Project Description

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for Vietnam’s Forestry Master Plan 2010-2020

Donor / Partner:  World Bank, Forestry Directorate, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development |   Duration: 2010   |   Location: Vietnam
About: This SEA served as an initial technical assessment of the long-term sustainability of master planning in the forestry sector and also provided the framework for training MARD Department of Forestry staff in the use and implementation of SEA.

The SEA undertook a rapid assessment of three Provincial Forest Protection and Development Plans (FPDPs), and provides guidance for the development of a National Forest Sector Master Plan and wider GoV decision-making in the forestry sector.

The main objective of this exercise was to provide guidance on environmental considerations that should be considered in the elaboration of the National Forest Sector Master Plan for 2010-2020; during review of provincial Forest Protection and Development Plans (FPDPs); or in wider decision-making in the forest sector.

The ICEM SEA team undertook the following activities:

  • Activity 1: Establishment of the context for the SEA and selection of the target provinces
  • Activity 2: Capacity building: ICEM updated the MONRE Core Training Material on SEA and ran SEA capacity building events that provide the key staff in DOF and MARD at the national level and key staff from DARD in the applicable provinces with the basic information SEA
  • Activity 3: Scoping: The SEA team reviewed the draft version of the National Forest Master Plan (2010-2020) and the previous (2006-2010) and current (2010-2015) five-year provincial forest management plans in the target provinces. The preliminary list of key environmental issues and the key impacting forest management activities were discussed with the relevant national and provincial stakeholders through a one-day national workshop
  • Activity 4: Analysis of the baseline data and trends on the national scale
  • Activity 5: Identification of impacts and alternatives: The assessment identified those components of the forest management plans which caused – directly or indirectly – significant effects on the particular environmental trend.
  • Activity 6: Identification of opportunities and mitigation measures :ICEM proposed practical arrangements that can be deployed within the National Forest Sector Master Plan for avoiding, minimizing or offsetting any negative effects and enhancing positive effects of forestry management practices.
  • Activity 7: Evaluation of lessons learnt and provision of feedback for future policy making The SEA team prepared a paper analyzing lessons learned from conducting SEAs and mainstreaming environmental considerations into provincial plans and the National Forest Sector Master Plan.