CARE Canada

Purpose

This project aims to improve the climate resilience of communities relying on forest ecosystems in Vietnam, especially women and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC). The project seeks to achieved this by developing a high-quality, inclusive and gender-responsive forestry carbon market. It also addresses the power imbalances and barriers that IPLCs, particularly ethnic minority women, face in equitably participating in the forestry and carbon trade, ensuring consideration is given to their unique needs and climatic vulnerabilities. Given their exposure to climate change, the project supports four provinces in Vietnam: Ha Giang, Lai Chau, Son La, and Soc Trang. The three northwestern provinces (Lai Chau, Ha Giang, Son La) have experienced severe increases in temperature, with forecasts of an increase of 2-4ºC in the coming decades. Heat stress in the region is affecting forests, their biodiversity, and the availability of food and resources for IPLCs. The coastal province of Soc Trang, in the Mekong Delta, is affected by rising sea levels, causing the loss of mangroves, and impacting income-generating activities such as fishing. These provinces are among the poorest in Vietnam, with 95% of population being ethnic minority groups. Project activities include: (1) developing decision-making supporting tools for government agencies to design, implement and monitor a high-quality, inclusive and gender-responsive forestry carbon market; (2) facilitating policy dialogues at the national level between public and private sectors, civil society, and women or IPLCs-led organizations, for the design of legal frameworks that support high-quality, inclusive and gender-responsive forestry carbon market development; (3) training private sector actors on social, climate and biodiversity integrity principles for high-quality, inclusive and gender-responsive forestry carbon market development; and (4) developing guidelines and a toolbox to support community members, especially ethnic minority women and IPLCs and their enterprises, in designing and implementing high-quality, inclusive and gender-responsive forestry carbon projects that promote equitable and sustainable forest management. The project estimates 12,000 direct beneficiaries (6,000 women) and 244,125 indirect beneficiaries (122,063 ethnic minority women). This project also aims to support 400 decision-makers and 410 private sector actors.