KHE NUOC TRONG, VIETNAMJENNY MERRIMAN, PHAM TUAN ANH, TRAI LE TRONG, ROGER SAFFORD

REVIEWED BY : R ICHARD BRADBURY

PURPOSEThis ecosystem services assessment was conducted as part of a wider initiative to explore the potential to develop a sustainable management model and financing mechanism for conserving Khe Nuoc Trong forest for the benefit of biodiversity and reducing greenhouse gas emissions whilst ensuring local and national economic benefits. In order to consider what opportunities existed, it was important to understand the benefits provided by the site and how these might be impacted by alternative land uses.

BACKGROUND & CONTEXT

Khe Nuoc Trong forms part of Truong Son IBA situated in the Annamese lowlands (an Endemic Bird Area) of north-central Vietnam, in Quang Binh Province close to the international border with Laos. The topography of the area is dominated by the foothills of the Annamite mountains but rises in the west to elevations of over 1,000 m asl. To the south the site is contiguous with Bac Huong Hoa Nature Reserve in Quang Tri province.

The site covers 19,898 ha. Land cover is predominantly forest consisting of a wide range of tree species characteristic of lowland evergreen-broadleaf forest. This forest biome is one of the most threatened in Vietnam and this part of the Annamese Lowlands represents an important remnant of relatively undisturbed forest of this type.

40% of the site is covered by ‘rich’ forest, classified as such due to the high timber volume (>150m3 / ha). Here there are many large trees with relatively low disturbance. The rest of the site is ‘medium’ forest (25%) and poor forest (31%) with approx. 1% respective cover of limestone forest, regrowth forest and bare areas.

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Map of Khe Nuoc Trong showing forest cover within the site. Produced by Dong Chau Forest Protection Management in 2011 based on SPOT5 satellite imagery from 2009.

Forested areas in Vietnam are managed by the Vietnamese Forestry Administration, a division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Much forest management is delegated to the provincial level. In 2012, the proposed Khe Nuoc Trong Nature Reserve was administratively categorized as a Watershed Protection Forest (18,686 ha) managed directly by the Dong Chau Watershed Protection Forest Management Board, and Production Forest (1,212 ha) managed by Long Dai Forest Enterprise company.

The villages in the vicinity of Khe Nuoc Trong are Ho Rum (68 households, approx. 300 people), Ha Lec (78 households, 346 people) and An Bai (38 households, 161 people). However, many ‘outsiders’ come to take resources from the forest, including people from outside provinces and across the Laos border.

PRELIMINARY SCOPING APPRAISAL

A rapid appraisal was held at Dong Chau Watershed Protection Forest Management Board HQ. Four staff from the District Forest Protection Department, the Director of Quang Binh Province FPD and the Chairman of Kim Thuy Commune People’s Committee (i.e. local Government, at the appropriate administrative level) attended. The stakeholders identified several key threats to the forest: hunting and trapping of wild species, severe weather events, unsustainable logging, gathering of plants and human disturbance.

According to the stakeholder group interviewed, the most important services provided by the site were local climate and air quality regulation, global climate mitigation, water flow regulation, water quality, erosion control, reducing impacts from extreme weather events, aesthetic benefits and providing a fish nursery. The overall good quality of the forest has resulted in continued and improving clean water and regulation of water supply, which is

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important for the rice paddies downstream. The high forest cover helps to reduce soil erosion and seepage of rainwater reduces the impacts of flooding downstream. When floods do occur, the young fish that develop in the forest are transported away from the site where they can be harvested by local people. The site also provides an opportunity for scientific research: it is one of the few remaining areas that may harbour Edwards's Pheasant, Lophura edwardsi, a Critically Endangered species restricted to the Annamese lowlands, although not recorded in the wild since 2000, and also holds a remarkable range of other highly threatened species of great scientific interest.

The most important services were identified and considered in relation to the main beneficiary groups (Table 1).

Table 1. Key ecosystem services identified and considered in relation to their beneficiaries.

Benefit

Local District National Global

Local climate and air quality regulation

Global climate regulation

Water flows

Water quality

Flood protection

Nature-based tourism

Where are the beneficiaries of the service? (tick for all that apply)

IDENTIFYING A PLAUSIBLE ALTERNATIVE STATE

Discussions with stakeholders suggested that two plausible future situations could arise, depending on how the site is managed in future. These are discussed below and will be considered in relation to the ecosystem services they could provide in comparison to the services provided by the site in its current state.

‘Business as usual’ A forest that becomes increasingly degraded by current illegal extraction of timber and other plant materials by both local subsistence use, but predominantly, continued exploitation of outsiders coming in as traders and taking timber/bushmeat for commercial sale.

‘Forest of Hope’ A restored forest, through better protection and management, allowing poor and medium areas of forest to grow into rich forest areas over the long term. No exploitation of bushmeat or timber from outsiders due to better protection by the management board and cooperation from the local communities in reporting illegal use and monitoring forest areas.

