- The Project Management Board formulates a revolving loan programme suitable to the project models (criteria on electing borrowing households, rights and duties of the Management Board and the borrowing households, loan duration, loan capital, interest rates ...) and asks GEF SGP financial managers and the participating communities to elect borrowing households on the basis of criteria formulated by the Project Management Board;
- The Project applies the revolving loan programme to households for income generation activities on their own land. Upon the completion of the project, the loans will be reclaimed and turned over for the building and enlargement of the models;
- The project loans will be granted to the borrowing households to set up the model during 3 years, including: (i) Seedlings; (ii) Fertilizer; (iii) Pesticides; (iv) materials for cookstoves.
- The loans will be managed by the community with simplified and effective loan formalities at interest rates similar to those regulated by the Bank for the Poor.
- The government reforestation programme (known as the 5 million ha of forest programme) aims to reforest, especially for the barren land, for the purposes of environmental protection and economic development. The project models fit well with this government programme and therefore will be applied, contributing to regreening the area and promoting sustainable agriculture production on the barren land of the project area.
- The results of the project will help the local government set up policies on conserving biodiversity linked to agro-forestry development in the locality.
- The technical materials of the project (characteristics of the species, the sowing and germinating process, planting Shorea falcata forest...) have given the agriculture sector of the province and of other localities access to more information for selecting and deploying plants on sandy land of the coastal areas, as well as allocating the investments properly.
- Shorea falcata is chosen as the typical plant of the locality, contributing to propagating the locality?s profile at the national level.
Notable Community Participation
- The project gives priority to community participation. During the project design phase, knowledge and traditions of local people were studied and taken into consideration in project design. The local people were in consultations about the project issues and solutions at community meetings and through surveys/interviews.
- The community is the provider of primary information on the existence of Shorea falcata in Song Cau, which serves as the basis of proposing the project.
- The community is the holder of traditional knowledge of the characteristics, the use of wood and fruit of the Shorea falcata tree as well as understanding of the dry and arid ecology of the local coastal area.
In order to promote the role and responsibilities and to ensure community ownership, during the project implementation and M&E, the project will:
- Provide the community with full information on the project. Representatives from the community will be given the opportunities to attend project opening, mid term and final meetings, and project workshops.
- Give community opportunities to participate in all project activities.
- The project team will develop the revolving loan mechanism to assist the participating community in purchasing the materials for the project model building. The community select among themselves the participating community based on the selection criteria developed by the project team. The community manage the revolving loan programme.
- The community is given opportunities in project monitoring and evaluation.
- Mobilising the community to invest their labor and resources in model building.
- The project take into consideration the community needs and cultivation techniques when developing training materials.
- The community ownership, benefit and participation are cornerstone in project implementation and M&E.
Policy Influence
- The project has helped enhance the awareness and understanding of the community and local governments in conserving biodiversity and protection global environment, hence triggering suitable moves and policies in the use of the arid area of the local coastal areas.
- The project has attracted the attention of the agriculture sector of Phu Yen province to Shorea falcata. It is therefore included in the plant structure of coastal forests in the program of planting 5 million ha of new forest with appropriate investment policies. The government of Sông Cau district has issued instructions on protecting this species of tree on the whole area. Distribution and adjustments are being made in the planning of land use in the orientation of conserving and developing this species.
- The project has also given the community additional information and access to GEF SGP. The Union of Science and Technology Associations of Phu Yen province has thereby put forward the idea for the Project VN/04/008 approved by GEF SGP, contributing to biodiversity of coastal areas through the model of treating discharge water from industrial shrimp-breeding ponds with biological methods, creating conditions of using sustainably the coastal resources of Phu Yen province.
- The understanding of Shorea falcata features and the arid area of coastal areas contained in the technical materials of the project serves as a basis for scientists and managers of all levels to carry out further study and establish processes of planting seedling forests and mixed forests, as well as building the models of developing integrated use of natural resources for agro forestry development for coastal areas, creating a unsustainable livelihood for the community.
