Viet Nam’s Submission on Reference Levels for REDD+ Results Based Payments

under the UNFCCC

MinistryofAgricultureandRuralDevelopment,Vietnam

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TableofContent

1 Forestdefinition..........................................................................................................................32 Classificationandstratificationsystems...........................................................................43 Scopeofactivities,poolsandgasesincludedintheFREL/FRL..............................63.1 Activities.................................................................................................................................63.2 CarbonpoolsincludedinFREL/FRL..........................................................................83.3 GasesincludedinFREL/FRL..........................................................................................9

4 ScaleoftheFREL/FRL...............................................................................................................95 Transparent, complete, consistent and accurate information used in theconstructionoftheFREL/FRL....................................................................................................105.1 Nationalcircumstancesandadjustments..............................................................105.2 Historicaldata:activitydataandemissionfactors............................................115.2.1 Activitydata................................................................................................................115.2.2 EmissionandRemovalFactors(EFs/RFs)....................................................12

5.3 TheFREL/FRL....................................................................................................................155.3.1 Methodofconstruction..........................................................................................155.3.2Thereferenceperiod...................................................................................................155.3.3TheFREL/FRLofVietNam......................................................................................155.3.4UncertaintyoftheEmissions/Removals............................................................165.3.5Transparency.................................................................................................................17

6 ImprovementsforthefutureFREL/FRL........................................................................17

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VietNam’sSubmissiononReferenceLevelsforREDD+ResultsBasedPayments

undertheUNFCCC

1 FORESTDEFINITIONThedefinitionofforestsusedfortheconstructionofFREL/FRLforVietnam,appliesthe definitions provided under Circular No. 34/2009/TT-BNNPTNT on criteria forforestidentificationandclassification,definingforestsas:minimum10%treecover,ataminimumheightof5meters,overaminimumareaof0.5ha(seeBox1below).Newlyplantedorregeneratedforestsdonotalwaysreachthethresholdsoftheforestdefinition in situ. To avoid over-estimation of forest land while at the same timeassessingnewlyestablishedforestplantationsasearlyaspossible,Circular34setsaseparate minimum height for forest plantations. (When this height is exceeded,establishment of the forest plantation is a fact and the likelihood of the forestplantationreachingthe5meterheightthresholdinsituisoptimal.)Thesethresholdsare1.5meterheightforslowgrowingplantationsand3meterheightforfastgrowingplantationsandthedensityofatleast1,000treesperha.

Box1:ForestdefinitionundertheCircular34:

Anareaisidentifiedasaforestwhenitmeetsthefollowing3criteria:1. An ecosystem ofwhich the major component is perennial timber trees,bamboosandpalmsofallkindsofaminimumheightof5meters(exceptnewforest plantations and some species of coastal submerged forest species),andcapable of providing timberand non-timber forest products andotherdirectand indirectvalues suchasbiodiversityconservation,environmentalandlandscapeprotection.New forest plantations of timber trees and newly regenerated forests offorestplantationsareidentifiedasforestsiftheyreachtheaverageheightofover 1.5 meters for slow-growing species, and over 3.0 meters for fast-growingspeciesandadensityofatleast1,000treesperhectare.Agricultural and aqua-cultural ecosystems with scattered perennial trees,bamboosorpalmsetc.willnotberegardedasforests.2.Havingaminimumtreecoverof10%fortreeswhichconstitutethemajorcomponentoftheforest.3.Havingaminimumplotareaof0.5hectaresorforesttreestripsofatleast20metersinwidthandofatleast3treelines.

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ThisdefinitionisconsistentwiththeforestrydefinitionusedfortheGHGinventoryoftheVietNamNationalCommunication2010.1Prior to the issuanceof theCircular34 (which reflects changesmadepertaining totree cover first in theLawonForestProtectionandDevelopment2004), the forestdefinition applied in Viet Nam (Decision 682B, 1984) set a minimum of 30% treecover. This former definition was applied to the Clean Development MechanismundertheKyotoProtocol.ThemainrationalebehindVietNam’schoicetochangeitsforestdefinitionwastostandardizewithinternationallyapplieddefinitions(i.e.,FAOFRAdefinitionofforests).

