+ The project builds the demonstration models of planting parashorea seed forests and mixed forests of parashorea +forest trees of economic values such as Bamboo, acacia mangium so as to help conserve the parashorea tree, develop forestry, eradicate hunger and reduce poverty. This would aim at creating the people?s income in the next 5 - 7 years, and at the same time gradually recovering the ecology of the parashorea forest.
+ The project has positively affected the government and related sectors in Phó Thä province, drawing more of their attention to species of wood trees of economic values still present in the province, threatened by extinction and enlisted in Vietnam Red Book
+ The conservation and development of parashorea trees have been stated in the provincial plan for planting precious wood trees. After project completion, Phó Thä?s provincial authorities have approved the planting of parashorea trees by Xuan Son National Park on both sides of the road leading from the gate to the Center of Park with a total length of 12 km.
Policy Impact
+ The project is expected to bring about changes in the commune policies on protecting the forests, protecting the parashorea tree, and develop the forest economy.
+ Formulating and carrying out the community?s stipulations on conserving the biodiversity of bamboo and parashorea forests
+ The results of demonstration model building assist the local authorities in devising the lines for conserving a number of wood trees together with developing a number of industrial trees with short-tem benefit such as acacia mangium and Bamboo so as to help conserve wood trees linked to forestry development, hunger eradication and poverty reduction
+ After the project, the conservation and development of the parashorea tree in Thanh S¬n receive better and more proper attention.
Inovative Financial Mechanisms
- 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 developing the parashorea and bamboo on their own land. Upon the completion of the project, the loans will be reclaimed and turned over for the building and replication of the models;
- The project loans will be granted in kind to the borrowing households to set up the model during 3 years, including: (i) Seedlings; (ii) Fertilizer; (iii) Pesticides and insecticides
- 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.
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.
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.
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 conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity of forest ecosystem.
- Oragnising training workshops, dialogues, community contests on the issue of conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity of forest ecosystem
- 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.
Planning gef grant
As the project fails, there is no potential for project sustainability, replication and/or upscaling.
Planning non gef grant
As the project fails, there is no potential for project sustainability, replication and/or upscaling.
Project sustainability
As the project fails, there is no potential for project sustainability, replication and/or upscaling.
Replication of project activities
As the project fails, there is no potential for project sustainability, replication and/or upscaling.
Capacity - Building Component
The project capacity building activities include the followings.
- Training workshops on techniques of conserving and developing the parashorea tree
- Community meetings and workshops for assessment on project model building and experience sharing on techniques of conserving and developing the parashorea tree
- Study tours/exchange visits to learn from other localities on techniques of conserving and developing the parashorea tree
- Training items include (1) techniques in selecting the mother trees, (2) techniques in developing seed stand for parashorea, (3) planting and looking after mixed forests of parashorea and acacia, mixed forests of parashorea and Bamboo
- 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.
Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples
The project is developed in an area resided by a population with the Mêng minority people accounting for 98%. These people hold close family ties as well as consistent cultivation habits and daily activities. They assist each other in forming the awareness of forest protection and the interchange of productive experience in the models. This would help develop traditional experience in planting and looking after the parashorea tree.
Project Results
1.Impacts on the awareness of the local government and communities of all levels:
The parashorea trees used to be thickly distributed in Thanh Son. Yet, due to overexploitation, in the project area, there remains only one parashorea tree with a trunk diameter 65 cm. Parashorea trees in Thanh Son can presently be found only in Xuan Son National Park. The government authorities of Phu Tho province have realized the danger of extinction threatening a number of precious wood trees and made decisions for Xuan Son National Park to plant parashorea trees along the road from the gate to the Center of the Park. These trees have been growing well.
2. The building of models of planting parashorea trees (a perennial wood tree) together with a number of other fast-growing species like acacia and Bamboo has opened up the new form of business of ?caring for long-term benefits by immediate profits?, both ensuring immediate local economic development within the next 5 - 7 years and developing the forestry capital in the future. This will help assure the people in looking after the planted forests.
+ Completing the report on Evaluating the biodiversity of the forest ecology of Dipterocarpaceae and parashorea forests in Thanh S¬n district (assessed as ?Good report?)
+ Completing the distribution map of parashorea trees in Thanh Son district (assessed as ?Good report?)
+ Planted 30 ha, with a density of 100 parashorea trees + 100 Bamboo trees/ha; after planting, parashorea trees died and damaged by cattle. Results of final evaluation shows that the model failed to achieve the project targets.
+ Planted 76 ha, with a density of 100 parashorea trees + 300 acacia trees/ha; results of final evaluation shows that only 49.4 % survived and parashorea trees developed badly.
+ Planted 55 ha, with a density of 100 parashorea trees + 100 Bamboo trees/ha; results of final evaluation shows that only 58.5 % of the trees survived and parashorea trees developed badly.
+ Additional planted trees: 2000. results of final evaluation shows that 94% of additional planted trees survived; planted trees developed well to heights of 60 - 70 cm
+ The repayment rate of the loan was very low (40%).
3. the local people have become more aware in forest protection through realizing the value of parashorea trees (some households in Tan Phu commune have put fences around their area of planting parashorea trees). These forest areas will develop into mixed parashorea forests in the future, hence helping conserve and develop the parashorea trees in Thanh Son. Together with the conservation of the parashorea trees, the forest ecology of Dipterocarpaceae trees will also be recovered in Thanh Son.
4. During the implementation of the project, the capacity of the grantee organization was strengthened in project management thanks to having the opportunities to attend the relevant training workshops on project management and to manage the project. The grantee gain actual experience in management of a donor-funded project.
5. The local authorities and communities understand more about GEF and GEF environmental issues. The project has developed a good working relationship between the project grantee, the local authorites and communities