Replication of project activities
- The results of the models of seed forests and mixed forests have been included in the summary report on the program of planting 5 million ha of new forests of the province.
- Together with the project financed by JICA ? Reforestation on coastal sandy land of Central Vietnam ? creating protection forest belts along the coast of Phú Yên province.
- Exchange of hereditary materials (seedlings) with other localities.
- Shorea falcata has been mentioned in further detail in the documents and plan of national conservation.
Gender Focus
- Women are given prioroties in the project capacity building activities and revolving loan programme.
- Women take part in most activities of the project model building, including making seedlings, planting, caring, harvesting, and selling products.
Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment
1. One of the key objectives of the project is to enhance awareness and understanding of the project stakeholders on the following issues.
- global environmental issues such as biodiversity conservation, climate change, land degradation and desertification
- linkage between poverty and enviornemntal degradation
- enviornemntal protection and sustainable development
- millenium development goals (MDGs)
2. The project has awareness raising activities on global enviornmental issues, focusing on the project issue of biodiversity conservation and land degradation and desertification.
- Oragnising training workshops, dialogues, community contests on the issue of biodiversity conservation and land degradation and desertification
- Mainstreaming the project issue in the farmers? association activities and programmes
- Using public media when possible
- Attending in exchange visits, workshops and environmental communication activities organised by GEF SGP where GEF issues are discussed.
Capacity - Building Component
The project capacity building activities include the followings.
- Training workshops in sustainable agriculture in semi arid area and prevention and controlling of land degradation and desertification
- Community meetings and workshops for assessment on project model building and experience sharing in sustainable agriculture in semi arid area and prevention and controlling of land degradation and desertification
- Study tours/exchange visits to learn from other localities in sustainable agriculture in semi arid area and prevention and controlling of land degradation and desertification
- Training items include (1) techniques in developing seed forest of Shorea falcata and mixed forest of Shorea falcata and casuarina (2) cultivation techniques in an agro forestry model, and (3) sustainable land management techniques.
- In addition to the project capacity building activities, the project team members attend exchange visits, training workshops on project design and implementation, M&E as well as themtaic workshops for sharing experience and lessons learned organised by GEF SGP.
- In addition to the project capacity building activities, key community members attend exchange visits, themtaic workshops for sharing experience and lessons learned organised by GEF SGP.
- Training participants are project participating farmers, and commune key farmers and extension workers of participating commune.
Emphasis on sustainable livelihoods
- Land degradation and desertification together form one of the serious problems concerning the environment and natural resources that the project locality is facing with and trying to solve to develop a sustainable agricultural economy in the specific climatic and hydrologic conditions of an arid area affected by various natural disasters such as drought, flooding ...;
- Shorea falcata is an endemic plant on the sandy land of the coastal area of Central Vietnam and has been included in Vietnam Red Book as it is threatened by extinction and requires urgent conservation.
- The arid ecology of the local coastal area has been undergoing adverse impacts with moving sand threatening many residential areas and need urgent recovery.
- Shorea falcata is a broad-leaved tree of high economic value, and one of the few species that can grow on the sandy land of coastal areas.
- The recovered ecology of the coastal area together with the belts of protection forest of the mixed model between Shorea falcata and casuarina has helped stabilize the land, prevent flying sand, improve the micro climate and the living environment for the community, and contribute to increasing the productivity of industrial plants in inner areas.
- The integrated model of integrated use of natural resources for agro forestry development has created conditions for using land efficiently for a sustainable economic development for the locality.
Project sustainability
The project will be sustainable thanks to the followings.
- Enhanced awareness and understanding and capacity of the local authorities and communities on environmental issues in general and biodiversity conservation and land degradation and desertification in particular
- The project models demonstrate the environmental and economic benefit of integratde use of natural resources for sustainable agriculture production
- The revolving programme was well managed with 98% repayment rate and will contibue to assist the local communities for income generating activities tested by the project. Total loan capital: VND 231,000,000 with 59 participating households; loan rates of VND 3-5 million/household at a monthly interest rate of 0.5%; income increase: VND 500,000 /household/ month.