For thepurposeofFREL/FRLdevelopment,data for thehistorical referenceperiodhave consistently been re-interpreted applying the new definition (i.e., 10% treecover).2 CLASSIFICATIONANDSTRATIFICATIONSYSTEMSFor the purpose of estimating historical emissions and removals with increasedaccuracy, Viet Nam has stratified its land use into 17 land use types including 12forest types (Table 1). Emission Factors/Removal Factors (EFs/RFs) are calculatedbasedontheaveragecarbonstockintheseforestandlandusetypes.Table1:The17forestandlandusetypesusedtoestimateEFs/RFs

ID Foresttype Forest/Non-forest

Remarks

1 Evergreenbroadleaf-richforest Forest Averagetimberstock>200m3/ha

2 Evergreenbroadleaf-mediumforest

Forest Averagetimberstock100-200m3/ha

3 Evergreenbroadleaf-poorforest Forest Averagetimberstock<100m3/ha

4 Evergreenbroadleaf-regrowthforest

Forest

1ItisalsoconsistentwiththeforestdefinitiondescribedintheEmissionReductionProgramIdeaNotesubmittedinMay2014totheForestCarbonPartnershipFacility.

Box2:Plantations

According to “Decision 2855 (2008) on Identification of Rubber as Multi-purposeTrees”,rubberisdefinedasamulti-purposetreeandisaccountedasforest.TheplantingofAcaciawhenoccurringasnursingtree for improvingnativespeciesgrowthisconsiderednaturalforest,andforestplantationotherwise.

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5 Deciduousforest Forest

6 Bambooforest Forest

7 Mixedtimberandbambooforest Forest

8 Coniferousforest Forest

9 Mixedbroadleafandconiferousforest

Forest

10 Mangroveforest Forest

11 Limestoneforest Forest

12 Plantation Forest

13 Limestonewithouttrees Nonforest

14 Otherbareland(grassland,shrubland,landwithscatteredtrees)

Nonforest

15 Waterbody Nonforest

16 Residentialarea Nonforest

17 Otherland Nonforest

Inaddition,toreducetheuncertaintyofemissionsandremovalsestimatesasfaraspossible,VietNamfurtherstratifiesitsEFs/RFsintoecologicalregions.Table2showstheeightagro-ecologicalregionsofVietNam.Table2:Eightagro-ecologicalregionsinVietnam

ID Agro-ecoregions(MARD)

Provinces/Citiesincluded

1 NorthWest LaiChau,DienBien,SonLa,HoaBinh

2 NorthEastCaoBang,LangSon,BacKan,ThaiNguyen,QuangNinh,BacGiang,LaoCai,YenBai,HaGiang,TuyenQuang,PhuTho

3 RedRiverDelta HaiPhong,HaiDuong,BacNinh,HungYen,HaNoi,ThaiBinh,NamDinh,HaNam,NinhBinh,VinhPhuc

4 NorthCentralCoast ThanhHoa,NgheAn,HaTinh,QuangBinh,QuangTri,ThuaThien–Hue

5 SouthCentralCoast DaNang,QuangNam,QuangNgai,BinhDinh,PhuYen,KhanhHoa,NinhThuan,BinhThuan

6 CentralHighlands GiaLai,KonTum,DakLak,DakNong,LamDong

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7 SouthEast DongNai,BinhDuong,BinhPhuoc,TayNinh,HoChiMinhCity,BaRia-VungTau

8 MekongRiverDeltaLongAn,BenTre,DongThap,SocTrang,VinhLong,CanTho,HauGiang,TienGiang,BacLieu,CaMau,KienGiang,AnGiang,TraVinh

However, since theNational Forest Inventory (NFI) cycle4didnot apply sufficientnumbersofsampleplotsfortheRedRiverDeltaandMekongRiverDeltaregions,theRed River Delta region is combined with the North East region while the MekongRiverDeltaregioniscombinedwiththeSouthEastregionwhenestimatinghistoricalaveragecarbonstocksofforesttypes.3 SCOPEOFACTIVITIES,POOLSANDGASESINCLUDEDINTHE

