P ILOT PROJECT OUTPUTS

The project work plan (BCA et al. 2012) specifies several activities conducted by partners (see Appendix A). The Vietnamese partner FORWET has experience in wetland conservation, PES development, and livelihood models. ISPONRE has provided input on orientation and strategy for PES, while BCA has contributed their expertise in policy development on biodiversity and wetland conservation and PES in Vietnam.

The activities pursued by the Swedish Partner FORES, together with their Swedish experts, has resulted in a number of interim deliverables that have supported the development of this final PES Alternatives Report. The key findings of these interim reports are summarized below. The full reports can be downloaded from the FORES website (http://fores.se/ekosystemtjnster-i-vietnam/).

1.2.1 Capacity assessment

Under Activity 3.1, FORES carried out an institutional capacity assessment of BCA. The study is based on a series of interview meetings and a review of the human resource development plan from VEA. Eight BCA staff (33% of the total BCA workforce) were asked to express their opinions of PES and other market-based instruments and to discuss constraints that prevent the instruments from being institutionalized. In addition, staff were interviewed from VEA’s departments of personnel organization, international cooperation and science & technology, and policy & legislation. The capacity assessment report provides findings, capacity gaps and suggested measures for improving BCA’s capacity development.

The key findings can be summarized as follows:

• Staff typically have university or even postgraduate education in biology, forestry, economics, environment or law but they lack expertise in other relevant

disciplines such as community development, social behavior, conflict resolution, stakeholder management and gender equity. These are necessary for the level of stakeholder engagement required to inform the design and implementation of PES schemes.

• Horizontal coordination across sectors and ministries is limited. This is especially relevant for our project since both MONRE and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD overlap: MONRE has jurisdiction over the land itself and biodiversity and regulates the use of the water, while MARD has jurisdiction over the trees in mangrove forests and regulates activities such as aquaculture.

• At a national level, Biodiversity Conservation Law includes PES as one of a number of instruments and PES schemes have existed in various forms, particularly in the forestry sector. PES has been formulated into Vietnam’s environmental legislation but specific guidance principles have not yet been developed.  

1.2.2 Land use report

Under Activity 2.8, FORES studied the existing land use rights (LUR) and wetland natural resource use rights of local stakeholders under legal regulations and local traditional custom in MCMNP. FORES reviewed current legislation in Vietnam, particularly agricultural land use right regulations. LURs were also observed and studied during fieldwork in MCMNP. As noted in the PES International Case Study Report (Section1.2.5), property rights are a key consideration in developing a PES scheme. The analysis identified challenges in the land use right in regard to PES application in MCMNP.

There is significant literature related to land use in Vietnam and its implications for developing PES schemes. The following lessons learned are drawn from FORES’s analysis of various land legislations (e.g., Law of Land 2003, Law on Forest Protection and Development 2004) and from the two major studies conducted by To et al. (2012) and McElwee (2012). The main difficulties for PES implementation related to land use are (1) current legislation provides a disincentive for land users to invest in long-term activities, (2) poor households have difficulty gaining formal access to land, which makes it challenging for them to participate as providers, and (3) strong state involvement promotes the use of PES for fiscal rather than environmental reasons.

Households (HHs) involved in this project have contracts for forest protection that allow them to practice extensive aquaculture in exchange for forest protection. These contracts are expiring in December 2013 and new contracts have not yet been developed. As a result, the long-term stability of property rights for providers is somewhat uncertain.

1.2.3 Desk study of climate change impacts

Under activities 2.1 and 2.2, FORES conducted a review of publications and programs related to climate change effects in the Mekong Delta and in Ca Mau province along with its implications for environmental, economic and social systems. Some of the key findings include:

• According to the Sea Level Rise Report (IMHEN 2011), Vietnam is considered to be one of the countries likely to be most affected by global climate change. Within Vietnam, the Mekong Delta region has been identified as being particularly susceptible to the impacts of extreme climate events (e.g., floods, droughts, typhoons, etc.) and climate variability.

• Climate change and sea level rise are expected to have significant and widespread impacts on Ca Mau province, affecting both natural and human systems. The most significant impacts of climate change are expected to be (IMHEN 2011):

• Sea level rise, resulting in higher flood risk, saltwater intrusion, increased salinity and coastal erosion; IMHEN projects a sea level rise for Vietnam of 15 cm by 2030, 30 cm by 2050, 50 cm by 2070, and 100 cm by 2100 under

high-emission scenarios. The low-end scenarios project a rise of 28 cm by 2050 and 65 cm by 2100 (MONRE 2009).

• Changes in hydrology resulting in changes in length and intensity of the rainy season, which may result in more severe floods, but also prolonged dry spells will increase drought conditions.

• Changes to the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as large storms and typhoons, leading to losses of infrastructure and land resulting from inundation, wind, storm surges and shoreline erosion.

• Changes in coastal sedimentation and erosion patterns.

• Agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries are all highly sensitive to climate change, and climate change will have a serious impact on their production functions (FAO 2007). When a HHs’ livelihood depends on a small number of sources of income and when those sources of income are highly climate dependent, HHs can be said to have climate sensitive resource dependence (Adger 1999).

• The importance of mangroves in providing ecosystem services has been highlighted in discussions on global climate change mitigation, in particular with reference to REDD+ (SNV 2011). There is also substantial literature on the role of mangroves in climate change adaptation, which shows that mangrove forests can act as “bio-shields” for the protection of people and assets from erosion and storms (Schmitt et al 2013).

1.2.4 Ecosystem Services Assessment report

Under Activity 2.6, FORES conducted an assessment of the Ecosystem Services (ES) in Mui Ca Mau National Park. The report had four objectives:

• To assess the natural conditions of coastal wetland and mangrove ecosystems.