- The local communities benefit from the project training activities and know how to use natural resources in an integrated manner for sustainable agriculture production and sustainable land management.
- The models of the project have started to exert their influence on the community: income has been obtained from fruit trees and animal husbandary activities in the model of integrated use of natural resources for agro forestry development, and many households have made further active investments. The belts of protection forest in the mixed forests have been able to limit moving sand and helped improve the climate in the surrounding areas and increase the productivity of agricultural plants in the region, contributing to agricultural sustainability.
- The conservation and development of Shorea falcata and the proper use of the arid area of coastal areas have been included in detail in both short-term and long-term policies for Sông Cau district and Phu Yen province as well.
- The 4ha planted area of Shorea falcata seed forests is the supply of materials for studies on vegetal replication and the future source of seeds for the conservation and increased sustainability of the models.
Planning non gef grant
The relevant local agencies have developed plans to grow Shorea falcata in their 5 million ha forest programme.
Project Results
Project results
1. Impact on the awareness of the governments and communities of all levels:
Before the project was developed, Shorea falcata was still indiscriminately cut down. Though having some hints about the value of this species, the communities and the local governments were not fully awareness of the serious of extinction threat against Shorea falcata ? a species that has been listed in the Red Book of Vietnam. Meanwhile, common understanding of the arid area of coastal areas was still limited, hence the lack of measures of sustainable use. In addition, information on the donor GEF had not been very popular.
The project has helped increase the awareness of biodiversity and of the need for global environmental protection. The characteristics and value of Shorea falcata and of the arid area of coastal areas were properly assessed. GEF has become familiar with the communities and the government authorities of all levels, who have devised suitable policies and contacted this organization for new projects.
2. Through its management and implementation, the project has helped the Farmers? Union of Sông Cau district, the Center for Seedlings and Plant Techniques of Phu Yen province, as well as other local government bodies and agencies acquire experience of getting access to donors, and increasing their ability of managing and implementing the project.
3. The models of the project have become typical models for the communities in the locality replicated for other localities. The products from these models have contributed to increasing the efficiency of land use, improvement of the living environment, and creation of sustainable livelihood for the communities of coastal areas. By reducing the burden from looking for fuel for women and children, the project has also attracted women and children into activities of planting and looking after the models. They have also had more time to attend workshops and study tours for better knowledge.
The results of the project models.
- Building the model of Shorea falcate seed forest with an area of 4 ha (4,470 trees), a survival rate of 80%, and 14 participating households
- Building the model of mixed forest between Shorea falcata and casuarina (Casuariana equisetifolia) with an area of 12 ha, a survival rate of 70%, and 35 participating households
- Building the model of integrated use of natural resources for agro forestry development with an area of 51 ha and 59 participating households
- Building the model of energy-saving cookstoves with 20 cookstoves supported by the project and 9 from loans.
- Carrying out experimental research on sowing seeds and planting cuttings of Shorea falcata . Results: Sowing successfully 12,300 trees to be supplied to the community for building the models; Unsuccessful experiments of planting Shorea falcata cuttings with the use of IBA growth stimulants.
Technical guidelines compiled and disseminated
- Documents on the distribution of Shorea falcata in Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa provinces.
- Materials on experiments of sowing seeds and planting cutting of Shorea falcata.
- Training materials on techniques of building the models: planting seed forests, planting mixed forests, integrated use of natural resources for agro forestry development, and energy-saving cookstoves.
4. The implementation of the project has also formed a link among the government authorities, professional staff, and the producers by creating more chances for dialogues with an aim at developing the specific economy of the locality. The project has developed a good working relationship between the project grantee, the local authorities and relevant agencies, and GEF SGP.
5. Communication activities have helped increase the efficiency of the project and of the lessons shared in workshops, study tours and exchange visits. The project activities and information on GEF have been frequently propagated on the mass media. These are the basis for the replication of the project?s efficiency, maintaining the impact and creating sustainability after project completion.