FREL/FRL3.1 ActivitiesThe following definitions are applied for the five REDD+ activities, which are allaccountedforunderFREL/FRLofVietNam;Reducingemissionsfromdeforestation(“Deforestation”):Activityofconversionofforeststonon-forestland,asidentifiedperNFI2resultswithmodificationsbasedonupdates3.Whereaseriesofactivitiesincludingdeforestationmayhaveoccurredwithinasinglecycle of NFI, the deforestation activity occurring as a transitional activity will notnecessarilybecapturedbytheNFI,thuswillbereportedasdegradation.Reducingemissionsfromforestdegradation(“Degradation”):Activityresultinginadownwardshiftintermsofcarbonstockbetweenforesttypes,includingevergreenbroadleaf forest volume-based sub-typesof “rich,medium, andpoor” (based on the average standing volume per ha) and other forest types(deciduous,bamboos,etc.)(SeeTable3below).Enhancementofforestcarbonstocksfromreforestation(“Reforestation”):Activityoflandusechangefromnon-forestlandtoforestland.Enhancementofforestcarbonstocksfromforestrestoration(“Restoration”):Activity resulting in upward shift of carbon stock between forest types, includingevergreen broadleaf forest volume-based sub-types of “rich, medium, and poor”(based on the average standing volume per ha) and other forest types (deciduous,bamboos,etc.)(SeeTable3).

2Includingbothplotmeasurementsandremotelysensedinformation.3Updates were made to the original results of the NFI cycles 1-4 by the same implementing bodyForest Inventory and Planning Institute (FIPI) under MARD with technical and financial assistancefrom(insequentialorder)Finland,Japan,MARDandUN-REDDVietnamProgrammethroughout2011-2015.

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Table3:Matrixoflandtypechanges.

C:carbon;P:plantation

Activities resulting in shifts upwards between the above mentioned volume-basedsub-categoriesmay occur as results of both current and past human interventions.Notwithstanding,allsuchshiftswillbeaccountedforundertheFRL,andapplyingtheprincipleofsymmetricalreporting,allsymmetricaldownwardshiftswillbereportedunderdegradation.Conservationofforestcarbonstock:Forest types remaining the same, are regarded as “Conservation of forest carbonstock”.Theseareasareaccountedfor,byapplyinggrowthfactorfortheremovals,andassuming as emissions, the equal absolute amount of removals, as only one set ofcarbonstocksestimatesisapplied.Withfutureforestinventories,changesofcarbonstockinforestsremainingthesameforesttypemaybemonitoredmorerobustlyandthecorrespondingemissions/removalsaccountedfor.Sustainable management of forests: Since Viet Nam does not have exactboundariesonareasforsustainablemanagementofforests,thisactivityisincludedaspartoftherestorationorconservationofforestcarbonstocks.SymmetricalreportingGiventhecomplexcharacterofforestlanddynamics,thereisariskofsomeoverlapbetweentheabovementionedactivities.E.g.deforestationmaybeprecededbyforestdegradation; forest degradationmay be followed by restoration etc. Some of thesedynamic processes only result in temporal emissions, the effect of which may beannulled if followedbyanequalamountofremovals inashort time-span.Toavoidincomplete or partial reporting of these dynamics processes, Viet Nam proposessymmetricalreportingintheformofthelandconversionmatrixasdisplayedinTable3. Thus, if a forest area (e.g. rich evergreen) is firstly degraded (to e.g. poorevergreen) and subsequently deforested (to e.g. cropland) the accumulated carbon

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stock change would be the same as a direct deforestation from rich evergreen tocroplandandthereforeemissionsfromforestdegradationanddeforestationarenotdouble-counted. Furthermore, given the dynamic character of forest degradationwhereextractionandregrowtharehappeningalternately, theapproximationof themagnitudeofdegradationcanbesimplifiedbyconsideringnetchangeovera largerareaovertime.Thelandchangematrixprovidesbothaspectsofthisdynamicprocessthough forest degradation and restoration and since the assessment represents awall-to-wallcomparisonwithfullcountrycoverage,short-termtemporarydynamicswill not result in a biased or incomplete assessment. The full inclusion of REDD+activities in the FRL minimizes the risk of leakage or displacement of emissionreductionsfromoneactivitytoanother.

3.2 CarbonpoolsincludedinFREL/FRLThe carbon pools included in the construction of FREL/FRL for Viet Nam aresummarizedinTable4below.Table4:PoolsincludedintheFREL/FRLforVietNam

Carbonpools Included

AGB Yes

BGB Yes

Soilorganiccarbon No

Deadwood No

Litter No

VegetationcomponentsincludedintheabovegroundbiomasspoolThecarbonstocksoftheforestsarecalculatedasthesumoftheabovegroundpartofthe living trees equal or bigger than6 cm in diameter asmeasured in the national

