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Household Willingness-to-Participate in the REDD+ Program and its Potential Impact on Poverty Reduction in Nghe An Province, Vietnam
Dissertation Abstract:
The study estimated the willingness-to-accept (WTA) 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 was equivalent to VND 114,400 or USD 5.2/tCO2. On average, a hectare of forest can get VND 1,658,800/ha or USD 75.5/ha/year from carbon sequestration. This would generate a social WTA per year of VND 22.9 billion or USD 1.04 million for a total of 3,341 households in the two communes in Con Cuong District.
Younger farmers tended to participate more in REDD+ programs because they had less opportunity of working outside their villages. Older people tended to work more in farms near their houses than in the forests that were often far from their homes and difficult to access. WTA increased as the bid amount increased at 10 percent probability level. Men played an important role in decision-making on participation in the REDD+ since men participated mostly in forest activities such as timber logging, patrolling, and protecting forests, while women only participated in collecting non-timber forest products such as bamboo shoots. Labor force was also an important factor affecting the decision to participate in REDD+ because the REDD+ required 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 were more likely to participate in the REDD+ if their forestland increased. This was because the REDD+ paid for every ton of carbon sequestered from forests. The awareness of REDD+ and non-timber forest products income was 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 percent (from 39.4% to 33%). However, local people claimed they had 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 percent of households admitted that they cleared forests in the past five years.
The study recommended 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.
