The seminar takes place in the central province of Thừa Thiên-Huế. — VNA/VNS Photo

THỪA THIÊN-HUẾ — A seminar took place in the central province of Thừa Thiên-Huế on Wednesday to explore the potential of nature-based solutions (NbS) for the sustainable development of the central Trường Sơn region, one of Asia’s largest continuous natural forest areas facing serious biodiversity loss from climate change and human activities.

Co-hosted by the World Wide Fund for Nature in Việt Nam (WWF-Vietnam), the WWF-USA, the WWF-Denmark and the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the event was part of the Nature-Based Solutions Origination Platform, a new WWF initiative focused on high-quality and high-integrity NbS that will deliver impactful results for people, climate and nature across tropical forest landscapes.

Participants engaged in discussions on the initiative itself, along with potential NbS applications and development strategies for the central Trường Sơn region. This included sharing experiences in pooling resources for nature-friendly agricultural solutions in the Mekong Delta, livelihood models under forest canopies; and the WWF’s expertise in building, managing, and operating NbS globally.

The initial phase of NbS adoption will target four priority provinces in the central Trường Sơn region, namely Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Thừa Thiên-Huế, and Quảng Nam. These NbS projects will align with existing provincial development plans for the 2021-30 period with a vision towards 2050.

The first two schemes will protect and restore special-use and protective forests in priority areas with high biodiversity value, such as national parks, conservation areas and surrounding communities. They will also improve the management capacity for production forests and develop sustainable forest certification for households, family groups, and forestry companies.

All activities in these schemes will be closely linked to the objective of supporting community livelihoods. — VNS