A forest manager checks the forest’s safety. — VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Thái

HÀ NỘI — A total of US$41 million in carbon credit sales is the first forest proceeds from six north central provinces from the emission reduction agreement with the World Bank.

This money is transferred to localities to pay forest owners, local people and communities to manage, protect and develop forests.

This is the first agreement on emission reduction to be successfully implemented in Việt Nam, contributing to forest management and protection and improving people's lives.

Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên-Huế are six provinces participating in the agreement.

Currently, they have more than 3.1 million hectares of land covered with forests, equivalent 58 per cent.

Nguyễn Quang Bảo, Director of the Department of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: "It’s necessary to protect special-use, protective and natural forests to increase carbon reserves.

"In addition to increasing wood productivity and carbon content, the forests will create added value and improve livelihoods for vulnerable communities."

Ninety-five per cent of households in Tra Măng Village, Thượng Lộ Commune, Nam Đông District, Thừa Thiên-Huế Province are Cơ Tu ethnic people.

For the past 10 years, they have protected 560ha of forest.

Each year, on average, each household receives VNĐ2.4 million ($98) from forest environmental services.

The Tra Măng Village community has protected the forest well.

In addition to receiving money from forest environmental services, for the first time, it also received money from selling carbon credits.

In the future, it will receive an additional payment of VNĐ190 million ($7,800) from the sale of carbon credits.

After the success of piloting payments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in six provinces, many localities with large areas of well-protected natural forests are ready to soon implement the programme.

About 70 households in Ngài Trồ Village, Dền Sáng Commune, Bát Xát District in Lào Cai Province have received forest protection contracts from the Forest Protection and Development Fund.

On average, each household will receive about VNĐ2 million ($80) per year.

Giving up exploiting forest products and participating in forest protection, forest owners in the province are protecting more than 230,000ha of forest, each year receiving nearly VNĐ152 billion ($6.2 million) in environmental service contracts.

Lào Cai Province's forested area is nearly 400,000ha, of which over 70 per cent is natural forest.

Its potential to implement carbon sequestration services is huge, about nearly one million credits, said Phạm Văn Đăng, Director of the provincial Forest Protection and Development Fund.

As many as 58 countries have developed carbon markets with 27 having carbon taxes and some countries with both.

To develop the carbon market in Việt Nam, it is necessary to complete the legal framework for the exchange of greenhouse gas emission quotas, carbon credits and the credit exchange mechanism. — VNS