Institutions – REDD+ Lao PDR

National REDD+ Task Force and Office

……..

National REDD+ Task Force and Office

National REDD+ Task Force

The National REDD+ Task Force is the overall steering committee for the National REDD+ Program. It was originally established under the Department of Forestry within the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), then moved under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), and then in 2016 moved back under MOF. The current committee is comprised of 16 members, and is chaired by a Vice-Minister of MAF, Mr. Thongphat Vongmany.

The National REDD+ Task Force authorizes provinces to establish their Provincial REDD+ Task Forces.

The National REDD+ Focal Point is: Mr. Somchay Sanontry, who is a Deputy Director of the Department of Forestry.

The Forest Investment Program (FIP) National Focal Point is: Mr. Bounpone Sengthong, another DOF Deputy Director.

National REDD+ Office

When Lao PDR first began to work on REDD+ issues, a staff member within the DOF Division of Planning and Investment was named as the REDD+ Focal Point. After MONRE was established in 2012, with its Department of Forest Resource Management (DFRM), then a REDD+ Division within DFRM was established to serve as the National REDD+ Office and DOF established its own DOF REDD+ Office. Following the reconsolidation of the forest sector under MAF in 2016, the two national-level REDD+ offices have been merged into one office, to be designated as the DOF REDD+ Division.

The DOF REDD+ Division serves as the secretariat for the National REDD+ Program, the National REDD+ Task Force, and the six REDD+ Technical Working Groups. It supports the work of Provincial REDD+ Offices.

The Head of the DOF REDD+ Division is: Mr. Savanh Chanthakoummane.

……..

REDD+ Technical Working Groups

Six Technical Working Groups are supporting the development of the National REDD+ Strategy. These TWGs were officially appointed by the Minister of MONRE. They are comprised of members of different relevant Government departments, and supported by relevant technical advisers and other stakeholders. They cover the following topics:

Legal and Policy Issues (LP): reviewing relevant policies, strategies, laws, and regulations that pertain to the forestry sector, and other natural resource, land and related sectors, to clarify the context for REDD+ and any changes needed in the policy and legal framework to facilitate REDD+ implementation
Social and Environmental Safeguards and Stakeholder Participation (SES): developing a plan for engagement of stakeholders in development of the National REDD+ Strategy; reviewing national safeguard policies and mechanisms, as well as others pertaining to World Bank operations and the REDD+ safeguards of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); identifying key environmental and social issues and impacts of possible REDD+ strategic interventions; and working with the technical assistance team preparing the Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA) report and related safeguard plans (Environmental and Social Management Framework, ESMF)
Benefit-Sharing (BS): Analyzing benefit-sharing mechanisms within Lao PDR and in other countries that pertain to payments for environmental services (PES), REDD+, and other environmental and development funds; developing a plan for sharing of benefits from a national REDD+ Fund, to be managed under the Forest and Forest Resource Development Fund (FFRDF), to share benefits among involved government departments and stakeholders undertaking REDD+ actions
Land Tenure and Land Use Issues (LI): assessing issues of land use, land use planning, land use change, tenure and rights to access and use land as they relate to REDD+, especially issues of land use change from forest to non-forest; reviewing the existing Land Law and draft revision of the Land Law and draft Land Policy
Reference Emissions Level / Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (REL/MRV): supporting the work of the Forest Inventory and Planning Division (FIPD) of DOF and collaborating with the Sustainable Forest Management and REDD+ Program (F-REDD) on the national forest inventory, national forest cover maps, land use change matrix, and other key information needed to agree on the baseline (Reference Emissions Level, REL) of greenhouse gas emissions to be submitted to the UNFCCC; work on the National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) that will be used for monitoring, reporting, and verification of changes in emissions; and related activities, such as development of a data web portal and a forest carbon registry
Strategy, i.e., Enforcement and Implementation of Mitigation Activities (EIM): looking at how to develop practical, feasible means for reducing deforestation and forest degradation, and improving sustainable forest management, through creation of a National REDD+ Strategy and National REDD+ Program that can be implemented and enforced

……..

Provincial REDD+ Programs

Currently Provincial REDD+ Task Forces (PRTFs) and Provincial REDD+ Offices (PROs) are being established in seven Pilot REDD+ Provinces. The PRTFs are to be chaired by the Provincial Vice-Governor, and include representatives of a wide range of provincial departments. The PRO serves as the secretariat for the PRTF, and is housed within the Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office (PAFO).

The seven pilot REDD+ Provinces include one province in southern Lao PDR, and six in the north:

Champasack

Work in the southern province of Champasack is focusing on development of a REDD+ activities for protected forest areas.

Houaphan
Luang Prabang
Xayaboury
Oudomxay
Bokeo
Luang Namtha

Work in the six northern provinces is focusing on development of Provincial REDD+ Action Plans (PRAPs) and preparation for a sub-national Emissions Reduction Program (ER-Program) with the FCPF Carbon Fund. To date, Houaphan has already prepared its PRAP, and Luang Prabang has nearly finished. Work is underway in the other four provinces.