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In Viet Nam, the policies, laws and regulations related to tenure of land and forests are not consistent across the country and vary considerably between provinces. Furthermore, the process of FA/FLA has not been applied consistently across all provinces in the country. Forest cover and land management contexts differ significantly across provinces as well. The study in six provinces found that the area of forestland that has been allocated to households and communities is considerably smaller than that allocated to State entities. Allocation of forestland to households and communities has been more widespread in Lao Cai, Bac Kan and Ha Tinh provinces (Northern and North Central regions), while less extensive in Lam Dong, Binh Thuan and Ca Mau provinces (Central Highlands, South Coastal, and Mekong regions).

Land and forest tenure systems greatly influence a country’s ability to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Clear and secure tenure rights over forests are an enabling condition for REDD+ because they provide an incentive for sustainable management and conservation of forests. Tenure rights holders tend to have a stronger interest in the long-term sustainability of forest resources. With secure tenure rights comes a sense of ownership and responsibility, as well as a belief that maintenance of this productive resource will provide consistent benefits for both current and future generations. For example, when tenure rights are perpetual and include the right to exclude outsiders and enforce rules, rights holders are more likely to invest time and resources in protecting and restoring forests through such activities as patrolling forests and combating encroachment and illegal harvesting.

The UN-REDD Programme has supported many partner countries by conducting analyses that highlight the ways in which protecting, restoring and sustainably using forests contributes to the transition towards a green economy. A second area of work is centred on supporting partner countries through private sector engagement and the ways in which actions can be financed under the REDD+ mechanism in practice. The crosscutting topic of private sector engagement in the UN-REDD Programme is of particular relevance, given that most tropical deforestation and forest degradation is directly or indirectly caused by private individuals and entities, including farmers and companies of all sizes that produce, process and trade timber and agricultural commodities such as soy, palm oil, coffee, rubber, cocoa and beef cattle. Charcoal production and slashand-burn activities to meet subsistence needs also contribute to deforestation and forest degradation.

Agroforestry is seen as a solution for the long-term sustainability of the cocoa sector and national efforts to restore forest cover in Côte d’Ivoire in highly degraded classified forests and in the rural domain. By increasing tree cover it supports net zero deforestation, carbon sequestration, resilience to climate change and improved farmer livelihoods. Within the rural domain, 1.8 million hectare of full sun cocoa could potentially be transformed into partial shade (around 30% canopy cover) agroforestry systems, which exceeds the 1 million hectare target set in the National REDD+ Strategy. This study did not find enough highly degraded classified forest land under cocoa to meet the 1 million hectares cocoa agroforestry policy target inclassified forests, though other degraded lands in these forests would be suitable for cocoa (or other agroforestry crops) to help meet this target. The study finds that largest potential gains in ecosystem services, such as carbon storage can be achieved from implementing (partial shade) agroforestry in the rural domain, where the largest area of full sun/low shade is available. Potential carbon stock gains across all targeted areas were estimated at 120Mt carbon or 440 MtCO2e, which could generate significant income through the sale of carbon credits.

La transformation de paysages cacaoyers par des pratiques d’agroforesterie est susceptible de contribuer aux objectifs nationaux et infranationaux de restauration des forêts aujourd’hui et dans le cadre d’un futur changement climatique, et d’offrir de multiples bénéfices par l’amélioration de services écosystémiques et la contribution à la conservation de la biodiversité. L’agroforesterie est considérée comme une solution pour la durabilité à long terme de la filière cacao et les efforts de restauration du couvert arboré dans les forêts classées fortement dégradées et dans le domaine rural en Côte d’Ivoire. Cette étude n’a pas révélé une superficie suffisante de cacao en forêts classées fortement dégradées pour réaliser l’objectif de 1 million d’hectares sous agroforesterie dans ses forêts, quand bien même d’autres terres dégradées dans ces forêts conviendraient au cacao (ou autres cultures en agroforesterie) pour contribuer à réaliser cet objectif. Il est important de déterminer si l’agroforesterie peut soutenir une adaptation dans ces zones ou si elles devraient plutôt se tourner vers des cultures (pérennes) plus tolérantes à la sècheresse. Les gains potentiels les plus importants en termes de services écosystémiques, comme le stockage de carbone, peuvent être obtenus par la mise en œuvre de l’agroforesterie dans le domaine rural, qui présente la plus grande surface de cacao plein soleil.