestry officers conducted forest monitoring and inspection using the monitoring tool newly developed by F-REDD to mitigate deforestation in village conservation forests (see Vol. 16).

The Lao government is planning to carry out on-site activities to further promote forest conservation with the GCF funds for REDD+ implementation and the results-based payment. In the future, the role of local authorities will become more important. The local forestry officers whose capacities have been strengthened through F-REDD are expected to play a key role in continuing forest conservation efforts.

Workshop discussion of the final draft of the PPT-PPTA management plan and its implementation.

Forest officers inspecting deforestation areas in the field.