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METHODS

Due to limited time available, we focused on carbon storage and sequestration, harvested wild goods and water services as, based on the key threats identified and our expert knowledge, these were most likely to be impacted by a change in land use at the site. Global climate regulationAboveground living biomass was calculated using the results from 18 transects covering an area of 0.9ha, following the methodology outlined in TESSA. This sample was calculated using the formula below with a confidence level of 90%. Primary data collection for aboveground living biomass was combined with published look-up tables from IPPC (2006) and Anderson-Teixeira and de Lucia (2010) to estimate the total carbon storage of the site in the aboveground living biomass, dead wood, litter, roots and soil.

Harvested wild goodsData on harvested wild goods were collected at a community workshop held in Rum-Ho, the closest settlement to the site, using the guidance provided in TESSA. Rum-Ho settlement consists of two villages totalling 68 households. 100% of the households are classified as poor. The community has not been allocated any forest land to manage. They are therefore dependent on harvesting from the adjacent State Forest Enterprise land and inside Khe Nuoc Trong.

It was not possible to conduct household surveys in the time available for this study. Secondary data from socio-economic survey conducted in 2005 was therefore used (BirdLife International Vietnam Programme 2005) to obtain economic values for the harvested wild goods that were discussed in the workshop. Values were adjusted to reflect annual inflation.

Water provision and flood protection

In the interest of time and simplicity, we used a web-based spatial modelling system called ‘WaterWorld’1, which provides the data and models required to assess the impacts on water-based ecosystem services for a baseline land-use and an alternative land-use change, for any site globally using a 1-hectare resolution 1 degree tiles. Output maps of annual water balance and seasonal variations in water balance can be interpreted in relation to overall water availability and flood risk.

ANALYSIS AND COMMUNICATION

1 Mulligan, M [2012] Results from the WaterWorld Policy Support System [v.1]. http://www.policysupport.org/links/waterworld

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Carbon storage and sequestrationResults suggest that the site stores 3.5 million metric tonnes of carbon (177 Mg ha-1). At above-ground biomass growth rates based on IPCC Guidelines (IPCC 2006), conserving the forest as it is would result in carbon sequestration of 37,000 tonnes per year. Reducing the forest quality under the ‘business as usual’ scenario would reduce the carbon stored by 31%, releasing an additional 3.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Conversely, restoring the forest to 100% ‘rich’ forest (‘forest of hope’) would increase the capacity for carbon storage by 32% and the forest would continue to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it grows.

Harvested wild goodsThe main harvested wild goods identified from these forested areas were: honey, rattan, bushmeat, fuelwood and fish. Adjusting the 2004 secondary data to reflect 2012 prices (average inflation rate of 9.2%2) and combining the income from different products (with the 2012 value for honey used), the total benefit from the forest to the community is estimated as $25,500 per year3.

Total annual household income in 2004 was VND4 6,000,000 ($267) of which harvested wild goods made up 63.3%, with 18.3% from agriculture and 18.3% from other sources. Based on this, gold could potentially contribute up to 22% of the household income, with fishing and bushmeat hunting contributing up to 10% each. These are clearly very important activities for local livelihoods.

Reported harvested wild goods and their value*adjusted 2004 pricesa Data from Birdlife International survey 2012; b Data from MacArthur funded project in 2004; c Rounded to nearest 1,000,000; #assumption based on expert knowledge

Household income in 2012 (VND thousands)a

Household income in 2004 (VND thousands)b

Percentage of Households harvesting product

Estimated total value to the communityc

(VND thousands)

Fuelwood 607* 300 100% 41,000Bamboo shootsMushroomsVegetables

1,011* 500 100%# 69,000

Honey 2,250 400 40% 73,000Bushmeat 4,044* 2,000 30% 82,000Fishing 1,213* 600 100% 82,000Gold 2,700 - 100% 184,000TOTAL 9,525,000 531,000

The community also reported significant use of natural resources by ‘outsiders’, i.e. people who do not live locally but come to the forest and take products to other towns, provinces for commercial sale. Resources targeted are gold, timber and bushmeat.

2US Department of State: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4130.htm [accessed 28 March 2012]3 Based on an exchange rate of 20,805VND = $1: http://www.xe.com/ucc/ [accessed 28 March 2012]4 Vietnamese Dong

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Ha Lec and An Bai on the eastern side of the site were not visited during this survey. It was informally reported that they harvest palm leaves from the forest for use in hat making and also take other goods similar to Ho Rum.

Although not assessed directly, the current rate of harvesting (of bushmeat in particular) is likely to lead to extinction of a number of animal species and problems for plant regeneration under the ‘business as usual’ situation. To quantify this impact however, more detailed studies would need to be undertaken in areas of forest where harvesting pressures are different.

Under a ‘forest of hope’ situation, harvesting of rattan, bushmeat, fish and fuelwood would need to be managed to allow the forest and the biodiversity to recover and ensure flows of these goods into perpetuity. Traditionally, protected status means a full restriction on harvesting of wild goods which would result in zero value from this ecosystem service. However, the ‘forest of hope’ alternative could include some form of managed harvesting providing it was regulated and monitored.

