Hanoi, Vietnam
From June 23-24, 2010, Forest Trends co-hosted, along with Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE), the XVII Global Katoomba Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The event included moderated sessions with policy makers, international and regional technical experts, the business community, the environmental community, and others from the region and around the globe. They discussed the current state of and potential for payments for ecosystem markets, challenges, and creative solutions which are pertinent to the Southeast Asia region. This included pioneering initiatives in water-, forest-, and marine-based carbon sequestration and biodiversity markets which, in conjunction with REDD, have the capability to reduce global carbon emissions and help conserve natural ecosystems. Sessions also covered important topics such as benefits sharing and leakage effects.
The meeting raised the public profile of PES in Vietnam. The sessions were opened by senior government officials at the event. Participants included members of USAID, Winrock International, the Norwegian Embassy, Asian Development Bank, Generation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Moore Foundation, Mangroves for the Future, CIFOR, GTZ, the World Agroforestry Centre, Tropenbos International, the Rainforest Alliance, SNV, and VietnamNet.
The meeting and PES topics were featured in more than 24 local newspapers and television shows such as Nguyen Thien Nhan. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Cao Duc Phat, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), and Mr. Nguyen Tuan Phu, the director of sectoral economic department of the Office of the Government, all spoke at the event. The experience of Vietnam, with a particular focus on payments for forest environmental services, was featured in almost all sessions throughout the event.
More than 400 stakeholders from over 30 countries participated in the event. The Government of Vietnam identified and invited more than 200 Vietnamese stakeholders from national and local government, civil society, and the private sector.