The investment priorities of stakeholders in forest protection and development in Vietnam from 2011-2019

Book excerpt: Key messagesThis policy brief shows the investment priorities of stakeholders in the field of forests protection and development from 2011-2019, focusing on 16 key areas: 1. forest conservation; 2. enhancement of forest carbon stocks (forest restoration/regeneration); 3. sustainable logging practices (RlL; forest certification); 4. afforestation and reforestation; 5. agricultural land use emission reductions (low emission agriculture/greening business practices, e.g. zero deforestation supply chains); 6. design of national level REDD+ strategies policies and programs; 7. design of sub-national level REDD+ strategies, policies and programs; 8. national level implementation of REDD+ strategy, policies and programs (e.g. MRV or safeguards institutions); 9. implementation of REDD+ site activities (including demonstration sites); 10. tenure rights (land, trees); 11. biodiversity conservation; 12. poverty alleviation; 13. forest governance (illegal logging, rule of law, corruption); 14. community-based or joint forest management (as co-benefit of REDD); 15. adaptation to climate change; and 16. REDD+ related carbon finance/trading. Stakeholder investment priorities for these 16 areas mostly expanded throughout these years to keep up with worldwide forestry sector development trends. Favorable support from stakeholders can create advantageous conditions for Vietnam to experiment with and pioneer many policy areas and new technologies.Areas such as poverty alleviation, forest governance, biodiversity conservation, agricultural land use emission reductions, and sustainable logging practices, as well as REDD+ design and implementation have attracted the greatest attention from stakeholders. Issues of tenure rights and sustainable logging practices, despite limited increases in priority, remain key investment priorities of the organizations surveyed. Stakeholder prioritization of and investment in afforestation and reforestation have decreased over time.Although the prioritization of financial and technological support during the period from 2011-2019 has created favorable conditions for developing the forestry sector, stakeholders' current priorities also show that many areas (e.g. community-based forest management, carbon finance/trading, forest product processing) remain underdeveloped and their investment potential and roles have not been met.The aims of the Forest Law are to develop a comprehensive forestry sector, a chain of management, protection, development, forest use, and forest product trade. However, stakeholders' areas of interest and priorities have so far focused mainly on forest management and protection. Comprehensive and sustainable forestry sector development requires investment prioritization for all stages.As each stakeholder requires different investment priorities, understanding these can not only help the Government to use resources more efficiently and avoid duplication, but also create more effective strategies for mobilizing capital for the forestry sector.