Water provision and flood protectionThe local community at Ho Rum obtains its water directly from the stream flowing through the site. The rapid appraisal exercise suggested that water flows have been increasing over the past five years, although the reason for this was not made clear.

Using WaterWorld, we found that water balance for the area was on average 2,000 mm/yr with a minimum of -610 mm/yr and maximum of 3,800 mm/yr. This reflects an area average precipitation of 2,300 mm/yr. Fog inputs are low in relation to precipitation which means that rainfall is the dominant driving force behind seasonal changes in water provision (implying that climate change could have a big impact on water availability in this region). Seasonally, precipitation for the area has a maximum of 490 mm/month in September and 420 mm/month in October and a minimum of 48mm/month in February and 51 mm/month in March. Water balance for the area (mm/month) is positive on average for all months.

Applying a deforestation scenario to the model (business as usual) results in a fairly small increase in water flow. However, soil erosion will greatly increase as a result of deforestation. The erosion will be significantly higher during months of high rainfall (September to October). Combined with the increased water flows during these months, this could have a major impact on the lives of people in the area.

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Soil erosion (mm/hr) under current conditions and in future under ‘business as usual’

Landslide area just outside of Khe Nuoc Trong

Allowing the forest to regenerate under a ‘forest of hope’ situation was also modelled. This would lead to an overall decrease in water balance of -57 mm/yr (-2.8%). Soil erosion would be significantly reduced, particularly during the months of September to November (see below). This coincides with the heaviest rainfall of the year which means that the capacity of the forest to reduce soil erosion and hence severe landslides would be improved.

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Baseline (current) land cover Alternative land cover

Difference in soil erosion between current and forest of hope scenario

IMPACTThis assessment revealed that current pressures at Khe Nuoc Trong such as illegal logging and overharvesting of wild goods, including bushmeat hunting, are likely to have a negative impact on the future delivery of ecosystem services including increased risk of flooding, unsustainable harvesting and reduced carbon storage and sequestration. Current management was not able to address these issues because there is no legal requirement to manage the subsistence use of harvested goods and no capacity to prevent illegal logging or hunting.

Restoring the forest would have a positive effect on a number of services including carbon storage, water regulation, sustainability of harvesting of wild goods and flood protection. These would in turn lead to very significant local, national and global benefits in terms of biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihoods in an area of extreme poverty. However, due to the dependence of local communities on various forest resources, local beneficiaries need to be considered if any long-term benefits for biodiversity and livelihoods are to be achieved.

During this study, the local community voiced that they would be interested in participating in forest protection through contracts and would be willing to support the site managers to clamp down on illegal use of the forest and its resources in return for a financial benefits from the Management Board. In order to make this a reality, clear management objectives and a programme of work to achieve them was identified and agreed with all stakeholders and a framework for implementation developed. Securing long-term funding was also critical.

Key to the success of this initiative was a strong relationship between the local authorities (People’s Committees and technical services such as the Forest Protection Department), local communities and a Vietnamese environmental NGO, the Viet Nature Conservation Centre (Viet Nature). Viet Nature staff had played a leading role in identifying the site’s importance for biodiversity over many years, thereby developing an intimate knowledge of the environmental and socio-economic importance and challenges, and good relationships with local stakeholders. Through this local and national partnership, the initiative to develop an innovative management model for Khe Nuoc Trong began; consultations led to part of the site being leased for 30 years to Viet Nature for management, to act as a field base also supporting improved protection of the

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entire forest. This is the first time that such an arrangement has been reached in Vietnam.

Long-term financing to cover forest management, as well as to pay the lease cost, was a prerequisite to launching the process and securing the necessary agreements. For this, as well as technical support, international partnership was essential, and the key organisations were BirdLife International and the World Land Trust, with financial support provided also by IUCN Netherlands Committee. Classical ‘institutional’ sources such as trusts and foundations provided short- to medium-term start-up funding, while longer-term finance came in the form of a voluntary carbon finance programme developed by the World Land Trust, the ‘Carbon Balanced programme’, which enables companies to offset their unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions through the protection and restoration of carbon-rich wildlife habitats in the tropics.

Ecosystem service assessment formed part of the justification for the Khe Nuoc Trong ‘Forest of Hope’ programme. However, its importance went beyond this, in making the whole programme viable. As Pham Tuan Anh, President of Viet Nature, has said: “For the first time in Vietnam, funding for long-term forest protection and management has been made possible by voluntary carbon finance from the private sector.” In turn, this voluntary carbon finance was made possible by quantification of the benefits from carbon storage and sequestration, and TESSA was the first method used to make this assessment.

FEEDBACK

The water model used was at a relatively coarse scale and verification of this modelled data should be carried out by calibrating the model with the ground data. This would need to be done to investigate water services in more detail for the site. However, it gives a good indication of the potential impact of changing the land-use of the site in a rapid way.

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