Quang Tri (VNA) - The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held aconsultation seminar in the central province of Quang Tri on April 19 todiscuss refining mechanisms on feedback and dealing with complaints under the Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation andForest Degradation (REDD+) for the 2018-2025 period.

The first regional-levelprogramme was launched in the central provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh,Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, which are home to over 10 millionpeople with a total land area of 5.1 million ha and forest coverage of 57percent.

It was designed to reduce gasemission and increase the absorption of carbon dioxide to nearly 32.09 milliontonnes.

The World Bank (WB)’s ForestCarbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) committed to paying for emission reductionefforts with 51.5 million USD for an equivalent of 10.3 million tonnes ofcarbon dioxide.

Vietnam and the WB plan tosign an Emissions ReductionPurchase Agreement this June, contributing to implementing the NationalAction Programme on REDD and the target programme on sustainable forestrydevelopment.

Participantsdiscussed the rights to forest land use, forest protection activities;exploitation, use, management and use of forests; and payment for forestenvironment services.

In the nearfuture, the project on Support for the REDD+ReadinessPreparation in Vietnam will help the Government carry out policies regardingemission rights. A carbon market will also be establilshed in the north-centralregion.-VNA