Author : Nguyen Dinh Tien

Summary : The study estimated the Willingness to Accept and determined the factors
affecting the decision of local people to participate in the REDD+ program in Con
Cuong district, Nghe An province, Vietnam. Results showed that the mean maximum
WTA for a ton of carbon in the Con Cuong district is equivalent to 114,400 VND or
US$ 5.2/tC02. On average, a hectare of forest can get 1,658,800 VND/ha or US$
75.5/ha/year from carbon sequestration. This would generate a social WTA per year of
22.9 billion VND or US$ l.04 million for a total of 3,341 households in the two
communes in Con Cuong district.

Younger farmers tend to participate more in REDD+ programs because they
have less opportunity of working outside their villages. Older people tend to work
more in farms near their houses than in the forests that are often far from their homes
and difficult to access. WTA increases as the bid amount increases at 10% probability
level. Men play an important role in decision making on participation in the REDD+
since men participate mostly in forest activities such as timber logging, patrolling and
protecting forests, while women only participate in collecting non-timber forest
products such as bamboo shoots. Labor force also is an important factor affecting the decision to participate in REDD+ because the REDD+ requires participants to be
involved in measuring carbon sequestration, as well as checking and monitoring forest
status every month/year. Only individuals of labor age can participate in forest
protection and management. Villagers are more likely to participate in the REDD+ if
their forestland increased. This is because the REDD+ will pay for every ton of carbon
sequestered from forests. The awareness of REDD+ and non-timber forest products
income is also a significant factor influencing the decision to participate in REDD+.
Results also showed that REDD+ intervention reduced poverty rate in the two
communes by 6.4% (from 39.4% to 33%). However, local people claimed they have
not heard of the term REDD+ (90% of respondents). Majority of respondents (96.6%)
were aware of the threat of deforestation and forest degradation to the environment but
45% of households admitted that they cleared forests in the past 5 years.

The study recommends that local people should be trained/provided
information on forest protection, role of forest to local environment, carbon measuring
and forest monitoring. Secondly, there is a need to establish a committee for REDD+
payment with participation of local villagers in payment process. The payment of
REDD+ should be clear and transparent and participated by the villagers. Thirdly, the
security of forestland tenure of individual households is very important for the
effective implementation of REDD+. Local authorities should focus on determining
the land tenure or rights of forestland owners within villages and communes. Fourthly,
there should be a comprehensive research on impact of REDD+ on forest conservation
and economic development. Lastly, local people must be allowed to collect non-timber
forest products to encourage them not to cut forest trees.