Box3:Conversionofnaturalforeststoplantations

Conversions of natural forests to plantations remain a part of the nationalforest development activities, but only targets degraded forests. In thecontext of REDD+, if and when this conversion takes place, this will beregardedeitheras“forestdegradation”oras“enhancementofforestcarbonstocks”,dependingonwhetherthecarboncontentsoftheplantationislowerorhigher than thedegradednatural forest it replaces.Toavoidaccountingforresults-basedpaymentsunderREDD+anyareaofconversionofnaturalforests into plantations, these conversions were given an emission factorcorrespondingtothetotallossofcarbonoftheoriginalforesttype(i.e.totheeffectofa“deforestation”event).The forest stratification applied to the past data collected on forests andplannedfortheMonitoring,ReportingandVerification(MRV)systemclearlyseparateplantationsfromnaturalforest.

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forest inventory.Thelianas,shrubsandunderstoreyarenot includeddueto lackofinformation and as they are not considered a significant contributor to forestabovegroundbiomass(lessthan5to10%4).Iffuturenationalforestinventorycollectmoreinformationonthesecomponents,theywillbeincludedinthefutureFREL/FRLsubmission.JustificationforinclusionofBGBpoolResearches indicate that this pool constitutes from 0.2 to 1.0 times of AGB pool,depending on the forest type, and therefore is a significant pool. This pool is oftenestimated indirectly via a root-to-shoot (R/S) ratio. Viet Nam does not have acountry-specificR/Sratio,and thereforewillapply the IPCCdefaultvalue.Thiswillcauseahighuncertaintyestimateforthispool.However,consideringthehighcostsofdeveloping country-specific R/S ratio, there are no foreseen plans for conductingfuture research in Viet Nam. Taking into account the above, this pool has beenincludedintheFREL/FRLforVietNamapplyingtheIPCCdefaultvalue.Justificationforexclusionofdeadwood,litterandsoilorganiccarbonpoolsChanges in deadwood, litter and soil organic carbon stocks fromdeforestationwillnotbereportedduetolackofareliabletimeseriesofdataforthewholecountry,andalsosincethesearenotconsideredsignificantpools.Forsoilorganiccarbonrelatedtopeatsoilburning,potentialemissionsmaybesignificantonaperhectarebasis,butpeatsoilsrepresentamarginalareaoftheforestlandofthecountry(i.e.0.04%5)andtherefore their overall contribution to country-wide emissions is considered notsignificant.Furthermore,burningofpeatsoilsisreducinginoccurrence(i.e.theareaofpeatlandburnedin2009represented46%oftheareaburnedin19766).3.3 GasesincludedinFREL/FRLNon-CO2gases are emitted only through incidents of forest fires. The nationalstatisticsofVietNamreportonaverage2,339haofforestburningperyearduringtheperiod2005-2013(0.01%ofthecountryarea).Data on forest types impacted by fire is missing to accurately estimate thecorresponding emissions, but a rough estimate basedon thenational statistics andTier one combustion factors resulted in forest fire being responsible for less than0.1%ofVietNamnon-CO2emissionsfortheperiod2000-2010.Thereforenon-CO2gasesarenot included in theFREL/FRL forVietNam.CO2is theonlygasincludedinVietNam’sFREL/FRL.4 SCALEOFTHEFREL/FRLThescaleofVietNam’sFREL/FRLisnational.4See international studies: Schnitzer, S. A. and Bongers, F. (2011). "Increasing liana abundance andbiomassintropicalforests:emergingpatternsandputativemechanisms."EcologyLetters14(4):397-406orChave,J.etal.(2008)."Above-groundbiomassandproductivityinarainforestofeasternSouthAmerica."JournalofTropicalEcology24(04):355-366.512,983haofpeat landwere reportedunder the study fromPhuong,V.T.,Anh,T.T.T.,Minang,P.A.,forthcoming. Properties and carbon stock distribution of peat in U Minh Ha and U Minh ThuongNationalParks,VietNam.6Phuong,V.T.,Sam,D.D.,Anh,T.T.T.(2011).ReportonpotentialemissionreductionthroughpeatlandmanagementinVietNam,VietnameseAcademyofForestScience.

