Mangroves for the Future co-sponsors 2010 Southeast Asia Katoomba Meeting

This year’s Katoomba Meeting in Southeast Asia was attended by more than 400 partners from the SE Asia region and the rest of the world who are interested in markets and payments for ecosystem services (PES). The meeting consisted of plenary & case studies presentations from experts, specialists and practitioners in the areas of carbon financing and market payments for watershed, marine/coastal and biodiversity services. Mangroves for the Future (MFF) presented a paper in Coastal and Marine Markets session, where Dr. Don Macintosh, MFF Regional Coordinator, emphasized the benefits of maintaining healthy mangroves as a sustainable option of securing livelihood and coastal protection services (download MFF presentation). An article was also prepared by MFF (Rehabilitating Viet Nam’s Mangrove Forests) as part of the resource book on Tools for the Tides: Exploring Coastal and Marine Markets (download Tools for the Tides publication).

After the main Katoomba Meeting, MFF mounted a workshop on mangroves, coastal management, and carbon sequestration on 25-27 June 2010 in Nam Dinh Province, Viet Nam. The workshop was a joint initiative by Mangroves for the Future (MFF), Forest Trends (FT), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE). The workshop provided the venue to discuss mangrove forest ecosystems and the opportunities and mechanisms to include mangroves in carbon marketing and PES projects in Viet Nam and regionally.  The meeting comprised of sessions on how to measure carbon stocks and sequestration rates, case studies of mangrove conservation projects in Vietnam, the policy framework for mangrove management, and the opportunities for carbon financing under the voluntary and regulated markets (i.e., CDM, REDD). The workshop was preceded by a field visit to Xuan Thuy National Park in Giao Thuy District- Viet Nam’s first Ramsar site which was established in 1989 and includes coastal habitats vital to globally endangered migratory birds.  It covers 5,000 hectares (of which 1,300 hectares are mangrove forests) and is very important for both biodiversity conservation and income generation (mainly coastal aquaculture and fisheries activities).

As part of the immediate next steps, MFF will support activities to prepare a National Strategy Action Plan (NSAP) for Viet Nam which will include identifying potential field level projects to help implement the strategy (Viet Nam recently joined the MFF as one of its focal countries in the Region). There was also a suggestion to create working groups in Viet Nam (which MFF could also facilitate) as a mechanism to continue the carbon related discussions with international experts started by Katoomba, and including the neighboring countries of India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.  This will ensure that international expertise and experiences from Viet Nam and these other countries can be shared on an on-going basis.