Forestry department, JICA discuss draft forestry strategy

Lao officials and representatives of the local office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have discussed progress on the first draft of the forestry strategy till 2030 which aims to push the country’s forest coverage by 70 percent.
The two sides held the 6th Joint Coordinating Committee Meeting in Vientiane on November 6, which was co-chaired by the Director General of the Department of Forestry, Mr Sousath Xayakoummne, and the Senior Representative from the JICA Laos Office, Ms Akiko Sanada.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, Mr Sousath said: “This year, we have completed the assessment of performance in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
“According to the assessment result, we have been able to reduce the emissions by around 12.8 million tCO2e and to absorb about 1.87 million tCO2e of carbon. This will allow us to receive result-based payments of about US$56 million as an incentive from GCF.”
In this regard, Laos appreciates the cooperation of JICA as an accredited entity for sustainable forest management and the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (F-REDD) project, which acted as a technical assistant to help develop a funding proposal for the Green Climate Fund Result Based Payment.
Mr Sousath said the meeting should openly discuss all outstanding issues and propose possible solutions. The meeting was also an opportunity to discuss how to achieve ambitious targets, particularly the measures, guidelines, criteria, methods and processes to increase forest land and forest cover to reach 70 percent of the total land area, and how JICA can support and further contribute to this process, he said.
Ms Sanada said, “We were in a difficult situation because of Covid-19 but we can see the progress in implementing the project in terms of drafting the Forestry Strategy 2030 and the REDD situation.”
She explained that on a global level, multiple functional roles of forests have been recognised in the production of wood materials and in environmental services such as watershed, soil and biodiversity conservation, landslide prevention, and eco-tourism.
Air pollution is now one of the big issues in Laos, and forests can contribute to air purification, she said. Authorities are responsible for using and preserving these indispensable natural resources in a sustainable way, she added. In addition, promoting sustainable forest management is vital to achieve the Sustainable development goals (SDGs), she said.
Discussions and reviews by the two partners will help in approving the work plan towards the end of the project period of September 2021.
In order to achieve the project’s goals, the Department of Forestry and relevant government officials need to work closely with the Japanese expert team. “And it is also strongly hoped that all the persons involved show the strong ownership and leadership in the project implementation process for achieving sustainable forest management in the future,” Ms Sanada said.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update November 10, 2020)