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VietNamhasahistoryofimplementingNFIssince1991,providingnation-widedataofitsforestresources.Therefore,VietNamhassufficientdatatodevelopaFREL/FRLat the national scale. The scale of Viet Nam’s FREL/FRL is in agreement with theUNFCCC Decision 1/CP 16 paragraph 71, requesting countries to develop nationalFREL/FRL.5 TRANSPARENT, COMPLETE, CONSISTENT AND ACCURATE

INFORMATIONUSEDINTHECONSTRUCTIONOFTHEFREL/FRL5.1 NationalcircumstancesandadjustmentsMuchofVietNam’sforestcoverwasremovedbetween1943and1993decliningfromatleast43%to28%.SincethenVietNamhasmadeconsiderableeffortstoincreaseitsoverallforestcover.BasedontheforestcovermapsgeneratedbyNFI,theactualforestareainVietNamhasincreasedto13.7millionhain2010from11.3millionhain 1995. Much of the increase has been due to establishment of new plantations,which account for 2.1 million hectares, and the re-designation and inclusion ofpreviouslyomittedlimestoneforests.Itisgenerallyacknowledgedthatthequalityofnaturalforestscontinuestobemorefragmentedanddegraded.Asof2010,overtwo-thirdsofVietNam’snatural forestsareconsideredpooror regenerating,while richandclosed-canopy forest constitutesonly5percentof the total.Between1995and2010, the areaof natural forest classified as richdecreasedby35,000ha/year andmediumforestreducedby66,000ha/year.Thesefiguresindicatethatdeforestationand forest degradation are still serious issues for Viet Nam. The key drivers ofdeforestation and forest degradation include: (i) Conversion of forest lands foragriculture and other purposes; (ii) Infrastructure development such as roads andhydropowerplants;(iii)Unsustainablelogging;and(iv)Forestfires.Understandingtheimportanceofforestsandtheirenvironmentalprotectionfunction,and recognizing theneedsof effectivepolicies to curb lossof forest cover from theendof1980stotheearly1990s,sincearoundthemid-1990s,theGovernmentofVietNam has invested in a number of nation-wide reforestation, restoration and forestprotectionprogrammes;mostnotablytheProgrammeNo.661“Fivemillionhectarereforestationprogramme” (1998-2010)hasmadeconsiderable contributions to therecentnational forest cover trends.TheFinalReport243/BC-CPof theProgramme661 (dated 26/10/2011) refers to the main achievements from this nationalProgrammeincludingreforestation(conversionfromnon-foresttoplantationsandtonaturalforests)andrestorationofapproximately5millionhaandconcludedthattheProgrammehasmet its targets.VietNamshouldnotbe“penalized”withFREL/FRLwhichsetVietNamforpositiveperformanceonlyif itsurpassessuchpastefforts,aperformancedifficulttobeachievedinthefuture,forthereasonsofreducedareaforplanting, and termination of funding for the said Programme (financed partly byOfficialDevelopmentAssistance).The exact areas of successful reforestation as well as information on the speciesplanted, treedensity, rotationandsurvival rateshavenotbeen fullyandaccuratelycompiledyet.Untilthedatacompilationiscompleted,asanalternativemeasureVietNam will apply an assumed success rate of 75% for the 661 Programmeimplementationinordertoapplyanadjustmentforitsnationalcircumstances.

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Plans are being developed to improve data of Programme 661 impact, so that themethodofadjustmentmaybedulyreviewed towardsa futureresubmissionofVietNam’sFREL/FRL.

5.2 Historicaldata:activitydataandemissionfactors5.2.1 ActivitydataVietNamwillapplyIPCCApproach3forrepresentingactivitydatawhendevelopingitsFREL/FRL.7To date, forest cover maps have been developed every five years since 1991, atnationalscale,throughtheNFI.Remotesensingimageriesusedforthedevelopmentof thesemaps have varied, aswell as the applied forest definition and forest typeclassifications.InordertodevelopnationalFREL/FRL,VietNamhasmadeeffortstoharmonize these forest cover maps, making them compatible and consistent overtime by applying the same forest definition and a harmonization method forclassification.The maps for the historical reference period have been reviewed for correction,applyingthe2010forestcovermapasabaselinemap,andapplyingthemostrecentforest definition cited above, and aharmonized forest classification system (i.e. theforest and land use types presented in Table 1). Forest changes for the three NFIresultsrelevanttothethreehistoricaltimeperiods1995-2000,2000-2005and2005-2010 were checked against logic of possible changes, and where illogical changesweredetected,correctionsweremadeincludingwithreferencetosatelliteimageriestakennearthetimeofmapcreation.Agridof1kmby1kmwasusednationwidetocontrolthe illogicalchangesandathresholdof3%ofthecontrolpointswassetasacceptablenumberofillogicalchangesforeachprovince.Area statistics of forest and land use dynamics during 1995-2010, which werederivedfromtheupgradedNFIforestcovermaps,areprovidedinTable5.Detailsonhowtheseresultswerederivedareprovidedinthe“ReportonHistoricalprocessesofforestcovermapgenerationandreviewandthedescriptionofthelatestmapreviewandActivityDatagenerationprocess”.

