Project Officer Nguyen Van Nhuan in Nepal

This September, SRD Project Officer Nguyen Van Nhuan traveled to Nepal to attend a regional workshop: REDD+ Status, Opportunities and Challenges in the Asia-Pacific.

The workshop, hosted by the Centre for People and Forests and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, ran from 20 - 24 September in the Kavre district of Nepal, with participants from four REDD participating countries; Laos, Vietnam, Nepal and Indonesia. Nhuan was one of two participants from Vietnam able to attend the workshop.

Nhuan is SRD's Focal Person for REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation), and was able to learn more about the opportunities, challenges and risks of REDD, as well as contributing experiences from Vietnam. The workshop focused on grassroots capacity building for REDD+ projects, discussing issues of land tenure, and the importance of Community Based Forest Management within REDD. Nhuan valued hearing lessons learnt from other countries, and contribute about Vietnam's experiences. The workshop participants also had a site visit to see a local pilot REDD project, and shared ideas with local people.

"There was such a diversity of experiences from the four countries, but we also found there were many common issues", Nhuan commented. "It was inspiring to learn more about how to influence people's behavior at a local level, and to hear about solutions developed in other countries."

Nhuan during a site visit