Project News

SUSFORM-NOW assisted the very first round of village meetings on REDD+ implementation in Muong Phang and Muong Muon Communes, which started from 8 May 2013. The purposes of the first village meetings were to introduce the project activities and obtain villagers' initial agreement (or disagreement) for participation.

Started with Long Luong 1 Village in Muong Phang, the first village meetings were conducted for a single or group of villages at a time. The village meeting started with the simple explanation of the impacts of deforestation, importance of forest management, very brief and easy introduction of global warming and its relationship with forest management. The project's counterpart then introduced SUSFORM-NOW's past and ongoing forest management and livelihoods development activities in initial pilot sites including a video clip showing different activities. The satellite images showing the current distribution of forests (taken in early 2013), village boundaries, and planning under Provincial Forest Protection and Development Plan (FPDP) were then displayed and explained in detail to provide an overview of forest management planning process and prospects to the villagers.

At the end of the village meeting, the villagers were requested to vote for the participation/non-participation in the project. All 25 villages in Muong Phang and 10/11 villages in Muong Muon decided to participate in the project while one Hmong village (Pu Cha) opted out of the project.

The follow-up planning meetings will follow in the villages that have agreed to participate in the project in June and subsequent months.