USAID Green Annamites Activity – Quarterly Report (Q4 / FY 2017)

The project's overarching objective is to assist Vietnam's transition to climate-smart, low-emission, and resilient development that protects people, landscapes, and biodiversity in Vietnam's priority forested provinces. The project focuses on two target geographies: Quang Nam (QN) Province and Thua Thien Hue (TTH) Province, which are two of three with the highest carbon density in Vietnam and the last remnants of the country's globally-significant primary forest. The project's specific objective is to increase the application of climate-smart development practices and enhance biodiversity conservation in the Central Annamites. This will be achieved through the development of appropriate economic incentives, improved livelihoods, development of value chains, direct assistance to vulnerable population farmers, and the development of alternative public and private resources. The project's activities are structured into three main tasks: increasing application of low emission land-use practices, strengthening biodiversity conservation, and increasing resilience for vulnerable communities. During Quarter 4 (Q4) of Fiscal Year 2017 (FY17), key project activities included a workshop on "Sharing Experience and Partnership Opportunities for Sustainable Development in the Central Annamites," which resulted in a commitment by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Sustainable Natural Resources Management (SNRM) project to collaborate with Green Annamites to provide technical assistance and equipment to the QN Forest Protection Department (FPD) to improve their Forest Resource Management System. Additionally, a launching event for a new elephant reserve in QN Province was held to help raise awareness and reduce poaching. The project has also made progress in implementing its Activity Fund (AF) contracts, with awards made to various partners, including Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry. The project's implementation challenges include addressing the needs of vulnerable communities, particularly ethnic minority populations, women, and the poor who rely on protected forests for their livelihoods. The project's performance indicators include the increase in application of low emission land-use practices, strengthening biodiversity conservation, and increasing resilience for vulnerable communities. The project's geographic coverage includes QN and TTH provinces, Vietnam, with a focus on marginalized rural populations, particularly vulnerable ethnic minority populations, women, and the poor who rely on protected forests for their livelihoods. The project's reporting period is from July 1, 2017, to September 30, 2017. The project's major counterpart organizations include the Provincial People's Committee (PPC), Quang Nam (QN) and Thua Thien Hue (TTH) provinces, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), QN and TTH provinces, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE), QN and TTH provinces, and the Forest Protection Department (FPD), QN and TTH provinces. The project's implementation progress is outlined in Exhibit 1, which shows the project activities during Q4 of FY17, including activities continuing from Q3 that were completed in Q4 or are ongoing. The project's integration of cross-cutting issues and USAID Forward priorities includes gender equality and social inclusion, communications, environmental compliance, local capacity development, and promotion of public-private-community partnerships. The project's stakeholder participation and involvement include collaboration with various partners, including JICA SNRM project, and the QN FPD. The project's management and administrative issues include project staffing and office space in Vietnam, project approval progress, and planned activities for the next quarter, including upcoming events.