In order to improve timber trade and environmental sustainability of timber in Vietnam, the European Union (EU) and the Vietnamese Government are working on developing a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) as part of the FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade)Action Plan. Thanks to the Centre for Sustainable Rural Development’s (SRD)’s strong relationships with government at all levels, SRD has been able to take a leading role in developing, strengthening and facilitating the informed involvement of forest-dependent people into this forest governance reform initiative. Part of this role is to enhance the capacity of Vietnamese Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to assess the impacts of a VPA on vulnerable populations.
Negotiating a FLEGT VPA between the Vietnamese Government and the EU has been meet with unclear legal and regulatory frameworks regarding land use and access to resources, poorly developed information systems and transparency mechanisms, corruption, as well as poor law enforcement and judicial systems. In addition, the prospective legal changes to forest laws will significantly affect vulnerable communities in terms of forest access, development, and protection. As a result, it is an essential requirement that FLEGT/VPA implementation in Vietnam is participatory, so that the vulnerable livelihoods of forest-dependent communities can be protected.
To promote the involvement of these communities in the VPA agreement, a network of Non-governmental Organizations in Vietnam on FLEGT (VNGO-FLEGT) was established in January 2012, and SRD was appointed as the network’s chair. The VNGO-FLEGT Network consists of 31 member organizations, distributed across Vietnam, with experience in the fields of forestry, community development in rural and mountainous areas, environment and natural resources management. The VNGO-FLEGT Network has developed and implemented many activities, including the project "Promoting the participation of communities and civil society organizations involved in the process of negotiating and implementing VPA / FLEGT" by the Department for International Development UK (DFID) funded through FERN. Currently, SRD is concurrently implementing three different FLEGT/VPA related projects, all emphasizing raising the roles and voices of civil society to ensure a just VPA agreement for forest-dependent groups. One of the projects focuses on conducting a Livelihoods Impact Assessment (LIA) of the VPA based on participatory research in provinces of interest. Project results will provide input for the final stages of the VPA negotiation and implementation. The LIA will also promote the establishment of mechanisms and policies to create favorable conditions for ethnic minorities and forest-dependent communities to access, use, manage, protect and develop forests in an equitable and sustainable manner. Using the results of the LIA and possible mitigation measures as part of the VPA negotiation process (expected to be completed in 2014) will also help define baseline impact indicators for monitoring the implementation of the VPA, a truly innovative approach.
The VNGO-FLEGT network’s engagement will support the adequate adherence to social safeguards through the participatory and informed engagement of all stakeholders affected by FLEGT/VPA agreements, in particular in regards to vulnerable community groups, including forest-dependent households, local communities involved in protecting forests and small-scale timber processing businesses. Local communities will be informed about the likely implications of VPA implementation, and data gathered through the LIA will help to identify winners and losers in the VPA process, and help to develop risk mitigation measures that are presented as input into the negotiation process.
Juliane Sander
Climate Change Officer
Centre for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD)
No.31, Alley 19 Kim Dong Street, Hoang Mai District, Ha Noi
Phone: +84 24 3943 6676/78 | Fax: +84 24 3943 6449
