Project

Sustainable Forest and Land Management in the Dry Dipterocarp Forest Ecosystems of Southern Lao PDR

Lead country

Lao PDR

Participating countries

Lao PDR

Project status

Under implementation

Implementing period

From May 20, 2016 to May 19, 2022

SDGs addressed by this project

SDG targets

  1. 15.1 Conserve, restore, sustainably use terrestrial, freshwater ecosystems
  2. 15.3 Combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil
  3. 15.4 Conserve mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity

Project ID: 5448

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Technical team

  • Ecosystems and Biodiversity Programme

Technical area(s)

  • Ecosystem management and restoration
  • Mainstreaming biodiversity

Sub-area(s)

  • Ecosystem-based mitigation
  • Ecosystem-based adaptation
  • Wildlife conservation
  • Agrobiodiversity

Landscape(s)

  • Conserved areas
  • Forests
  • FreshWaters

Sub-landscape(s)

  • Productive landscapes/Seascapes
  • Dryland forests
  • Rivers and river basins

Transformed sector(s)

  • Agriculture
  • Forestry and other land use

UNDP role(s)

  • Capacity development / Technical assistance
  • Data collection and analysis
  • Institutional mechanism and system building

Strategy

  • Enabling
  • Management operation
  • Mitigation adaptation

Sub-strategy

  • Advocacy (towards policy makers)
  • Mainstream
  • Sustainable land management
  • Wildlife and habitat conservation
  • Integrated water resource management
  • Institutional framework
  • Ecosystem mitigation and adaptation

Social inclusion

  • Local community/CSOs
  • Private sector

Gender equality

  • Women decision making
  • Livelihoods for women
  • Women's cooperatives and groups

Gender result effectiveness scale

  • Gender responsive

Pathway(s)

  • Systems pathway
  • People pathway

Risk reduction target(s)

  • Improve resilience
  • Hazard control/mitigation

SDG target(s)

  • 15.1 Conserve, restore, sustainably use terrestrial, freshwater ecosystems
  • 15.3 Combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil
  • 15.4 Conserve mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity

Conventions and protocols

  • Other Global Conventions

Private sector(s)

  • Individuals/Entrepreneurs

Hot topic

  • Poverty reduction
  • Nature-based solution
  • Food and agricultural commodities strategy

About this project

Description

The UNDP-GEF Sustainable Forest and Land Management in the Dry Dipterocarp Forest Ecosystems of Southern Lao PDR Project (SAFE Ecosystems Project) aims to support the government of Lao PDR to facilitate a transformative shift towards sustainable land and forest management in the forested landscape of Savannakhet Province. The project seeks to strengthen land anad resource use planning capacities and procedures and the policies and regulations that govern them, while simultaneously expanding and strengthening the management of resources through government agencies, local communities and private sector actors on the ground. Furthermore, by developing innovative financing mechanisms and programs (including ecotourism and livelihoods programs) that can ensure the sustainability of improved land use and resource management approaches. The project will be implemented over the period of six-years from May 2016 to May 2022 by the Department of Forest Resource Management under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.SAFE Ecosystems project is fully aligned with Lao PDRs Eighth National Socio Economic Development Plan (8th NSEDP), specifically Outcome 3,Output 1 – Environment Protections and Sustainable natural Resources Management . The project will directly support the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic's National Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 and Action Plan to 2010. More specifically, it directly supports implementation of two Programmes in the Strategy: (i) Programme 2: Biodiversity Management with a goal of Improve biodiversity management and monitoring; and (ii) Programme 5: Institutional and Legal Frameworks with a goal of Adjust national legislation and regulations related to biodiversity and harmonised them with MEAs. The project is also aligned to the National Action Program on Combating Drought/Desertification (NAP) (1999) which has as main objectives food security, stabilization and reduction of slash-and-burn cultivation, conservation of watershed forests, enhancement of livelihoods of the farmers and poverty reduction.In addition, the SAFE Ecosystems project will contribute to achievement of the Aichi Targets under the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), in particular under the strategic goal B: Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use, Target 5: By 2020, the rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, is at least halved and where feasible brought close to zero, and degradation and fragmentation is significantly reduced; Target 7: By 2020 areas under agriculture, aquaculture and forestry are managed sustainably, ensuring the conservation of biodiversity; and under strategic goal C: To improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity, Target 11: By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine area, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, and conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes, and Target 12: By 2020, the extinction of known threatened species has been prevented and their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline, has improved and sustained. The project is also in support of the Ten-year strategic plan and framework to enhance the implementation of the the United Nations Convention to Combat Drought and Desertification (UNCCD) (2008 - 2018) and contribute to Strategic Objective 1: To improve the living conditions of affected populations and Strategic Objective 2: To improve the condition of affected ecosystems.

