Workshop highlights sustainable forest management for carbon credits
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VIENTIANE - An inception workshop took place here, aimed to promote sustainable forest management in an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests.
The Sustainable Forest Management and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)+ Support Project (F-REDD) workshop was held to introduce the overall outline of the project, discuss project activities and identify possible areas for coordination with initiatives.
The purpose of the project is to strengthen capacity for clarification of the REDD+ strategy and improve forest resource information as well as to promote sustainable forest management in Laos.
The project is running for five years over two separate periods; November 2015 to December 2017 and January 2018 to October 2020.
The national project had also allocated a model forest area in Luang Prabang province, the Forest Resource Management Department's Director General, Vongdeuane Vongsiharath said.
The scheme is being implemented by the Department of Forestry Resource Management of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and the Department of Forestry of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry with support from Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Kokusai Kogyo Co Ltd.
Vongdeuane ensured that the project would form part of sustainable forest management in Laos to increase forest coverage and promote benefits for people in target communities.
The government in cooperation with international organisations and development partners is implementing different forest sustainable management projects.
Under these projects forest coverage in Laos has increased while helping develop villages and increase people's incomes by creating jobs in the communities.
According to a study in 2015, forest coverage in Laos was greater than in 2010, but the actual figure had not been revealed by the government, Mr Vongdeuane said.
Laos began to study REDD after the country became a member of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility in 2008 and the project expected it would prepare the nation for participation in carbon credit trading by 2018.
However, forest management in Laos still requires close cooperation with every sector and good participation from local people.
Forestry in Laos is enda ngered by practices such as illegal logging, shifting cultivation and infrastructure development. The government, especially MONRE, is continually seeking measures to protect and manage forest areas.