• To investigate changes in ecosystems and the causes of these changes.

• To evaluate the type and condition of ecosystem services likely to support the activities that the national park would like to develop during the pilot stage of the project (e.g., mangrove forest protection, wetland ecosystems and biodiversity conservation, aquacultural and agricultural production and development of eco-tourism services).

• To provide input into the development of a Payment for Wetland Ecosystem Services (PWES) in Mui Ca Mau National Park.

The report relies in part on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) framework, an international effort to identify and map society’s dependence on global ecosystem services.

It provided scientific information concerning the consequences of ecosystem change on human well-being and responses to these changes (MA 2005). A further step was taken in 2010 with the publication of The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity report (TEEB), which refined the MA classifications for the specific purpose of valuing ecosystem

services. The TEEB report, together with more recent peer-reviewed literature and guidance documents on the valuation of ecosystem services, focused on the importance of ecosystem services as one of several inputs that lead to the production of economic goods, which ultimately produce value for society (Boyd 2010; Boyd & Banshaf 2007; Fisher et al.

2009; Bioclimate 2010; UK National Ecosystem Assessment 2011). For example, the provision of biodiversity and aesthetic quality/landscapes is a key input (together with labor and physical capital) in delivering tourism, a valued economic good. This report relies on these more refined frameworks for ecosystem service valuation, as they improve the policy relevance of “ecosystem services” as a management approach.

Data for our study area comes from a multi-sectoral assessment including three field investigations in Vietnam (November 2012; April 2013; October 2013), literature reviews including MA Sub-global Assessment: Down Stream Mekong River Wetlands (Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology 2005), Vietnam national biodiversity conservation strategy by 2020 (Decision 1216/QD-TTg, 2012), interdisciplinary assessment (natural and social sciences), and statistical analysis to better understand the complex relations between households, governmental regulations and the use of natural resources in the protected area.

Coastal wetland ecosystems, such as the mangrove forest in the case of Mui Ca Mau NP, provide important services that contribute to human well-being and poverty reduction, as we describe in Section 2. There are 230 families living in the ZER of the park and they are highly dependent on the services provided by the mangrove forest since the main activity of those families is extensive shrimp farming (complemented with the clam and crab harvest). The main ES provided by the mangrove forest in the NP include the following (these are developed further in Section 2 below):

• Food provisioning

• Carbon sequestration

• Shoreline stabilization

• Protection of freshwater supplies from saltwater intrusion

• Provision of biodiversity

• Aesthetic quality/landscapes

1.2.5 International PES Case Studies report

Under Activity 2.3, FORES conducted a review of PES programs around the world. The purpose was to develop lessons learned from other existing PES programs. We developed a structure and approach for a literature review, conducted a literature search, summarized over 30 articles on PES, and summarized a recent report by BCA on the opportunities for applying PES in Vietnam. Some of the key lessons learned from this analysis include the following:

• Future PES models for mangrove ecosystems in Vietnam’s coastal wetlands and marine environment look promising, as the ecosystem provides significant value to society in terms of carbon sequestration, coastal fisheries production, storm surge protection, protection against saltwater intrusion into drinking water supplies, provision of biological diversity and eco-tourism.

• There are, nonetheless, several challenges to PES implementation in the Vietnam setting (e.g., uncertain or inequitable land tenure, limited experience with and enforcement of legal contracts, and limited local opportunities for nonagricultural investment or employment).

• The stated policy objective may influence the structure of the PES model. The primary motivation for PES development is to improve the management of a country’s resources by creating incentives for improving the flow of ES. The government of Vietnam has additional policy objectives that include poverty reduction and an increase in government revenues. A key empirical question is whether these three objectives can be accomplished simultaneously or whether there may be trade-offs or conflicts between them.

1.2.6 Valuation of coastal wetlands report

Under Activity2.7, FORES reviewed the economic literature on the value of coastal wetlands and mangrove forests. We used the ecosystem service framework developed under Activity 2.5 for our review. This information is important for providing a deeper understanding of the values at stake connected to mangrove wetlands in Mui Ca Mau. We specifically focused on the indirect values that mangroves provide (i.e., those values that are generally less visible in market transactions). Our approach to valuation relies on the concept of Total Economic Value (TEV), which identifies several types of value that ES provide society. Our review of the literature⁶ has resulted in the following conclusions:

• Direct (use) values associated with, e.g., wood, fish, and tourism are fairly well represented in the literature thanks in part to the ease of applying economic

valuation methods to these ES. For example, market prices can be used to value the contribution of ES to our well-being through wood or shrimp production. Similarly, actual travel expenditures can be used as a minimum value associated with the contribution of ES to our well-being through recreation and tourism.

• Indirect (use) values associated with, e.g., habitat and water purification are more challenging to quantify and monetize. Further, nonuse values (e.g., existence, passive use, and bequest values) related to coastal wetlands and mangrove forests                                                                                                                

6  A  new  study  has  come  to  our  attention  since  that  report  was  finished.  Quoc  et  al  (2012)  is  

complementary  to  our  report  in  that  it  also  focuses  on  the  types  of  valuation  approach  that  have  been   used  to  estimate  values  for  mangrove  ecosystem  services.  

are difficult to capture, but nonetheless may represent a significant component of TEV according to studies we have reviewed. To the extent that future markets fail to capture indirect (use) values, policymakers may be misled by a systematic underestimation of the TEV of coastal wetlands and mangrove forests.

Although Vietnam’s Biodiversity Conservation Law focuses exclusively on use values, these findings may nonetheless be relevant for policymakers interested in the Total Economic Value provided by these ecosystems.