Objectives

To demonstrate sustainable land and forest management in the forested landscape of Savannakhet Province in order to secure the critical wildlife habitats, conserve biodiversity and maintain a continuous flow of multiple services including quality water provision and flood prevention.

USD $11,009,174

Grant amount

USD $78,993,100

Leveraged amount (co-financing)

1

Source(s) of fund

Sources of fund

 

  • Global Environment Facility – Trust Fund ($11,009,174)

Implementing partner(s)

  • Government of Lao PDR

Project metrics

Outcome 1:

Enabling policy environment and increased compliance and enforcement capacities for sustainable land and forest management across landscapes including protected areas

 Indicators:

Capacity to ensure compliance and enforcement of sustainable forest and land management, and mainstreaming of forest connectivity into the main production sectors in Savannakhet Province (as measured by scores in the UNDP-GEF Capacity Development Scorecard)
Improved forest management measured by an increase in total area under Sustainable Land Management (as reported in LD PMAT, Part I)
Improved management effectiveness of protected areas covering at least 583,672 ha. (as measured in the GEF BD1 Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool – METT):
• Dong Phou Vieng Conservation Forest
• Phou Xang He Conservation Forest
• Se Ta Nouan – Phou Nak Protection Forest
• Ong Mang Conservation Forest (proposed)
Consolidated technical guidance on the design and management of plantation forestry and agriculture in the Dry Dipterocarp Forest landscape improve the sustainability of such operations and reduce their impacts on the surrounding landscape
Improved land use planning and management reduces degradation over 1,060,525 hectares of forest landscapes in Savannakhet Province, leading to unabated provision of ecosystem services such as water supply (quality), flood prevention and biodiversity conservation
Information management systems to guide land and resource use planning in Savannakhet Province
Inter-institutional and multi-sectoral coordinating bodies overseeing resource management activities in Savannakhet Province to ensure compliance with SEAs, ILUMPs and SEDPs
Policy and regulatory frameworks support integrated approaches to resource management and conservation through following measures:
• Decree on Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) & develop targeted regulations on ISPs
• Jurisdictional issues and coordination for enforcement of wildlife and forest protection laws
• Regulations on PA finance and functioning of protected areas within wider landscapes
• Nationally-defined HCVF categories and integration of HCVFs into forest policies and regulations and PA management plans
Public-private partnerships for sustainable land and forest management in Savannakhet Province
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) guiding resource management and conservation decision-making in Savannakhet Province
Area of Savannakhet Province under various forms of protection:
• New Protected Areas gazetted and fully operational
• New or existing Protection Forests designated as High Conservation Value Forests (as measured in SFM Tracking Tool)
Biodiversity management / ecosystem service provision mainstreamed in forest landscape management in five priority districts resulting in improvements in the status of biodiversity and ecosystem services, indicated by:
• Increase in Biodiversity Intactness Index for Dry Forests
• Populations of species with IUCN Endangered Status
o Eld's Deer (Panolia eldii)
o Silvered Leaf Monkey (Trachypithecus cristatus)
o Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus)
o Francois' Langur (Trachypithecus francoisi)
o Siamese Crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis)
• Maintenance of water quantity in downstream area of Xe Bangxiang River
o Baseflows (dry season)
o # of flooding events
Capacities of communities located within or adjacent to protected forests to effectively participate in SFM activities
Existence of environmental education programmes to increase the degree of environmental awareness of stakeholders.
(NEW INDICATOR APPROVED BY RTA)
Restoration of degraded Dry Dipterocarp Forests to counteract on-going and past land degradation (as measured in SFM Tracking Tool)
Technical skills and technology transfer for Protected Area management staff in planning, environmental monitoring, enforcement, and PA management. (NEW INDICATION APPROVED BY RTA)
Funds available for management of protected areas / conservation forests in targeted landscape in Savannakhet Province (as reported in the GEF BD1 Tracking Tool – Financial Scorecard):
• Non-governmental financing mechanisms
• Government budget allocations
Incentives and other benefits to communities within targeted landscape are directly linked to wildlife recovery and forest protection (as measured in SFM Tracking Tool)
Levels of investment in land use planning and forest management planning at the village and districts levels in the targeted landscape in Savannakhet Province
Wildlife-based ecotourism products designed and operating in the project target area
Outcome 2:

Sustainable Forest Management and Protected Area Expansion in five priority Districts of Savannakhet Province
Outcome 3:

Developing and Promoting Incentives and Sustainable Financing for Biodiversity Conservation and Forest Protection
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Sustainable Forest and Land Management in the Dry Dipterocarp Forest Ecosystems of Southern Lao PDR

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