7Thiswill allow for nesting of the FREL/FRL of regional REDD+ projects, namely the FCPF CarbonFund’sERProgramforVietNamunderthenationalFREL/FRL.

Box 4: Other national initiatives promoting enhancement in forestcarbonstocks

In addition to Programme 661 Viet Nam has implemented several otherinitiatives, such as Programme 327 encouraging forest planting andrestoration.However, since someof these initiatives started as far backas1992and theresulting carbonstock increasesof these initiativeswerenotadequatelymonitored,VietNamwillconsidertheseasitsowneffortandnotincluderesultsfromtheseinitiativeseitherforresults-basedpaymentsorasanadjustmenttodiscountpastperformancefromitsFREL/FRL.

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Table5:Areasofnationalforestandlanduse1995–2010(unit:1,000ha)

No Forestandlandusetypes 1995 2000 2005 2010

Totalarea 33,015 33,015 33,017 33,017

I Forest 11,357 11,938 12,741 13,661

1 Evergreenbroadleaf–rich 856 804 693 681

2 Evergreenbroadleaf–medium 2,004 1,889 1,783 1,674

3 Evergreenbroadleaf–poor 1,918 1,785 1,621 1,581

4 Evergreenbroadleaf–regrowth 2,399 2,699 3,283 3,654

5 Deciduous 751 722 665 646

6 Bamboos 526 547 490 441

7 Mixedtimber–bamboos 734 751 751 748

8 Coniferous 172 177 164 162

9 Mixedbroadleaf-coniferous 64 56 54 53

10 Mangrove 199 178 134 142

11 Limestoneforest 740 749 759 757

12 Plantation 994 1,582 2,343 3,122

II Bareland 7,979 7,264 6,249 4,893

13 Limestonewithouttrees 232 224 207 205

14 Otherbareland 7,748 7,039 6,042 4,688

III Agricultureandotherland 13,678 13,814 14,027 14,463

15 Waterbody 824 846 851 870

16 Residentialarea 1,498 1,569 1,669 1,798

17 Agricultureandotherland 11,356 11,399 11,507 11,796

5.2.2 EmissionandRemovalFactors(EFs/RFs)Following the forestactivitydata,NFIplotmeasurementdataareavailable forVietNamforeachofthefive-yearNFIcyclessince1995.Given the incompleteassessmentofuncertaintyon thedataqualityof thepastNFIcycles1-3,theaveragecarbonstockestimatesareobtainedfromplotmeasurementsofNFI cycle 4 (reported in 2010) and applied over the historical reference period.Thisimpliesthattheestimationofhistoricalemissionsandremovalsisbasedonthe

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assumptionthatthecarbonstocksforeachforestandlandusetypesremainthesameover cycles. The rawdata fromNFI cycle 4was improvedby internal and externalreviews andwhen used in combinationwith country-specific allometric equations,theuncertaintyofaveragecarbonstockswerereduced.Themostoptimalallometricequationsareselectedafter testingvariousallometricequationsper forest typeperagro-ecological region.Theresultingnationalaveragecarbonstocksper forest typetogether with errors at the 90% confidence interval are provided in Table 6. Forconvenience, Table 6 presents information on the trends at national level but thecalculationsofactualEFs/RFsusedintheFREL/FRLwereimplementedattheagro-ecologicalregionlevel.Thedetailedcarbonstockestimatesper landcovertypeandagro-ecological region are presented in the “Report on Calculation of forest carbonstocksandemission/removalfactorsfromNFICycleIVplotmeasurementdata”.Table6:Nationallevelaveragecarbonstocksforeachforesttypes

Forestandlandusetypes #ofPSP

#ofSSP

AverageCstock(tC/ha)

Error(90%CI)

1.Evergreenbroadleaf–rich 403 5,970 137.12 2.44

2.Evergreenbroadleaf–medium 708 8,819 73.95 1.11

3.Evergreenbroadleaf–poor 689 6,860 31.70 2.41

4.Evergreenbroadleaf–regrowth 863 11,749 26.05 5.23

5.Deciduous 165 4,401 30.95 6.65

6.Bamboos 293 3,417 14.49 8.97

7.Mixedtimber–bamboos 429 5,585 41.24 5.84

8.Coniferous 36 645 92.71 9.73

9.Mixedbroadleaf-coniferous 19 227 63.57 38.39

10.Mangrove 58(*) n.a.

