Quang Tri’s Acting Chairman works with WWF

Acting Chairman of the Quang Tri Provincial People’s Committee, Ha Sy Dong, on December 3 chaired a meeting with representatives of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Landscape Resilience Fund (LRF) on forest restoration and biodiversity conservation in the province.

WWF since 2022 has supported Quang Tri in sustainable forest management and development with FSC (Forest Stewardship Counsil) certification - a voluntary standard aimed at supporting responsible forest management on a global scale, livelihood development, and value chains linked to biodiversity conservation, climate change, and environmental protection. The total NGO aid provided by WWF in Quang Tri exceeds US$1.4 million.

Acting Chairman of the Quang Tri Provincial People’s Committee, Ha Sy Dong, and representatives of WWF - Vietnam and LRF in the province on December 3.

The support activities in Quang Tri include awarding $10,000 prize from the multistakeholder forum to maintain FSC certification for ecosystem services in Chenh Vanh Village, Huong Phung Commune, Huong Hoa District. In addition, there are also projects such as “Ecological Coffee Production and Natural Forest Improvement in Huong Hoa District, Quang Tri Province”; "Promoting Sustainable Supply Chains, Empowering Communities, Improving Forest and Biodiversity Resilience, Sharing Cross-National Knowledge and Experience - Phase 7.2 in Quang Tri Province“;”Sustainable Urban Food“; and”Workshop on Promoting Energy Transition Towards Net Zero Emissions by 2050 in Quang Tri Province."

During the meeting, the acting chairman and the WWF - Vietnam and LRF delegation discussed a range of topics related to agricultural, rural, and farmer development through 2030, with a long-term vision extending to 2045. The discussion emphasized environmental protection, climate change adaptation, and disaster prevention.

The discussion included researching and implementing projects to develop value chains for planted forest wood and non-timber forest products such as tung oil, rattan, bamboo, acacia, and medicinal plants under the forest canopy through the role of local enterprises and cooperatives for sustainable production and business management.

In the province, there are projects on developing climate-adaptive production models for regions impacted by salinity intrusion or summer-autumn crop areas lacking irrigation, and conducting crop restructuring across roughly 2,500 hectares, in addition to the Sustainable Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Project.

The list also includes enhancing measures to prevent the illegal exploitation, hunting, fishing, and trading of wild, rare, and valuable animals and plants, along with strictly regulating wildlife farming activities. At the same time, it promotes the development of green growth and circular agriculture models across the province.

The participants also talked about coordination in implementating environmental protection, ecological restoration, and biodiversity conservation activities. It’s combined with exploiting and promoting unique ecological values such as upgrading the Bac Huong Hoa and Dakrong nature reserves to national parks. Other efforts include transitioning the Con Co Island Marine Protected Area and Ru Linh Landscape Protection Area. Additionally, establishing a new special-use forest landscape protection area on Con Co Island will be included.

The discussions also covered researching the possibility of establishing the Vinh Thai - Kim Thach Marine Protected Area (submerged hill); planning the transition of the biodiversity corridor connecting the Dakrong and Bac Huong Hoa nature reserves.

The acting chairman also assigned tasks to departments and agencies to continue closely coordinating with WWF - Vietnam and LRF to concretize and propose projects for implementation in the province. He expressed hope for continued support and cooperation from these organizations in the next phase.

Stefan Marco Schwager, Chairman of LRF, and the delegation members highly appreciated Quang Tri Province’s achievements in sustainable forest management, livelihood development, and value chains linked to biodiversity conservation, climate change, and environmental protection.

They said these results form an important basis for sustainable development cooperation between the parties in the future, particularly contributing to the effective implementation of the commitments signed between Quang Tri and WWF - Vietnam in 2023 towards biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

Tien Nhat – Linh Pham