11.Limestoneforest 7 45 19.07 67.56

12.Plantation 269 3,216 16.26 10.46

PSP: Primary sample plot; SSP: Secondary sample plot; C: Carbon; CI: ConfidenceInterval.(*)Carbonstocksformangrovesarebasedonliteraturereview.Formangroveforests,sincethenumberofsampleplotsisnotstatisticallysignificant,theaveragecarbonstocks for this forest typehavebeensubstitutedby resultsof aresearch conductedby theVietNamAcademyof Forest Sciences.According to thisresearch,theaveragecarbonstockofmangroveforestis35.2tC/haintheNorthEast,RedRiverDeltaandNorthCentralCoastregionsand64.4tC/haintheSouthCentralCoast,SouthEastandMekongRiverDeltaregions.As22%ofthemangroveforestswerelocatedintheNorthand78%intheSouth,thenationallevelweightedaveragecarbonstockis58.0tC/ha.

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Carbonstocksofnon-forestlandusetypesareassumedzero.The EFs/RFs resulting from the conversion of land types were calculated as thedifference of carbon stocks between the two land types, and converted to tonnesCO2e.TheseEFs/RFsarecalculatedseparatelyforeachagro-ecologicalregionandtheresults are provided in the “Report on Calculation of forest carbon stocks andemission/removalfactorsfromNFICycleIVplotmeasurementdata”.Carbonstockchangesmayalsooccurinforesttypesremainingthesameforesttypewithinone5-yearcycle(i.e.conservationofforestcarbonstocks).However,becausethecurrentmethod,whichcorrespondstoIPCCstock-differencemethod,appliesonesetofcarbonstocksofNFICycle4forallpastcycles,emissionsandremovalsinforesttypes remaining the same are not recorded. Therefore, the gain-loss method wasappliedtoestimatetheemissions/removalsinforesttypesremainingthesame.Theremovals were estimated by applying the average annual wood increment ratescompiledbyVietnamAcademyofForestrySciences(Table7).Duetolackofhistoricaldataforestimationofemissions,suchasloggingdata,theemissionswillbeestimatedbasedontheassumptionthattheyequaltheabsoluteamountofremovals.Withfutureforestinventories,changesofcarbonstockinforestsremainingthesameforest type may be monitored more robustly and the correspondingemissions/removalsaccountedfor.Table7:AverageannualwoodincrementratesbyforesttypesinVietnam

Forest types Annual increment (%)

1.Evergreenbroadleaf–rich 1.5

2.Evergreenbroadleaf–medium 2.3

3.Evergreenbroadleaf–poor 3.0

4.Evergreenbroadleaf–regrowth 5.0

5.Deciduous 1.5

6.Bamboos 5.0

7.Mixedtimber–bamboos 3.0

8.Coniferous 2.8

9.Mixedbroadleaf-coniferous 3.7

10.Mangrove 2.7

11.Limestoneforest 3.0

12.Plantation 12.0

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5.3 TheFREL/FRL5.3.1 MethodofconstructionViet Nam considers it transparent to present removals, emissions rather thanpresenting net emissions/removals. This separation allows a more adequaterepresentation of the trends in both emissions and removals over time and itprovides an improved way of monitoring the different policies and measures ofenhancingforestcarbonstocksandreducingemissionsfromdeforestationandforestdegradation.ThisalsohelpstheREDD+strategy/ActionProgrammetofocusdifferentactionsonreducingemissionsandonincreasingremovals.5.3.2ThereferenceperiodSincetheNFIhasprovidedbothADandEF/RFfrom1995to2010,theperiod1995–2010 was selected as the historical reference period for Viet Nam. This referenceperiodisinaccordancewithNFIcycles.5.3.3TheFREL/FRLofVietNamEmissionsandremovalsinoneperiodareobtainedbymultiplyingtheactivitydatabythe corresponding EFs/RFs and summing them up. Emissions/removals are inprincipleestimatedbyagro-ecologicalregionforthreeperiods1995–2000,2000–2005 and 2005 – 2010, and then aggregated to the national level. The historicalemissionsandremovalsareshowninFigure1.

Figure1:Historicalemissions/removalsinVietNam(inMtCO2eperyear)

Figure 1 shows that there is no clear trend on the historical emissions/removals.Therefore,theaverageofhistoricalemissions/removalsduringthereferenceperiodwillbeusedasFREL/FRLforVietNam.TheproposedFREL/FRLforVietNamisprovidedinTable8andillustratedinFigure2.AccordingtoTable8, theproposedFRELforVietNamis88.2milliontCO2e/yearandtheproposedFRLis-70.9milliontCO2e/năm.

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

1995 - 2000 2000 - 2005 2005 - 2010

Emissions from conservationof carbon stocksEmissions from deforestation

Emissions from forestdegradationRemovals from conservationof carbon stockRemovals from reforestation

Removals from forestrestoration

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Table8:TheproposedFREL/FRLforVietNam

FREL/FRL Emissions/Removals(tCO2e/year)

Averageemission(FREL) +88,211,131

Averageremovalwithadjustment(FRL) -70,866,660

Averageremovalwithoutadjustment -84,273,607

Figure2:ProposedFREL/FRLforVietNaminMtCO2eperyear

5.3.4UncertaintyoftheEmissions/RemovalsA study conducted by FIPI and JICA8estimated that the uncertainty of changebetweenforestandnon-forest,betweenforesttypesandbetweenvolumebasedsub-categories of evergreenbroadleaf forestswas respectively5%,20%and26%.ThisanalysiswasmainlyconductedontheNFIMAPcycleIVmapwhichwasbasedonhighresolution images and therefore the provided numbers may underestimate theuncertaintyof changebetween thepastmaps.Additionaluncertaintyassessment isunderimplementation.Thestandarddeviationandtheerrorat90%confidenceintervalofthecarbonstocksestimates were calculated to take into consideration the sampling design used forcollectingthedata.Nosystematicerrorsareexpectedfromtheforestinventoryasitwas reviewed several times and included quality control procedures. However theuncertainty due to the models applied (biomass and volume equations) was not8JICA& VNFOREST 2012. The Study on Potential Forests and Land Related to “Climate Change andForests”inTheSocialistRepublicofVietnam.Hanoi,Vietnam:JapanInternationalCooperationAgencyandVietnamAdministrationofForestry.

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Adjustment for Programme661

17

included in the study. Amore complete uncertainty analysis, including NFI clusterbased sampling design,model and estimated variables (wood density, tree height)errorisunderimplementation5.3.5TransparencyToensurethetransparencyofthedatausedtocalculatetheFREL/FRL,VietNamwillhostthehistoricalmaps,tablesofcarbonstockspereco-regionandREDD+initiativesonawebgeoportalavailableoninternet.Graphsrepresentingtheimportanceofthemainactivitiesfromnationaltoprovincial level, the landusechangematrixandtheemissionsandremovalswillbehostedontheportal.6 IMPROVEMENTSFORTHEFUTUREFREL/FRLPotentialimprovementsinfutureFREL/FRLsubmissionsinclude:• The proposed FRL is based on the assumption that the successful rate of

Programme661is75%.Amorerobustmethodofadjustmentshouldbebasedonthe actual area of reforestation accounted for during the period of Programme661(2000-2010). Inorder tounderstandtheactualareaofreforestationduring2000-2010,dataofProgramme661actualimplementation(i.e.notjusttheplans)needtobecollectedfromtheprovinciallevel,andvalidated.

• WiththedevelopmentofEFs/RFsbasedonfuture forest inventories,changesofcarbonstockinforestremainingthesameforesttypemaybeaccountedformorerobustlyinfutureFREL/FRLsubmissions.

• Plantation species cannot be separated in the current data, but on-going effortsare anticipated to allow measuring separately the different forest plantationspecies for thepast andpresentdata. Plantation forest type couldbe separatedperspecieswithspecificEFs/RFsandactivitydatainthefuture.

• Ifdeadwood,litterandsoilorganiccarbonshouldbemeasuredinthefutureNFIs,they are proposed for inclusion in the carbon pools considered in futureFREL/FRL submissions.The sameapplies to the lianas, shrubs andunderstoreycomponentsofabovegroundandbelowgroundbiomass.